satanindisguise

[satanindisguise]

Rewatched Thunderbolts* in theatres yesterday. The scenes between Valentina and Bob? Nobody is ready for the level of absolute freak that inspired in me.

[satanindisguise]

Been on something of hiatus from Pacific Rim recently, now back and thinking of doing a 'mixed media' style fic about K-Day and its aftermath.

On a related note, I think a K-Day movie styled like Godzilla (2014) would fuck severely.

[satanindisguise]

Not sure where to start your research? On JSTOR, you can explore by subject–whether you're into folklore, finance, or feminist studies.

Browse our full list of subjects and find the perfect source.

[Video description: Screen recording of someone scrolling through JSTOR’s subject browse page, displaying a wide range of academic disciplines such as African American Studies, Art & Art History, Economics, Philosophy, and more. The page has a clean, text-based layout with grouped subject categories.]

[satanindisguise]

Writing Character CHANGE

Character development is absolutely CRUCIAL to a story, but having spent more time thinking about this topic, I came to the realization that I misunderstood a lot of points other people have made when teaching how to write character development.

There are a lot of factors that play into character development, but in this post, I'll cover some overall, but the main thing concerns any change to your character! (Which is also a huge part in development, really.)

So with this post, I'll be teaching you MY personal tips regarding this subject!

*The Basics*

Before we really get into the developmental stage, there are some things you want to establish, in which I'll explain later!

A couple of flaws.

How your character views themselves at first.

Your character's morals/ideals and how they think.

These things may vary, but you want your readers to be able to at least roughly predict how your character will act during specific events!

*Change*

Character development is just about how your character changes throughout the story. I like to say that there are several different ways one may change, (we'll get into that later on) but your character should NOT stay the same as the same person during the exposition and during the resolution!

"During character development, your character should grow."

This is a common piece of advice; your character needs to grow. And while I've assumed for the longest time that I understood what it meant, it never truly clicked.

While they will use words such as grow, what they really mean is that your character should mature. By the end of your story, your character may not always end up as a better person. When I say mature, I mean that they have reflected back on their life and have understood the consequences that came with their actions (if any) or how they could've done things differently.

Your character will not always end up as a better, fixed person, but they should understand their world and themselves better.

*Negative/Passive Change*

Alright then, so how does a character develop if they don't necessarily change for the better? Well, I'll get into that!

No matter what, your character should have learned a lesson through their experience. Even if they haven't exactly improved as a person, there should be a moral they can learn from what they have gone through.

If not, then did they really grow?

Additionally, how did their qualities negatively impact themselves? If they are bad traits, then it needs to be clear. And the best way to achieve this is by demonstrating how it hurts your character! However, it is rather uncommon for a character to undergo little to no change after a story!

*Positive Change*

Let's circle back to the basics, real quick. Remember how I said that before any development takes place, your character should be anything but perfect? That same thing applies to after the change.

Do NOT create a flawless character by the end of your story. Instead, focus on one or two flaws that get fixed as the story continues. These don't have to be huge, life-changing imperfections, but they can be minor ones that still shape their life in one way or another.

"Fixing" too many shortcomings can make your character seem, well, out of character, producing a character development that's more forced. The same thing applies if you're attempting to FULLY alter a fault that's just too big. The change will be too noticeable.

What am I talking about? Here's an example!

Imagine a character who's incredibly closed off to other people, wanting to ensure that he never gets too close to others.

That's a pretty sizable flaw, no? By the end of your story, you do not want to completely change because you need to preserve character, but you can change it a bit. Does he have a few friends now? Does he understand that there are some people worth trusting?

He may still be closed off to majority of people, but at least it's not everyone, and that's a realistic change.

*Different Changes*

As I continue to read more stories and watch more shows, I have realized that character development is not always about fixing flaws or personality, but it can extend far past that line.

So listen up, because I feel like no one really talks about this.

Your character can change their IDEALS, MORALS, and how they VIEW THEMSELVES.

Hear that? If your character has strong morals, they will hardly stay the same as they reach the end. Remember the requirements I mentioned at the beginning?

See how it connects now? There is SO much more to character development than changing a few imperfections. Like I said in the start, your character needs to grow and mature. Things like new morals or ideals assist with that!

*SUMMARY*

In order to start character development, you need a couple of flaws, an idea of how your character looks at themselves, and their morals. This is because those are the main parts of you character that may change through time.

Growth = Maturing (gaining a better sense of who they are and the world they live in.)

NOT ALL CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IS POSITIVE!

For negative or passive change, make sure to clarify how their imperfections affected or hurt them and have some sort of moral that follows.

YOUR CHARACTER SHOULD NOT BE PERFECT!

They should not be perfect in the beginning, and not perfect in the end! Do not 'fix' too many traits because you want to preserve character.

I think that's all! It's quite the post for something so simple, eh? But hey, character development is absolutely PIVOTAL to a story so I hope I at least explained the 'change' part of that well!

Happy writing~

3hks <3

[satanindisguise]

THIS GOES CRAZY 🎨 die-aloney

[satanindisguise]

TOOL: OC QUESTIONS GENERATOR

a neat little generator that gives you a random question for your ocs! find it here // support me on ko-fi

>> FEATURES

over 600 different questions, covering every aspect of character building

easy to use, no unnecessary distractions, just a very straightforward generator

content warnings on the page itself, as well as in the first screenshot

>> NOTES

please send me a dm if there’s a content warning missing, i’ll add it to the page immediately!

if you have any ideas for questions, feel free to let me know and if they’re not on the list already, i’ll add them!

feel free to use this tool for personal projects or tell your friends about it, as long as you don’t try to steal the code of the page or claim the generator as your own :)

i do not take credit for all the questions in this generator, i’ve gathered them at some point from both my own brain as well as stuff online

likes are always welcome, reblogs much appreciated!

[satanindisguise]

Describe Your OC As...

The following prompts are for you to interpret however you wish! These can be taken literally, metaphorically, or any which way you choose, answered in a line or a paragraph or an entire scene. You can treat this post as an ask game with your followers or answer it on your own at your leisure. Enjoy!

⏳ TIME — dawn — noon — dusk — night

🤝 RELATIONSHIP — friend — lover — ex — enemy

✨ SEASON — spring — summer — autumn — winter

🌀 DESTRUCTION — tornado — wildfire — earthquake — tsunami

🌄 LANDSCAPE — mountain — forest — ocean — desert

[satanindisguise]

Writing Worksheets & Templates

will update this every few weeks/months. alternatively, here are all my tagged Writing Worksheets & Templates

Chapter Outline ⚜ Character- or Plot-Driven Story

Death & Sacrifice ⚜ Magic & Rituals ⚜ Plot-Planning

Editing: Sentence Check ⚜ Writing Your Novel: 20 Questions

Tension ⚜ Thought Distortions ⚜ What's at Stake

Character Development

50 Questions ⚜ Backstory ⚜ Character Creation

Antagonist; Villain; Fighting ⚜ Protagonist & Antagonist

Character: Change; Adding Action; Conflict

Character: Creator; Name; Quirks; Flaws; Motivation

Character Profile (by Rick Riordan) ⚜ Character Sheet Template

Character Sketch & Bible ⚜ Interview your Character

Story-Worthy Hero ⚜ "Well-Rounded" Character Worksheet

Worldbuilding

20 Questions ⚜ Decisions & Categories ⚜ Worksheet

Setting ⚜ Dystopian World ⚜ Magic System (AALC Method)

Templates: Geography; World History; City; Fictional Plant

References: Worldbuilding ⚜ Plot ⚜ Character ⚜ Writing Resources PDFs

all posts are queued. send questions/requests here.

[satanindisguise]

Honestly be pretentious as fuck about the stuff you create. Do a press release for your fanfic updates. Do a Q&A about your webcomic. Make fake merch designs for your OCs. Commission "official" book covers. Very few of us will ever get to a stage where something we've created Makes It Big but even if you have an audience of 5 people plus a shoelace fucking indulge yourself and pretend!! It's the only way to live!!

[satanindisguise]

If you're a writer you're supposed to write a lot of bullshit. It's part of the gig. You have to write a lot of absolute garbage in order to get to the good bits. Every once in a while you'll be like "Oh, I wish I hadn't wasted all that time writing bullshit," but that's dumb. That's exactly the same as an Olympic runner being like "Oh, I wish I hadn't wasted all that time running all those practice laps"

[satanindisguise]

Hello :D I have decided to face my fears and open commissions! I tried to make multiple graphics, but they were looking very crowded and hard to read, so I made an info doc that contains things like: what other types of projects I can do, what subjects I can and can't draw, how my timeline works, payment process, and contact info

[also: just because comms are open, doesn't mean free sketch requests are over. I will still open those several times a year]

[satanindisguise]

ever fuck up so hard you end up thinking about voltron legendary defender in 2025? no? well that makes one of us.

[satanindisguise]

one of the worst feelings in the world is having creative aspirations that don't match your skill level. they are in my brain but i don't have the keys to let them out.

[satanindisguise]

I just found the funniest font ever

Like. What is this. Why is this. Who is the target audience of this?

[satanindisguise]

I've had one good idea ever actually, and it was the Pacific Rim time travel fanfiction with the footnote "and Raleigh is trans". Forever and always.

[satanindisguise]

being so violently into Pacific Rim (2013) that you really run out of things to think about for the movie's timeline so you start thinking about the Mark-1 Glory Days all the time and run into the problem of oh shit, HALF OF THESE PEOPLE ARE ONLY NAMES. and nobody you know is into this period of time either. so you're staring at wall with (text) Bruce and Trevin Gage, Scott Hansen, et al. taped to it because you can't come up with anything that makes them writable.

would that be fucked up or what?