02:11:07 AM

- do more things that make you forget about your phone

- do not compare yourself to other people: trust that you are progressing in your own way

- keep your heart soft, remember that there are genuinely kind people & good things in the world

- finish what you start

- be consistent, and do not be swayed by temporary moods or criticisms from people who don’t matter.

- smile more often

- be okay with being bad at something

- do not blame yourself for people who make you feel unworthy. find new people to talk to and don’t isolate yourself even if you feel awkward or unlovable. don’t convince yourself that you’re better off alone.

- go outside more often and find beauty in small things

- read more books

- be the kindest person you can be

- be so busy you have no time to be bored or dwell on the past

- learn to be patient. don’t rely on instant gratification, wait for the sense of accomplishment after completing a daily goal or achieving a long-term goal

- see bad days as a chance to start again

Does your character have siblings or family members in their age group? Which one are they closest with?

What is/was your character’s relationship with their mother like?

What is/was your character’s relationship with their father like?

Has your character ever witnessed something that fundamentally changed them? If so, does anyone else know?

On an average day, what can be found in your character’s pockets?

Does your character have recurring themes in their dreams?

Does your character have recurring themes in their nightmares?

Has your character ever fired a gun? If so, what was their first target?

Is your character’s current socioeconomic status different than it was when they were growing up?

Does your character feel more comfortable with more clothing, or with less clothing?

In what situation was your character the most afraid they’ve ever been?

In what situation was your character the most calm they’ve ever been?

Is your character bothered by the sight of blood? If so, in what way?

Does your character remember names or faces easier?

Is your character preoccupied with money or material possession? Why or why not?

Which does your character idealize most: happiness or success?

What was your character’s favorite toy as a child?

Is your character more likely to admire wisdom, or ambition in others?

What is your character’s biggest relationship flaw? Has this flaw destroyed relationships for them before?

In what ways does your character compare themselves to others? Do they do this for the sake of self-validation, or self-criticism?

If something tragic or negative happens to your character, do they believe they may have caused or deserved it, or are they quick to blame others?

What does your character like in other people?

What does your character dislike in other people?

How quick is your character to trust someone else?

How quick is your character to suspect someone else? Does this change if they are close with that person?

How does your character behave around children?

How does your character normally deal with confrontation?

How quick or slow is your character to resort to physical violence in a confrontation?

What did your character dream of being or doing as a child? Did that dream come true?

What does your character find repulsive or disgusting?

Describe a scenario in which your character feels most comfortable.

Describe a scenario in which your character feels most uncomfortable.

In the face of criticism, is your character defensive, self-deprecating, or willing to improve?

Is your character more likely to keep trying a solution/method that didn’t work the first time, or immediately move on to a different solution/method?

How does your character behave around people they like?

How does your character behave around people they dislike?

Is your character more concerned with defending their honor, or protecting their status?

Is your character more likely to remove a problem/threat, or remove themselves from a problem/threat?

Has your character ever been bitten by an animal? How were they affected (or unaffected)?

How does your character treat people in service jobs?

Does your character feel that they deserve to have what they want, whether it be material or abstract, or do they feel they must earn it first?

Has your character ever had a parental figure who was not related to them?

Has your character ever had a dependent figure who was not related to them?

How easy or difficult is it for your character to say “I love you?” Can they say it without meaning it?

Word Counter - Not only does it count the number of words you’ve written, it tells you which words are used most often and how many times they appear.

Tip Of My Tongue - Have you ever had a word on the tip of your tongue, but you just can’t figure out what it is? This site searches words by letters, length, definition, and more to alleviate that.

Readability Score - This calculates a multitude of text statistics, including character, syllable, word, and sentence count, characters and syllables per word, words per sentence, and average grade level.

Writer’s Block (Desktop Application) - This free application for your computer will block out everything on your computer until you meet a certain word count or spend a certain amount of time writing.

Cliche Finder - It does what the name says.

Write Rhymes - It’ll find rhymes for words as you write.

Verbix - This site conjugates verbs, because English is a weird language.

Graviax - This grammar checker is much more comprehensive than Microsoft Word, again, because English is a weird language.

Have you ever read a book or seen a movie that had such great characters that even now, months or years later, you still think about them?

That’s the real magic of storytelling. Being able to write a character that sticks in someone’s heart and mind all their life is incredibly exciting. Of course, what exactly sticks in a character for one person may be different for someone else.

But there are a few trends. If you study memorable characters that have endured over time, you’ll find that certain traits show up again and again. This article contains 7 traits in particular that can help your characters carve a spot in the minds of readers (although there may be more than these 7!).

Before we get into the good stuff, let me start this off with two caveats.

First: don’t make all of your characters all seven of these traits. In MOST cases, that’s just bad writing (but there are always exceptions). Pick one, maybe two. Or none. Or bits and pieces of several! None of the things listed are set-in-stone the only way to have an enduring character. They’re just guidelines.

Second: don’t assume that giving your characters one or two of these traits will instantly make them a great, well-rounded character. It’s not that easy. Strong characters have a lot of complexity and need a lot more depth than what I can explain in just one list.

And with those warnings, I give you 7 Traits of Enduring Characters. I got this information at a writing conference and I’m excited to pass on what I’ve learned.

1. An air of mystery.

There’s something about this character that we don’t fully know. If your character has a dark past, it’s usually best to keep most of it in the dark—at least for the first half of the book. Don’t tell us everything upfront. Make us wonder.

Example: Think of Strider (Aragorn) from The Lord of the Rings, the first time we meet him. He’s dark and mysterious and up to something. We don’t even know if he’s good or bad yet. Aragorn ends up fitting some of these other traits too, but right off the bat, this is the first one we see.

2. Worthy of redemption.

This can apply to anti-heroes, villains, or anyone else applicable in your story. They’re a big jerk, but a tiny spark of humanity can sometimes help bring them to life. Maybe they’ve got a soft spot for someone or something, or maybe they truly believe they’re doing what they’re doing for the greater good. It can even make your villains scarier, because it makes them harder to pin as nothing but an evil monster—it’s not black and white like that. The real villains aren’t always so obvious.

Example: This can become a really gray area of morality, since some characters do things so awful that some readers will NEVER forgive them, regardless of their redemption arc. But a character like Loki in Marvel’s Thor movies is a good example. His bitterness causes him to lash out and do awful things, but Thor still believes his brother is capable of redemption. He still sees the good in a family member who he loves so much.

3. Highly loyal, or highly treacherous.

Either you know you can trust them, or you know you can’t. Obviously you can’t give this trait to all of your characters. And actually, it’s not as predictable as you might think. Just because we can’t trust someone doesn’t mean we know what they’re up to. We’ll be anticipating their move but completely unaware of what they’re planning—which is actually a great place to build tension. As far as highly loyal, sometimes it’s nice to have that one character that is a “safe spot” for your character. You need to take breaks from the tension every now and then!

Example: Back to Lord of the Rings, we have Sam, who is infinitely loyal to Frodo. When Frodo is trying to leave the Fellowship and go on his own, Sam follows Frodo’s boat into the water even though he can’t swim and almost drowns as a result. When the end is near and both are completely spent, Sam finds the strength to carry Frodo partway up the mountain. This incredible, selfless loyalty and friendship endears Sam to viewers.

Example: Queen Levana from the Lunar Chronicles fits the opposite side of the spectrum as someone highly treacherous. She is loyal to absolutely no one and will lie, manipulate, and mislead to get what she wants. She claims loyalty and faithfulness to her kingdom, but knowingly imposes harsh living conditions on the vast majority of her kingdom. She claims loyalty to the man she’s in love with, but manipulates him just as much as everyone else and twists the promises she made him to her own benefit.

4. Consistent, but capable of surprises.

People are usually pretty consistent based on their personality traits. They tend to make choices based on their core values, which can vary a little, but for the most part they stay on the same route. At the same time, they’re not flat—they’re capable of making an unexpected choice

Example: Since we’re talking about Lord of the Rings so much… how about Merry and Pippin? They’re consistent in their role of comic relief, and in the earlier movies, they’re not capable of much (they don’t have special skills or combat training). Despite this, they show themselves to be quick-witted and brave when the time calls for it and they pull of incredible, unexpected feats.

5. Highly self-sacrificing.

These characters accept the challenge. When no one else will volunteer, they step up. When it comes to the life of someone they care about, they’re willing to risk their own welfare. This can make for an interesting read when we know they’ll give 100% when things get rough—even die if they have to.

Example: One of the most obvious examples here is Katniss from The Hunger Games. She speaks up and volunteers for almost certain death to save her sister’s life. This sort of knee-jerk reaction that she had to speak up is one of the first impressions we get of her, as readers.

6. Part of a love story.

This doesn’t have to be a romantic love story—just any powerful relationship. The lengths your character will go through for their friend/lover/family member/etc can make them more enduring as a character, because of the worth in their relationship.

Examples: Romeo and Juliet; Katniss and Prim; or even Harry, Hermione, and Ron. Really, it’s more about the relationship and the lengths one will go to save/protect the other.

7. Succeed at the impossible.

They are an expert of their task—they can do things most couldn’t dream of accomplishing. Sometimes there’s a little bit of wish-fulfillment in a character meeting this trait, which is why you can’t have it in every member of your cast. Occasionally, however, it’s nice to have someone who’s really good at what they do.

Example: This describes a TON of main characters, especially in the fantasy and sci-fi genres. Think about Luke Skywalker, Katniss Everdeen, Frodo Baggins, Furiosa, Celaena Sardothian… the list goes on. Anyone who’s overthrown an empire/government, anyone who saved the world from certain doom. You’ll also notice that many of these characters are an expert at a certain task or skill. When they’re in their element, we have someone we can root for because we’re confident in their ability to come out on top.

A lot of iconic characters possess 2-5 of these traits, so remember—you’re not limited to one, and you don’t have to squeeze in all 7.

I’ve had this prompt generator I put together for a while now, so I thought I’d share the link for anyone who needs an inspiration. There are:

3 150 au ideas

900 humoristic sentence/dialogue prompts

85 other sentence prompts

180 movie/show/book AUs, 179 setting AUs, 84 profession AUs

56 relationship and 217 theme ideas

I got pretty fed up with looking for words to replace said because they weren’t sorted in a way I could easily use/find them for the right time. So I did some myself.

IN RESPONSE TO Acknowledged Answered Protested

INPUT/JOIN CONVERSATION/ASK Added Implored Inquired Insisted Proposed Queried Questioned Recommended Testified

GUILTY/RELUCTANCE/SORRY Admitted Apologized Conceded Confessed Professed

FOR SOMEONE ELSE Advised Criticized Suggested

JUST CHECKING Affirmed Agreed Alleged Confirmed

LOUD Announced Chanted Crowed

LEWD/CUTE/SECRET SPY FEEL Appealed Disclosed Moaned

ANGRY FUCK OFF MATE WANNA FIGHT Argued Barked Challenged Cursed Fumed Growled Hissed Roared Swore

SMARTASS Articulated Asserted Assured Avowed Claimed Commanded Cross-examined Demanded Digressed Directed Foretold Instructed Interrupted Predicted Proclaimed Quoted Theorized

ASSHOLE Bellowed Boasted Bragged

NERVOUS TRAINWRECK Babbled Bawled Mumbled Sputtered Stammered Stuttered

SUAVE MOTHERFUCKER Bargained Divulged Disclosed Exhorted

FIRST OFF Began

LASTLY Concluded Concurred

WEAK PUSY Begged Blurted Complained Cried Faltered Fretted

HAPPY/LOL Cajoled Exclaimed Gushed Jested Joked Laughed

WEIRDLY HAPPY/EXCITED Extolled Jabbered Raved

BRUH, CHILL Cautioned Warned

ACTUALLY, YOU’RE WRONG Chided Contended Corrected Countered Debated Elaborated Objected Ranted Retorted

CHILL SAVAGE Commented Continued Observed Surmised

LISTEN BUDDY Enunciated Explained Elaborated Hinted Implied Lectured Reiterated Recited Reminded Stressed

BRUH I NEED U AND U NEED ME Confided Offered Urged

FINE Consented Decided

TOO EMO FULL OF EMOTIONS Croaked Lamented Pledged Sobbed Sympathized Wailed Whimpered

JUST SAYING Declared Decreed Mentioned Noted Pointed out Postulated Speculated Stated Told Vouched

WASN’T ME Denied Lied

EVIL SMARTASS Dictated Equivocated Ordered Reprimanded Threatened

BORED Droned Sighed

SHHHH IT’S QUIET TIME Echoed Mumbled Murmured Muttered Uttered Whispered

DRAMA QUEEN Exaggerated Panted Pleaded Prayed Preached

OH SHIT Gasped Marveled Screamed Screeched Shouted Shrieked Yelped Yelled

ANNOYED Grumbled Grunted Jeered Quipped Scolded Snapped Snarled Sneered

ANNOYING Nagged

I DON’T REALLY CARE BUT WHATEVER Guessed Ventured

I’M DRUNK OR JUST BEING WEIRDLY EXPRESSIVE FOR A POINT/SARCASM Hooted Howled Yowled

I WONDER Pondered Voiced Wondered

OH, YEAH, WHOOPS Recalled Recited Remembered

SURPRISE BITCH Revealed

IT SEEMS FAKE BUT OKAY/HA ACTUALLY FUNNY BUT I DON’T WANT TO LAUGH OUT LOUD Scoffed Snickered Snorted

BITCHY Tattled Taunted Teased

aRIES: I ADORE YOU VERY SWEET VERY CUTE VERY MUCH STUBBORN AND EVEN THAT IS CUTE LIKE YOU CANT WIN AN ARGUMENT WITH THESE PEOPLES, HAVE BEAUTIFUL SMILES, ATTRACTIVE, WHITE TEETH, FUN TO BE AROUND, NOT AWKARD AT ALL, VERY STRAIGHTFORWARD, THEY ARE LIKE SWEET EXCITED PEOPLE YOU WANT TO BE AROUND ALWAYS. WILL SHOW YOU HOW MUCH THEY LOVE YOU IN EVERYTHING THEY DO. NATURALLY HAPPY PEOPLE.

tUAURS: ALWAYS WANTS TO FEED YOU LIKE ASKS IF YOUVE EATN BECAUSE THEY BROUGHT YOU A TUPPERWARE OF LIKE RICE AND POTATOE TO YOUR HOUSE JUST IN CASE VERY CARING, SHOWS IT BY LIKE CARESSING YOUR HAIR AND STUFF

GEMINI: FUNNY PEOPLE WHO TALK ALOT AND LAUGH AT THINGS WITH YOU, LIKE TO SHOW YOU THINGS THAT MIGHT MAKE YOU HAPPY OR INTEREST YOU, ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY, CUTE ADORABLE SMILES, MAKE YOU FEEL LOVED AND WANTED, CAN BE VERY LOVING TOO, CALLS YOU BABY IN A FRIENDSHIP WAY, OR LIKE PRINCESS, (AS IM TYPING THESE IM LIKE WOAH I KNOW ALOT OF VERY SWEET PEOPLE OF EACH SIGN WOW NICE) JUST LOVELY AND VERY LOVELY AT GREETING YOU EVERYTIME THEY SEE YOU

CANCER: THESE PEOPLE ARE VERY GOOD FOR GOING TO WHEN SOMEONE IS MEAN TO YOU AND YOU NEED ADVICE AND SOMEONE YOU KNOW WILL JUST HAVE YOUR BACK AND BE RATIONAL AND CARING ABOUT IT, KNOWS WHAT TO SAY AND DO, KNOWS HOW TO JUT CALM YOU DOWN, VERY RESPONSIBLE PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO HAVE FUN AND GO TO PARTIES AND STUFF AND SOCIALIZE, EASY TO LOVE AND GET ALONG WITH

LEO: YOU HATE THEM ONE MINUTE AND LOVE THEM THE NEXT, VERY PASSIONATE AND CAN RAMBLE ON AND ON ABOUT THINGS THEY LOVE LIKE MINECRAFT OR JUST LITTLE STUFF LIKE THAT BUT THEY TALK TO YOU ABOUT IT LIKE WOAH MAN LIKE ITS THE BEST THING EVER, LIKE THEY JUST DISCOVERED LIGHT, VERY PROTECTIVE OF OTHERES IN A WAY THATS LIKE “OH THAT PERSON JUST STEPPED ON YOUR SHOE! HEY PERSON SAY SORRY! THATS NOT NICE!”

VIRGO: WILL WAKE YOU UP WITH LIKE BREAKFAST AND COFFEE AND LIKE HELP YOU WITH LITERALLY EVERY LITTLE THING IN YOUR LIFE LIKE OH YOU NEED TO DO LAUNDRY ILL HELP OR OH YOU HAVENT EATEN HEY ILL TAKE YOU OUT TO EAT OR HEY YOU DONT FEEL SO WELL? OH ITS YOUR PERIOD? ILL COME OVER AND TAKE CARE OF YOU ILL BRING SOME CHINESE FOOD AND MEDICINE AND LIKE GO GET WATER FOR YOU EVERY TIME YOUR THIRSTY, JUST SO THOUGHTFUL IN GENERAL, MAKES YOU WANT TO BE A BETTER PERSON

LIBRA: NEVER EVER SERIOUS, CAN BE BUT HARDLY EVER WHICH CAN BECOME A PROBLEM WHEN YOU JUST WANT TO TALK ABOUT SOMETHING SERIOUS LIKE YOUR EMOTIONS, WILL ALWAYS BE UP FOR LIKE MIDNIGHT DRIVES, STARBUCKS TRIPS, GETTING YOUR NAILS DONE, SHOPPING, GOING OUT FOR BRUNCH/LUNCH/DINNER, JUST BASICALLY THE PERSON YOUD LOVE HAVING A GIRLS NIGHT OUT WITH.

SCORPIO: INTENSE AF PEOPLE YOU CANT HELP LOVING AND LAUGHING AT THINGS WITH, LIKE YOU CANNOT STAY MAD AT THESE PEOPLE, THE PEOPLE YOU HATE THAT ARE ALWAYS RIGHT, THEY DONT LIKE BEING CONTROLLED WHATSOEVER , REALLY REALLY HARD AND TOUGH ON THE OUTSIDE SHELL BUT WHEN YOU GET CLOSE TO THEM THEYRE LIKE THE  SOFTEST LITTLE PUPPIES THAT JUST ADORE YOU

SAGITTARIUS: THE LIKE DEFINITION OF CHILL HONESTLY, LIKE YOU JUST WANNA BE WITH THEM AND CHILL, YOU CAN GO TO PARTIES WITH THEM AND FEEL COMFORTABLE BECAUSE THEY JUST MAKE YOU FEEL GOOD AND MAKE YOU LAUGH AND DONT TRY HARD AT ALL THEY JUST KNOW HOW TO MAKE YOU FEEL AT HOME. YOU NEVER FEEL UNEASY AROUND THESE PEOPLE.

CAPRICORN: SERIOUS PEOPLE SOMETIMES, TAKE CERTAIN THINGS SERIOUSLY LIKE HOW THEY DRESS AND LOOK, RANDOMLY YOU NOTICE THEY ARE THE BIGGEST GOOFS EVER AND YOURE ACTING OUT SCENES FROM MOVIES WITH THEM AND YOU CAN SING SONGS WITH THEM AND BE SUPER GOOFY AND NOT SHY OR ANYTHING. BASICALLY YOUR BESTFRIEND

AQUARIUS: PEOPLE ALWAYS SAY THEYRE LIKE DETATCHED AND SHIT BUT THE ONES IVE MET ARE STRAIGHT UP LOVING AND LIKE OPEN UP AND TALK ABOUT LOVE AND THEIR FEELINGS AND STUFF AND YOU CAN JUST CONNECT WITH THEM EASILY. TYPE OF PEOPLE WHO WILL DITCH CLASS JUST TO BE WITH YOU, ONCE THEYRE LIKE CLOSE TO YOU WILL BE SUPERRRR OPEN ABOUT HOW THEY JUST WANT TO BE WITH YOU LIKE 24/7 AND JUST REALLY BIG SOFTIES, SHOW YOU OFF TO THEIR FRIENDS AND STUFF. VERY PROUD OF THE PEOPLE THEY LOVE AND WONT BE AFRAID TO SHOW IT

PISCES: THESE PEOPLE ARE FUCKING CONFUSING, YOU THINK YOUVE GOTTEN A CONNECTION AND YOUR TIGHT AND WHAT NOT AND THEN THEYRE JUST LIKE IGNORING YOU AND DISTANT OR JUST SEEM TO BE, BUT YOU LEARN THAT THAT IS JUST HOW THESE PEOPLE ARE BY NATURE THEY NEED SOME SPACE TO BE WITH THEIR THOUGHTS AND ITS NOTHING PERSONAL, THE PEOPLE YOU WANT TO LIKE YOU BECAUSE YOU LOVE THEM SO MUCH AND IT FEELS NICE TO FEEL IT RECIPROCATED. REALLY CUTE PEOPLE WHOVE GOT YOUR BACK ALWAYS, YOU CAN BE VERY COMFORTABLE WITH. WONT JUDGE YOU OR ANYTHING UNLESS YOURE BEING A DICK AND ARE LIKE MEAN TO ANIMALS OR SOMETHING. V CUTE PEOPLE. SERIOUSLY. CRY VERY EASILY TOO.

When creating a character, there’s a lot of questions you ask yourself. Whether it’s an original character or one you’ve been playing for a long time, using a character sheet to get to know your character better can always be a nice idea. With it’s help, you’ll be able to think about things you didn’t necesarily thought about, and ask some important questions to yourself that might activate your character’s voice, or help you to get your muse back with them. Everyone has their favorite character sheets, some people prefer to have a lot of questions, some others like it a bit more vague, so here’s a masterlist of the character sheets I found on various websites and found quite interesting, plus some other things that could be used to help you see, for example, how other character view yours. 

Blank Character Sheet (+370 Questions)

Abridged Character Sheet (100 Questions)

Big-Ass Character Sheet

Character Creation Form

Character Sheet by Jody Hedlund

Creating a character Bio Sheet

Character Analysis Worksheet

100 Character Development questions for writers

Create a Character Profile

Character Development Worksheet

Original Character Bio-Sheet

Character Chart for Fiction Writers

A Character Chart By Charlotte Dillon

Fiction Writer’s Character Chart

Detailed Character Sheet

Character Sheet Template

Character Twenty-Question Worksheet

In-Depth Character Sheet

Character Worksheet

Character Interview Sheet (First Person)

Background Questionnaire (First Person)

Characters Perceptions (How do other people perceive your character?)

With these sheets, you could also try to find your character’s Jung and Enneagram Type or use the Moral Alignment tool. All of these things can be really useful to get a better grip on a character.

Then, if you’re trying to create a character, and do not have many ideas, or get stuck, I’d suggest for you to roam around TVTropes, which gives you a lot of tropes used for character creation. Maybe you could try to mix a few of these and create an original character?

Or, if you’re a skillful writer and know how to make your character different from another, make a list of characters in fiction you happen to find interesting and why. Try to keep it short. Then, maybe, try to mix and match things from two or three characters, take a character and change their backstory, to see what would change. Play with them to inspire yourself and create something new, original and truly yours.

Oh, and here’s a little guide to Mary-Sues and OCs, just in case you want to make sure your character isn’t going to become a Mary-Sue or a Gary-Stu