Can you bond with your Character and embrace your Story?

[Lunethex]

Do you ever feel close, connected, in love with your own character? Can you relate to him or her and be able to imagine yourself in their position, and allow them to create the story for you?

I don't think many people have the level of imagination it takes for something like that to happen. Fortunately, I am able to do just that. Immerse yourself in the world that you create through days, weeks and months of thinking. Devise and scheme every little thing, and connect it to your list of characters. Can you do that? I find it very rewarding when I achieve this state, through the listening of music in the wee hours of the night and the gazing at fine arts, I can almost reach into that fake reality. Always create a beginning and an end, then you'll know how to turn the story through your checkpoints.

Well, I might sound just a tad bit insane from what I just wrote, but perhaps you can understand how passionate I am about writing, and I wonder if any one else here is similar to me? Can you ever put yourself in the shoes of that person, that hero, that heroine, that villain? If you can, the thoughts of the story flood into your mind, even though you don't know where to begin, it seems like the whole thing reveals itself to you as if you had already known the entire time.

It's almost as if meeting with an alien being, if you enter into such a mood, you just feel enlightened and all knowing, bemused that you are the only one who can do this story, and content with doing just that, if you have the will and drive to do so. Embracing this alternate little universe that you can create with the powerful ability of thought, do you have what it takes?

Does anyone here feel very passionate about their writing to that kind of level? Sure, you might think me a little obsessive, which wouldn't be far from the truth, but it's not such a bad thing is it when it comes to wanting to excel?

This probably doesn't make much sense but bear with me.

[IceD]

Oh no, it makes much sense, really There is no obsession in the joy of creation.

I doubt just anyone which has the talent to create, invent anything but mostly fictional characters at some point would be in such situations, it's hard to fell nothing towards them. After all, they're our creations. Personally, I feel alot, but it's rather a good empathy than enthusiastic sympathy, which can end up mostly in uther misunderstanding. It's bad to be enthusiastic towards your creation because it creates a connection, which may lead to a different outview on them; Feeling empathy for you characters means an ability to see both their good sides and bad sides, understand them and know why they act and do what they do. Just because I like my characters doesn't mean I'm going to ease them in their struggle. Of course, that doesn't mean they I don't like them, or even - love them (yes, I do).

I regard myself as and old veteran at this. I always liked to imagine things since I was a small kid. Through all those years of my life I created three different, wast universes - all filled with things, living beings, history and events and I hope I'l be able to help them find a way out of my head, to a paper, or digital form and bring happiness, to me and perhaps, others as well. I love to share my imagination with other people and talk about it. Really, I could sit all the day, and propably lose the track of time just watching my characters living their own lives in my mind

I find it beautiful to see as characters grow and develop overtime. Give them a good plot and a theme, bring the conflict and watch as they fight their way through impossible obstacles on the outside and in their insides, love, kill, hate, win and lose. Once it starts, there's no stoping. This is a wonderful gift.

through the listening of music in the wee hours of the night[...]

So we're in the same boat , and music is a great inspiration, indeed. That's why I can't live without it, either.

Always create a beginning and an end, then you'll know how to turn the story through your checkpoints.

I just learned this not long ago and it helps alot in the process.

[Ghurdrich]

I'm definitely the same way. I very often will have a scene planned out, and then have it turn out a totally different way because, for lack of a better phrase, 'The characters took over.' I get so immersed in the world when I'm writing that characters will react on their own, and it's like I'm just an observer writing down a situation that actually happened rather than crafting a scene with my own hands. It's sort of like there's a section of my brain where all of these characters live and so when I have them interact, that part of my brain takes over and I get to see how they'd actually interact. Maybe it's strange, but it's a large factor in how I write. I know that I've changed one of the endings for my current project several times because of how the characters ended up working. As though I could step into my own world and one of them could walk up to me and say 'No, that won't work. This way is better, so do that.'

[Voight-Kampff]

I very often will have a scene planned out, and then have it turn out a totally different way because, for lack of a better phrase, 'The characters took over.' I get so immersed in the world when I'm writing that characters will react on their own, and it's like I'm just an observer writing down a situation that actually happened rather than crafting a scene with my own hands.

That's the same exact scenario that I've found myself in recently.

I spent months writing out hundreds of kilobytes worth of "throw away" scenes for a set of characters, just to "get to know them"—To understand their personalities. I thought it was a simple enough process. But I was somewhat freaked out once I started writing finalized scenarios.

I laid out a basic framework of what goals I wanted the story to accomplish—without specifying any details. Once I plunked down the characters and let them interact, they effectively ended up "writing" the scenes. I literally had no idea how a given scene would end until, well, the end.

Actually, I find this method very helpful. By not knowing all the details ahead of time, my interest is kept fresh through out the process of writing, as the characters continually surprise me, or as they "give me ideas" to follow up on.

[Watercolorheart]

I think that if you don't bond with your own characters, then you won't be able to write an effective story otherwise. It would feel shallow and rushed. Writers that become bored don't produce work as well as if they let it flow naturally.

Isn't it that growing fascination with creating characters that drives us authors through the writing process? I think the writer wants to find out, more than anyone else, what happens next... the hard part is always deciding which path to go on and sticking with it.

Even with a multiple-choice game, there has to be a certain set sequence of events and the characters should be recognizable on all paths (excepting character growth or extreme duress) otherwise the writing will feel weak and random and not as cohesive. So it's important to "bond" with your character, it even feels a little bit like love. You want to know more about them, so you continue crafting their identity.

Writers often speak of characters "writing themselves"... but it's really just being in the grip of inspiration, where thoughts come so fast that you can barely keep up with it or write it all down. Nothing worse than knowing there was a good idea you forgot because you didn't have a piece of paper on hand...

Ghurdrich:

I get to see how they'd actually interact. Maybe it's strange, but it's a large factor in how I write. I know that I've changed one of the endings for my current project several times because of how the characters ended up working. As though I could step into my own world and one of them could walk up to me and say 'No, that won't work. This way is better, so do that.'

I think you really hit onto something here. We expect to be subjective but, once you're done writing the scene, you suddenly place yourself as a reader and you're always your own harshest critic... behind every "mediocre" story is a struggling author learning to be a great one.

The amazing thing is that they did it at all.

Those that can't, troll.

Those that can, do.

How many times has fear held back a good scene because the author was afraid of the reception? We're such frail creatures... we bare our entire souls in our characters and in our stories and it can be a little scary sometimes. It's like pouring out your heart to a stranger... and waiting with your heart in your mouth, baited breath, for the reply. It's a risk, but without trying, there's no way to improve. Even a failed experiment is one step closer to the next success.

[LVUER]

Same here. I always feel connected with the characters I create, both male and female ones. After creating every character, I always fantasize about I being him/her and what to do in their situation.

[Glasskitten]

This is one of the few things in life that comes naturally to me. Now if only I could keep up with all the stuff in my sugarlovelies' lives that happens while I'm doing something mindless, and write it down rather than doing that mindless thing...
Oddly enough, it was only recently that I was first caught by a non-family-member laughing all by myself at something one of my sugarlovelies did or said.

One side effect I've noticed is that tackling their love lives feels almost incestuous. >_<
Character A might be a perfect match for Character B, but if I created them both, what perspective can I take that isn't horribly awkward?
I don't know how I feel about my own adorable bishies, especially the ones I know would hit on me if I were "real" to them. X_X

Ack, I just referred to myself as not being real. I think I hit the bottom of the rabbithole years ago.

[Red Lilies]

I also can't help but feel connected to my characters. They always come from something I'd like to be able to do, experiance or even just if I was wondering about how the world looked from a different set of eyes. And even if they end up being totally different than how I imagined them, I can't remember disliking a single one of them (especially the ones I meant to be evil. They always somehow coming out as my favorites. XD).
I can't say that I've even had a scene completely run aways from me, though. I might just not type fast enough or write fast enough to not consider every part I'm writing. Most of the time even if I decide that my initial plans for the scene don't actually fit the characters, the end usually comes out in a way I wanted (though often the path to getting there is totally different). I do often find that little lines or gestures during scenes is were the characters tend to take over a bit. Often I look back and think that I don't remember thinking about him/her saying that, but it fits them perfectly! That's always my favorite part about editing actually.

[shadow190]

My characters are some kind of my "best friends"... ^^° They understand me and stuff.
They are no replacement for my real friends of course. =)
But I feel with them, I like and love each and everyone of them.
They always represent someone or something very important in my life, but also some of my dreams and oppinions. ^____^

[PrettySammy09]

I actually have a strict rule: "I'm not my characters' friend, I'm their writer."

The reason I tell myself that is because if I'm my character's friend, I might write things to benefit him or her in the end when I really should write the story to benefit the plot. I might feel bad killing them off, or not letting them get what they want. (This guilt still gets to me from time to time. It's really tough to kill off someone. I don't know if I've managed it just yet.)

Still, I know my characters better than they know themselves. That is, I know the character flaws they won't admit. I know what they're embarrassed about, what they fear, what they try to hide, and that helps me write them believably.

I definitely feel people on the "letting the characters write the scene". Definitely voice should take over after awhile. When I'm writing along, I say "oh, "X" character would totally say this to "Y" character cause their relationship is like this...", but while I'm thinking that, I'm already writing the next line. The conversation flows as smoothly as conversation in real life.

That's what you get when you develop characters with very distinct voices and personalities. The dialogue writes itself for you.