#characterization tips

When I read, I personally favor relationships that have pre-existing history to them and background. I love the drama so here are some times on writing established relationships (platonic, enemies, rivals, and romantic):

6 Tips on Writing Pre-Existing Relationships:

1. Background

You should know how these characters met and how they interacted. Based on how they interacted and how their relationship has developed you need to know that. Not necessarily the reader but you should know as the writer.

Alrighty, let's give some tips :D

Disclaimer: I am in no way an expert on these characters. This is my grasp on the characters and their behaviors, and I know more about certain characters than I do others. If I say something you don't like, die mad. If you think I'm wrong on something, I respectuflly and honestly say good for you but keep your opinion to yourself, please. Thanks.

Dick Grayson

Keep in mind for him the fact that he has anger management issues. It takes quite a bit to get him to snap, but when he does snap, it's a terrible day for all parties involved.

Dick isn't as happy-go-lucky as fandom likes to paint him. He is serious, he is grim, and he is realistic whenever the need for it arises. He's an optimist, yes, but he's beyond smart enough to discern a very serious situation and just how to go about dealing with it.

He is a detective. People tend to forget that, for some reason. He's just as capable as Bruce or Jason are at solving complex problems. He's not the best detective there is, no, but he's still definitely above average with observation skills and such.

He tries to be there for people, but he can get overwhelmed sometimes with all his commitments and might forget some things

Which brings up this point: He overworks himself and tends to agree to do more things than he can easily manage. Dick has an issue with that; overworking himself.

Dick is also a very emotional person. He thinks with his heart most of the time. The phrase "heart on his sleeve" was probably made specifically for him. Dick is open about certain emotions, but make no mistake about the fact that he can close off probably better than Tim whenever he wants to. He feels with everything in him.

He's smart, he's funny, he's genuine, he's protective, he's compassionate, he's dependable, and he's above all loyal and kind.

Dick trusts you until you give him a reason not to, to borrow a phrase.

I think a good song to capture his character would be "Human" by Rag'n'Bone Man.

Jason Todd

Ohhh boy. Here we go.

Say it with me: Jason. Does. Not. Enjoy. Killing.

Seriously, I don't really know where people get the idea that he does from? Jason kills, yes. But why does he do it? For the better. He kills out of mercy and justice for victims (yes that includes the Talon he killed; Talons are victims to the Court of Owls, and nothing more), not because he enjoys it. I am not justifying anything, I'm just explaining.

Jason is also a very emotional person, but he's more of a heart on his cheek kinda guy. He tries to trample them down, but they get the better of him sometimes. Take everything he did in Under the Red Hood as an example. He did what he did because he was hurt and in pain and he needed Bruce to feel the same way.

Jason is hesitant to trust people, very careful to make sure he can't let people close enough to hurt him the way he's been hurt so many times before.

Look, Jason's not a fundementally bad person. He's just been betrayed too many times for someone his age. His mom was a drug addict, and she died. His dad was an abusive father. Bruce was the first real parent Jason ever had, and Bruce replaced him when he died.

My point is, everyone Jason as ever trusted has either turned their backs on him or died. He has attatchment issues, trust issues, parental issues, and so many more I can't even list them all.

He's really fucking smart. (Keep in mind that he was top of all his classes in school.)

Jason is kind, compassionate, empathetic, and loyal. He can be aggressive, brash, and can make fucking stupidass decisions sometimes, but he's still good at heart. He does things with the best intentions (well, now, anyways. Pit Madness made him do some unfavorable things).

Everyone says Jason isn't patient or a planner, but excuse me this is the same Jason as the one who very carefully planned Bruce's death via bomb under the Batmobile, right? Or are you talking about a different Jason. He's careful and thinks things through, planning meticulously at certain points.

Hands down a good Jason song is "I'll Be Good" by Jaymes Young.

Tim Drake

HE'S NOT ADDICTED TO CAFFEINE!!! That's a fandom thing that I'm kinda getting sick of seeing everywhere!!!

Tim Drake, self-esteem issues, self-worth issues, and attatchment issues galore. He tends to think himself expendable and unimportant sometimes. He just generally thinks less of himself a percentage of the time.

He's fucking genius. Plans at least three steps ahead of everyone and anyone now, but... He's jaded at times. Very jaded.

Tim tries not to feel at all, sometimes. He closes himself off and distances himself from everyone ever since Kon, Bart, and Stephanie died. Of course, Kon and Bart came back, and Stephanie wasn't ever really dead, but that hardly means anything.

Tim is quiet and introverted, keeps to himself a lot, but that doesn't mean he's timid.

He's smart and he knows it, but he doesn't let that get to his head. He's cool but funny, he's wise but geeky, he's jaded but soft...

Tim is loose. He's still a teenager, albeit a teen who's gone through and seen a lot. He likes having fun.

He's not all shy and unnecessary apologies, he's not so jaded that he speaks down to everyone in clipped tones, he's not gonna go cry in a corner whenever his feelings get hurt, he's not going to have a fit when things go wrong.

Tim is complicated. He's a teenager.

He's serious but relaxed, strict but loose, calculating but calm, realistic but kind.

He's funny, smart, cunning, intellectual, realistic, caring, considerate, compassionate, empathetic, thoughtful...

Yeah uh let me just say there are so many layers to all of these characters it's so amazing and I really delight in them.

Damian Wayne

Damian isn't a stick-up-the-ass jerk, alright?

He's just a kid. A kid who's seen, experienced, and witnessed far too much for someone his age.

Keep that in mind.

He doesn't know what to do or how to behave. He went from the League, which was familiar and what he understood, to Gotham, somewhere unfamiliar and unknown. He had everything he knew stripped away and replaced with things he'd never even heard of, much less experienced.

He tries to hide it all behind a mask of bravado and superiority, but in reality he's lost and confused. He's struggling to adjust but is trying.

He's confused, uncertain, careful, and tentative, but he's also loyal, compassionate, funny, caring (in his own way), thoughtful, and actually charming (again in his own way).

Because I've obsessed over this character and have advice XD This is for the Sleeping Beauty/Kingdom Hearts version of the character.

Maleficent doesn't use contractions on the verb the way modern day English speakers do. Words like "don't", "let's", and "can't" aren't part of her vocabulary - she'll usually just stretch the phrase out (i.e. "do not", "let us", "cannot") or phrase it differently. She, however, WILL use contractions like "there'll", "it's", "I'd", etc. You'll notice that in all these instances she contracts when it's PRONOUN+VERB but she won't when it's VERB+ADVERB/PRONOUN.

Maleficent has a very lofty way of speaking. It's not archaic, but it's also not of any particular era. I tend to see writers misstep here going one of two ways: either they modernize her language too much or they make her sound like someone out of a Shakespeare play. Both are wrong. Obviously she's not going to use any modern day slang, that's just silly, but sometimes I see her getting "thee" and "thou" thrown into her speech patterns and that's not accurate either. She was originally written the fifties, not the fifteen-hundreds. A few well placed "shall"s and "insolent"s and other words of that ilk usually get the idea across well.

Spring boarding off that: she's a smart lady who'll occasionally use big words ("Why so melancholy?"), but she's not Xemnas or Marluxia. She doesn't do purple prose. She's not going to say things like "unfortunate denouement." Remember: Maleficent originates from a movie meant for children and a widespread American audience. She's not going to use a whole lot of words that the average kids wouldn't understand. Her regality comes from her delivery and the way she structures her sentences more than her vocabulary.

She doesn't do nicknames or pet names. The only times she does call anyone by something other than their name or a pronoun, it's her enemies (i.e. "the wretched Keyblade holder and his pitiful lackeys"). She uses nicknames only to demean and infantilize. Also noteworthy is that she always uses royal honorifics. It's always KING Stefan, QUEEN Minnie, PRINCESS Aurora. She may sometimes refer to character by just their royal title ("the king", "the queen", etc.) but rarely just their given name without the honorifics.  

As far as physical gestures go, she doesn't move around dynamically a lot. She's very still and planted. Where she's dynamic is in her arms and hands. She has flowing sleeves and long pointed fingernails so she tends to make gestures that show those off. She talks with her hands a lot. Very pointed gestures.

Her sense of humor is very dry and shady. Think back to her "How quaint, even the rabble" quip when referring to Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather in SB or her sarcastic "Ooh, how frightening!" response to Minnie's threat in KH2. Her humor is very coy, very sincere, and is never done just for her to have joke. She uses her humor as a way to communicate power, whether it be "Oh these other fairies are so beneath me and my status" or "You have no power to threaten me".

Not all characters are going to get along and some are going to get along really well. What’s important is working out their interactions.

Things to think about

1. Where do they first initially meet?

Depending on how they meet it can really alter the characters perception of the other. Between a bar, school, workplace, battlefield, or traveling someplace together. It will impact how they interact. If it’s a casual party then there is a more friendly vibe. If it’s a battlefield, friendliness isn’t exactly the thing to think about.

2. What do the characters first notice about another person?

Do they look at clothes first? Hair? Eyes? And do they acknowledge what they like or dislike in there head? Do they compliment the person on what they find attractive or unique?

I think Villains can be as crazy as they want but people usually don’t write them well. Often times I have to ignore how palpably terrible the villain is written to continue reading. Especially when the villain is meant to be a pure evil villain.

I find that authors believe that making their villain do heinous acts is enough to make them scary, but they forget to make them interesting. Iconic villains are remembered because they are interesting not because of what great horror they caused. So here’s tips from someone who writes and reads on how to make villains interesting and memorable.

Tips

I fear when sometimes I write or I’m reading. Everyone can sound the same. I tend to get stressed over this so here are some tips that helped me. I’m focusing on the dialogue itself, so I also attached some articles that include more than what I mention below.

Dialogue Tips

1. Remember their personality 🎭

Are they straightforward when they speak or very nonchalant, aloof, flirty. The way they speak should be determined by their personality.