Writing Help

Hey everyone! I love writing and am new (since I just discovered this group) but this isn't where I introduce myself! lol So yes help!

So I thought I would share something that I found really interesting. For fantasy and sci-fi writers I found this podcast very good and helpful: Writing Excuses
has anyone listened to this cast before. Aimed at writers, it's casted by Brandon Sanderson, Howard Talyor and Dan Wells.

Sadly the first season is hard to get but I'm going to recommend Magic and Rules of Magic systems (Always remember the donkey! )

I've been having a difficult time keeping my characters the same..meaning like i start the story with the characters acting really hardcore(mean)(strong) but then they start to get overly soft and uke-ish or just more like my personality...but i cant seem to figure out how to keep them one way, I need everyone to act differently.

I can Honestly say this is driving me insanae and makes it very hard to finish my stories. How do i create different personalities?

@Exiled: Do you emote when you write? Put yourself into the character's place and try to image what he feels? If you do, and it really *is* your own personality warping them, then take a step back. Reread the original characterization and practice "talking/acting" from that persona.

If you can't get in his head, or you secretly *like* having them all sound like you, then make it work for you. Use it. Characters don't stay the same all the time. They do soften and have moments of weakness. If the situation is strange enough they may act like a completely different person. You see quiet people explode in shocking anger, seemingly strong people break into hysterics or sink into a sudden depression. People are flexible like that. Manipulate the plot so that the automatic 'softening' that happens is due to the things around them (as far as the reader knows). Think of it as real life where even the most outspoken solders end up on depression meds by the time they come home. Where nice people lash out and even the most perfect person you meet has a mess of flaws. Take that flexible character and make it work for you.

It *is* a flaw if the character changes without you wanting him to. But you can use it to your advantage.

LOL Arigatomina I didn't know that's what it is called. *emote*
@Exiled... I agree! And I'll add that I will focus on one character for a week or more just to get the persona down. Just building up different events he*that character* will experience..

I understand perfectly, I do more fan fiction than anything..and it is depressing if I re-read a chapter and find I cant tell the difference between my characters based on the dialogged. Meaning having a character's name in each sentence Thats really tedious. The fact is no one wants every character to *sound the same*

Original or Fanfiction my advice, do your story in parts. I do this sometimes. My entire chapter will focus on one or two characters. Not that others wont be in the chapter just that the "characterization" will all be from the main characters of that chapter POV.

NOPE not first person. Just from *my character's* prov= how he felt, did, said, looked.

I'll focus on that one/two for the entire chapter. lol

I've never really had an issue with this... If your characters are becoming more like you, why don't you try focusing on different aspects of your own personality and exaggerate them in your characters. I do this sometimes. I am a very sarcastic person at times and I've been wanting to create a character like that for sometime now, so I created a sarcastic, cussing reporter. ^^ He is based on a part of my personality, but it's much stronger in him and the smaller aspects of him are his own. That way I don't have to work as hard to get inside his head. I start thinking sarcastically and the rest of his personality traits fall into place. I'm not sure if anyone else does this, but it works for me and at times, makes it easier to write. I also agree with everything Arigatomina and CrisNoWait said. Re-reading to get a better feel for your characters and focusing on the events around them is probably the best advice anyone could give you. People are flexible.

@Arigatomina/CrisNoWait/MelodySnow
Thank you all for helping me, I think im just going to try to either Detach myself from the story more or try to act the way the character does ^^ it shouldnt be that bad lol, Just gotta make sure i warn my mom(dont want her thinking im mental lol) I really hope im able to write a decent story without screwing the characters up. its just really hard to keep them the same.

But i understand 100% of what you were saying Arigatomina, About how people are always constanly changing in real life so its only natural for them to change slightly in the story, and i will try to make it so the story or atleast the chapter has something to do with why the character is acting the way they are.

Thank you all of you that commented it really helped me ^^ <3

@CrisNoWait: When I watch a new movie, I always listen to the commentary track the second time through. The way actors get into their roles is exactly how I approach fanfiction. Some of the best dialogue in movies is when the script leaves most of it up to improv. Actors who really get into the character know that character better than the writers half the time. Which is wrong - bad writers - but understandable. With fanfiction, I'm more of an actor than a writer. I direct the scenes and plot points (stage settings, special effects), I produce and edit the finished work, but it's the characters who tell the story based on their individual personalities. That's why I can't reproduce a story if I lose it. They rarely say the same thing twice and if I try to force them it comes out wooden - like a bad actor reading lines that never should have been put into his mouth to begin with. I really think movies would be better if the writers practiced with borrowed characters, or at least learned to emote. Some are so bad the entire dialogue could have been spoken by one person - the writer - with no connection to the various mouths delivering the words. Especially horror movies, which are my favorite. >.<

^^ oh the passion of *emote* you know it takes me longer to update because of this. I kinda miss having just one story to focus on. But then again I seem to get no more ideas by having one work demanding my attention as opposed to 4. LOL!

I've come to the conclusion until I play out a scene in its entirety to see where it will lead, as well as add potential plot holes to see if my character can recover, I wont write a thing. I did good to day I actually went with 2 different emotes for 2 different stories and managed to get them down on paper. (well PC)

Even after emoting I tend to change it once its typed and I see it in its 2 dimensional state. =__= Just like to keep it flowing as naturally as possible.

BTW I haven't seen a good horror movie in 5 years, well they all have moments but none I would rave about. Maybe hills has eyes...remake.

@Arigatomina - The horror of losing a story. OMG. Was just thinking about one I lost when my computer crashed last year and how I would never be able to recreate it. So so sad.

Method Acting is what your talking about...I believe. I've read a few articles about the pro vs cons of method over character acting, but I've never actually tried to use it when writing. I may have to.

I read an article the other day on plots. It was talking about not taking the easy way out or doing stupid stuff with your characters just so you have a story. I think a lot of horror movies do that. I mean who is really going to choose to go into a dark closet instead of running away? And when a writer makes the choice to write a plot like that, it only stands to reason that their dialogue is going to leave a lot to be desired.

I have really bad writing habits lately. I tend to write like a mad woman and then when I go back to edit I get really frusterated because the words don't paint the scene I want. I've also have gotten a little lazy about checking for overused words.

@DarkestFey - You mentioned overusing words, I found this site yesterday when I was looking for descriptive words. It wasn't actually what I was looking for, but I thought it was interesting. Maybe it'll be of some use to someone: Descriptive words