Recently I just wrote a characters physical appearance and started jotting down points about the character, I’ve done a few of these before but never have I started off with the appearance.

The initial note I wrote: A Greyhound-like character with a sleek and slender build, long, narrow face, pointed ears, deep chest, wearing a short, smooth coat, graceful gait, athletic movements.

I normally write with a theme in mind not a character, so the characters I write often feel forced into the story.

I’d love to hear what you feel makes a character apt for a story and what order you tend to build a story in.

  • ThatExpatGirl@literature.cafe
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    6 months ago

    My characters always come first – well, that and the world they inhabit, as I work mainly in fantasy. Character and world are so intertwined for me, after all, we’re all a result of our contexts and background.

  • RandomDent@literature.cafe
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    6 months ago

    I definitely do that! I have several characters floating around in my head right now that don’t have a story to go into yet.

      • RandomDent@literature.cafe
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        6 months ago

        No, not really. They’re all in kind of different states of completeness, if that makes any sense. Some don’t have names or faces yet, that sort of thing. But I tend to just leave them alone until I need them, then they start to become more concrete depending on the story.