Hey! Since you excel at making characters that exist in networks of relationships, I would love to know your advice for me, if you feel like writing about it. :-) I have an OC, and an original setting that she lives in, and a general sense of what kind of plot I want to happen to her… but I don’t have anyone for her to talk to. I’m especially struggling with this because I have the idea that her private and public selves are very different, but I’m having trouble populating those two circles of her life. How would you go about getting a character into some interpersonal dynamics?
Alright, I'm rubbing my hands together fly style. I'm going to give a pile of prompts to start with.
So you have the general idea of a plot and I'm going to guess you also have an idea of what challenges your character. What would a character who excels at her weakness look like? Would this person be someone she looks up to? Envies? Perhaps even looks down on? (i.e. Ebeneezer Scrooge meets a wealthy philanthropist on Dec. 2st.)
Does your character tend to let people into her private circle after some time, is it more of a position a select few have, or does she tend to be a pretty firm loner? What would someone she trusts, but finds annoying be like? How does she respond to people trying to get closer to her?
What kind of person would she want to impress or seem her best self in front of? A mentor, a crush, a younger relative, an ex-lover? What does this best self look like? Does she tend to succeed?
Does she have casual friendships? People who see her public face more often than not? What does it look like when she cares about someone who she doesn't necessarily let in?
How would she react to meeting someone who is like her private self in public?
Consider who she grew up with. What kind of dynamic do you want to write with her parents? Do you want them to be close and supportive? Well-meaning but clueless? Strict and difficult? How has their relationship changed as grew up?
Think of three dynamics you enjoy as a reader/watcher. What kind of character would have that kind of dynamic with the character you have invented?
Invent three locations that your character goes to on a semi-weekly basis and think of who would need to be there. Like, a comic store would need a clerk. You don't have to go in depth, just think basic presentation and what your character thinks of them.
Invent the Total Opposite of your character. Find an excuse to get them in the same space.
It's not homework or even a checklist, it's all about getting the start of the characters going so that they naturally begin building on each other.
