characterization
so in the past i used to get aaked about how i portrayed characters so well in my fics. Mostly this was when i was in peak MCYt acotvity becauae i'd write a fic and people would ask about how i got them feeling like the actual characters, which i swear is the only reason people read those things like seriously-
anyways i thought i'd share tips for writing characters thr really feel like the actual characters :)
tldr this is for people who want to write canon complient fic and match characrers really well to the real deal. If you're doing AU or somwthing dont worry about this. I'll happily answer if you send an ask thpugh (i do write noncanon fics where people have mentioned how much like the actual character it feels like reading tho since the original work is a comic and not a novel....)
Speech pattern. Especially in RPF or in media whwre the characters are audibly talking. In a good one, you can hear small language nuances. I'll use hermitcraft as an example. In Hermitcraft, most of the creators have catchphrases or verbal tics- one guy goes "amaing!" (Or rather "ahmuayzhing!") at things and another like to pepper his vocab with fancy words while he rambles. I don't usually weite accents inless it's like Scottish where you kinda do need the accent but i try to slip their verbal tics in, because it makes the fic meoe immeesive if you can read a character's lines and it sounds like skmeting the character would say. It's harder in weiten media but something you can pick up on the vibe ans go off that.
adding on to this: i ehould add since i'm bisually impaired i listen for voice to identify people. You can usually hear a person based off their speech pattern and vocal range fairly accurately and i always imagine the character is saying what i'm writing so i can tell if it doesn't seem like something they would say. I will say i did once write fic in a fandom i barely knew but it worked becauae their meme qualities literally were rheir lersonalities....and there was very little dialogue.
movement. I haven't done this as much but in visual media you can definitely see in good animations or videos that someone is moving more while talking, another prefers to lean on something, etc.
logic. Is your character kinda dull, like. phineas and ferb'e bbuford? Then he will have dumb responses. Is he Sheldon Cooper? He will respond witth a meme statement or big vocab. Not everyone shares the same logic. and ofc if you want to follow canon, dont write that x charaacter drank soda when that character drinks tea. Ofc its fic tho so take whatveer liberties you need/want.
that's really it. a lot or it is just considering the charqcters' speech patterns (accents make a difference but you don't need to write them!) and their overall actions. My take is: if you can substitute a simillar character in, you haven't made rhe charactee distinct enough. A good character haa dimension and isn't just memes.
Thats all i can think of rn i might add more later
