How in the world do you guys manage to flesh out your characters, develop personality traits for them, and like, decide on a design for themm....? D:

I'm trying to release my characters from this dark corner of my mind x.x

Is there any specific guideline you go by? that would be useful to me (and probably others)?

ie:

Name: Age: History:

or something like that >.>

This is hard. T^T

(I want some art for my OCs but well, I haven't gotten references yet. xD obviously.)

I'm interested in how you do your characters. thanks :D

Ah, I always find myself toying around with character designs. Mostly once I think of the name I some how manage to think of a hair color and go from there.

As far as actually coming up with characters, there's some sort of scene that I want to be played out and work around that idea to flesh out characters and a story.

Ah, I'm probably not very good at explaining myself...

There's in-depth character sheets you can find online which will ask questions that may force you to think about your character but honestly my characters work out best when I either think about them in certain situations or just start writing.

Well, I kinda start with an idea and then ask questions. What makes them behave that way? What would they do if someone were in trouble? How do they get angry?

I don't think that it's possible to ask too many questions. The more you know, the better. Adding flaws, quirks, and habits add to believability, which is very important for character design. I usually think of real people when developing my characters, relying on what I know about them and how they react. It's kind of like drawing while using a photo as a guide - you're not directly copying, but you're getting enough down to understand what's going on.

Then, I step back and think: does it all make sense? Let me use a character I'm developing, Stagecoach-Cody. (fff codename for now.) He grew up during the French Reign of Terror, exposing him to all sorts of bad stuff. He didn't have a stable mind to begin with, (possibly undiagnosed paranoia?) but the events in question pushed him over the edge until his execution by beheading. The blade wasn't sharp enough, and he died a slow death of blood loss rather then it being quick and simple. He came back as a ghost, and is very unstable. You can't get a single comprehensible word out of him and he is prone to panic attacks.

To me, it makes more sense that he's insane than if here were very angsty and emo bawwww. :( Of course, I need to develop him a lot more so lol.

Reading articles on sociology and psychology may help!

This guide is very helpful!

[edit]fffff pushed the button too soon

holycrap i just got de ja vu.

Here's my process, with one of my own characters as a sort of reference. I hope it's.... somewhat helpful. ^^;;

I usually start with a idea/series of ideas. ('I want to make a cannibal. I want to make a Victorian era character. I want to make a gentleman.')

From there, I usually sketch out visual ideas, which if you aren't very good at art/don't like to draw/can't draw... you can probably skip. I do research on fashion here if it's in a historical setting, and also set an age range for the character. (visual idea, early to mid 20's)

When I have a good visual idea of what the character looks like, I go ahead and try to name them. I usually know where in the world my character is from here, so I can go look up names of the right ethnicity. 20000-names.com has always been a good place to start for me. I usually like to pick something that has to d with the character, but not always (in the case of the character I am using as an example, I knew that I wanted him to be named after other members of his family tree, so I was just looking for things that sounded good- in his case, things that sounded like rich, pompous sounding names). If they're from an AU world or not from Earth or some weird fantasy setting you have a little more freedom. If I don't want to stick with a specific ethnicity when i do these characters, I just play around with sounds until I find something I like. (Edmund Chadwick Montgomery)

By the time I have a name, I am probably already deciding personality traits. Names help me develop this further, as I've always found names to direct personalities, to a degree. 'Oh, they act like a (whatever name.)' Rough, 'big' personality traits come first, just like fleshing out a picture, as well as carrying through traits from the original ideas I was working with. Try and think of things that will make your character well rounded, they act one way towards some people, but another way towards other. They don't only have one or two big personality traits. Once I have a rough outline of how I generally want the character to act, I go in with those traits and start pulling out different quirks, like you would go and tighten a sketch and add details. (carry down- cannibal and gentleman. Add- pompous, slightly rude, (to lower class), socialite, conceited, prudish, but loving and responsible towards family. Add quirks- love of fine food/dining, workaholic, complete wuss about sex, closet transvestite tendencies, pampers/spoils sisters.)

Now I've gotten to the point where I need to start thinking about background story, and side characters if I need them. Side characters for me don't need as much development, but can eventually get it by the same process of main characters or there-about. I look at my character traits and see if there are any that need explaining by something happening in the character's background, or certain things that I know I want or need for the character, and build further from there. I also do research on whatever time period I want the character to be from (if they are a historical fiction/fantasy character) to help flesh things out, especially if certain historical events may have happened in their lifetime. Sometimes there are things I just can't work out, and they just sort of become anomalies XD (I need Edmund to have a lot of money, but not have to have a conventional job- I need to have both of his parents dead so that he inherits everything (carriage accident). Owned factories and land= workaholic book/record keeping, lack of parents puts Edmund at the head of household and means he has to support/take care of his sisters (results in pampering/spoiling). Cannibalism is aggravated mental problem. Transvestite tendencies stem from childhood (mother dressed him in frilly things and Little Lord Fauntleroy Suits) and living with two sisters. Etc. Etc.)

From here I can start writing/playing/drawing the character in proper fashion, and they may develop more through this as well. I find that my characters are always developing and changing little bit by little bit, so, the process is never finished for me.

I... I hope that was somewhat helpful, if a bit long! XD

Thank you guys :D I thought this thread would die BUT IT DIDN'TTTT. o/

I do have this particular scene in my mind, which is a bit hinted at in one of the other threads... What was it... Oh! Off the cuff writing. xD As well as this one other scene.

You guys have helped me a lot. :) Now, I'm going to -attempt- to develop a character in this thread.