A story with characters VS. characters with a story

[Chieftac]

Normally when i write a story i come up with new characters during the writing when i need them in the story. But now i have the opposite. Now i already have some characters and want to write a story about these characters. I don't know what the best way is to start with this because I couldn't find any easy guidelines for it on the internet. I also wanted to know if somebody here has done this before when writing a visual novel. What was your experience with this kind of writing and do you have tips or links to easy-to-understand guidelines for other people?

[PN04]

I'm still very new to VN writing myself but in a situation where you have characters and no story my first effort is to define what their setting is first. Once I know what type of world they live in (usually something that fits the tone and style of the characters as well because you wouldnt want them to be too unbelievable in their own world) I start on what the characters motivations are; Who likes/hates who, what do they want to do in the story (their ultimate goal), characters quirks and flaws are also important to determine, assuming these weren't already considered, and then edit setting, timeline, characteristics and, motivations as needed until the flow of the story makes sense.

Just my 2 cent.

[OokamiKasumi]

...i already have some characters and want to write a story about these characters. I don't know what the best way is to start with this because I couldn't find any easy guidelines for it on the internet.

The easiest method for plotting a story from your characters is the Three Questions Method.

Ask EACH of your main characters (Hero/ine, Buddy or Lover, and Villain) these Three Questions:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1) Who am I & what do I do? (Also: How did I get this way?)
2) What do I want more than anything? (Also: Why do I want this?)
3) What is the worst possible thing that could happen to me?

Example: HELLSING
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1 - I am an heiress and a Knight to my Queen.
2 - I am on a holy crusade to destroy the unholy monsters that prey on humans.
3 - Give me control of a creature more monstrous than any monster out there -- and make me like him as a person.

1 - I’m a Vampire that preys on other vampires.
2 - I want sanity.
3 - Make me so monstrously insane I have to voluntarily choose to be enslaved by one who can control me.

1 - I am a Cop that became a vampire.
2 - I want to save lives.
3 - Have me discover that the vampire that made me is dangerously insane -- and eventually, I will be too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first question, “Who am I?” should clue you in as to what each characters’ greatest weakness is.
The second question, “What do I want?” gives you their motives.

Now, COMBINE the answers.

• The answers to the first question will give you your Setting and the Opening Problem or Opening Conflict.
• The answers to the second question will give you the story's direction.
• The answers to the third question will give you the big reversal; the darkest moment at the center of the story.
• The Climax, or Climactic Battle happens when the conflicting goals of all three characters meet head on, and Winner Takes All.

The rest is up to you.

[Obscura]

Here's an article that talks quite a bit about story in terms of goal and tasks (and how characterization fits into that scheme.)

http://www.wordplayer.com/columns/wp30.The.Task.html

It's from Terry Rossio, one half of the famous Elliot/Rossio screenwriting team (Men In Black, Aladdin, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.) His classic Wordplay column is really intended for budding screenwriters, but he's dispenses excellent advice for storytellers of any medium, really.

* haha - I forgot to add the most important point, which is I am sure you could work backwards using his suggestions from your characters.

[PN04]

After reading the link that Obsura posted I was reminded of an article a comic book writer wrote about a decade.. wait.. a couple of decades ago (oh crap, I'm getting old!) about how he went about creating the setting of a comic I enjoyed reading. It was something that always stuck with me years later when writing other projects, so I went looking for it just now to see if it was ever posted online and found a version of it on the writer's blog. The first 7 or 8 paragraphs are the part I remember most (just up to the point where he starts talking about the person that created the character, although I enjoyed the whole article too) because it set up the framework of the obstacles the character would have to overcome during the course of the comic.

http://digitalpriest.com/legacy/comics/ray.html

[Chieftac]

Thanks for all the tips. After some searching yesterday on the internet i also found two simular websites with good information on how to start a visual novel. It has two pretty easy to understand tutorials. Making a blue-print for the story is still pretty difficult if you never done it before but i will try. It takes some time to connect all the characters and locations so that the general plot of the story (and also the sub-plots) still makes sense.

http://secrets-vn.webs.com
http://visualnovel.webs.com

[cesullivan]

Determine what it is your characters want and then deny them that. Apparently, that's what plot is. But then, it's after 3 am and I'm just regurgitating something I saw in a prezi my interactive narrative instructor used in class ;P