Forums » Smalltalk » Self-conscious about your characters?

Hey all!

I've been around for a while now but don't do a whole lot of posting in the community simply because I'm still pretty self conscious about the way that my characters will be perceived, especially since their profiles here are far from finished and it's honestly kind of a huge mess right now. OTL I have a fair few roleplays going, though most of them are with folks that I've known from previous sites and I just wanted to talk to you all about how you go about easing yourself into a new community.

Obviously being social is definitely key, but I've never actually been a part of a site that's pure focus is character development and roleplay before so I've had trouble actually posting haha. I hail from the land of pet sites, though both my characters and I simply outgrew them (and honestly should have outgrown them a long time ago, but here we are lol). In that sort of environment the focus obviously isn't characters or their depth or any worldbuilding around them, so I felt pretty confident in what I had for the scope of things and am now not feeling quite so confident in my ideas. xD I still love all my characters and think I'm a decent enough writer, but there are some character profiles out there that definitely make me think twice before asking for input on any of mine.

Granted, most of the mess is because I have a ton of characters. Like, around 100, so it'll take a while to get all of my ducks in a row, so to speak. I also have several plotlines that overlap and run on a timeline within the same universe that I'm working out via worldbuilding, so while a lot of these big ideas are in my head I just don't have them down on paper yet and so a lot of the ideas I have are pretty...uh, scattered? xD I dunno.

This is getting a little rambly so I'll end it here, but I just want to know how you all feel about reaching out to others for input and feedback on characters and how you integrated into a real writers' community. I'd also absolutely be down for some private character chatter and whatnot if anyone wants to shoot me a pm~ c: The whole point of this adventure is to try to make myself be less antisocial lol.

Hello! I feel like a broken record with this one, but, I'll share again anyway just because it was such a huge help for me. As far as your plot ideas go, try using index cards! For whatever reason it makes the plotting process so much easier, and then you can easily shuffle things around and get a visual idea of where the strengths in your story lie.

Some of my stuff in progress:


When it comes to your characters, is it the actual depth to them that concerns you, or is it something more along the lines of the looks of their pages?

I've never actually considered the index card trick! It seems pretty helpful, especially since it gives you the ability to shuffle parts of the plots themselves around. Right now all my storyboard-esque stuff is being done digitally in a normal word doc, with lots of color coding and copy-pasting haha. xD Perhaps not the most organized, but it was the easiest thing I could think of. I'm not sure if I'll be able to use the index cards in the way you have them (I'm in a pretty small city apartment and my dogs would LOVE to tear that up lol) but I might give it a try.

Honestly it's not the depth that bothers me (since all of them are fairly well developed and worked out) so much as it is the lack of actual content on their profiles. They're starting to look nicer appearance-wise, for sure, but I think I'm just wary of sharing them before I'm done writing out all the info I have on them in my head down on their profiles. Right now it's a lot of placeholder text and general stats, stuff like that. I have most of their lives planned out but basically nothing in the character history section, if that makes any sense lol!

tl;dr - I just need to stop being a lazy bum and actually put all the content I have figured out for my characters onto their dang profiles and make 'em look nice. lD Drawing out their designs for once wouldn't kill me either. Too much to do and not enough time to do it in.

Oh, my dog would love more than anything to get paws on that stuff! I picked up some of those tri-fold poster board things from the dollar store and tape my index cards to those. That way, I can fold them up and tuck them behind the bookshelf when I'm not actively using them (though currently my entire office is a terrible mess of index cards ALL over the place, shh).

Ha! I get that about time. Honestly, I prefer not to put everything on my character profiles. Though I've gotten a little more detailed over time on here, I keep most of it private. That way, things can be revealed through story instead. I suppose really it depends on your goals and what it is you want people to be able to discover at a glance. Some people may be intimidated by these massive chunks of writing that make them feel like they need to study it just to figure out where the heck they'll fit. I know, because I've been totally guilty of it.

Ooohh, fancy! ^-^ That's a great idea. I feel like if I use index cards my entire room would just end up scattered with them haha. I'll keep you posted.

Mmmhm, there's definitely something to be said for the simplicity of a profile as well. I suppose I'm just trying to strike some kind of balance between wanting to obsessively record everything (so I don't forget it) and making profiles approachable. Your character profiles look lovely, by the way lol! x) I'm friends with Krysty on here, so I may have creeped on your profile after seeing the character connection stuff in my activity feed once or twice. /fail

I keep all of my characters anonymous, because I have a very diverse set. I don't want to be thought of as "that guy who does light, fluffy characters who end up in lewd situations," and then break out a serious, chaste character and have confusion ensue.

Ha, thank you! Trust me, none of them started out quite the way they look now. Mine were simplistic to a fault, and sort of grew from there. Personally, I keep google docs of my characters with the other pertinent information that I don't want to forget. I'd love to throw it all up, but for me, in the quest for design, I restrain myself. For some people it works, for others it doesn't!

Oh, and *waves!*

It's more likely that you're concerned about how you are perceived. Not just your characters.

What I look for in anyone's profile is if they can acknowledge that I am a person first and foremost. Before a character. Yes I enjoy RP, no I don't want to be treated like a "one night stand". Since I only do IC only RP with people I get to know there needs to be some conversation and perhaps "personal posting", which is actually what a lot of people are actually doing as opposed to IC only RP. If someone has "I'll see you as a human being and make an effort to post with you if I care about you" then I'm more inclined to approach someone. If however a profile has "I'm here for my own RP alone" then that puts me off. If nothing else people that care about each other are much more likely to post things for/with each other they normally otherwise wouldn't. Being quite "outside the box" that limits me to the "those that care" area.

Another reason for this though is because my character is, to be frank, evil and chaotic. Ripping out someones throat on a first contact probably isn't a good way of establishing having fun together. Maybe if the other party is into being a victim but I am also a sub. You can see the dilemma. Fortunately communication resolves all.

This gets resolved easily enough. I haven't touched the profile I have on this site for years so it might not be the best example. On other sites I simply state "Here's a bit about me and how/when I RP". State the "two types of RP" (the personal kind that happens when people like each other and the IC only kind which is very different) and then I cover "This is how IC me is like. Expect these things to happen when getting into an IC only RP with me". It's stated point blank without shame or remorse. "This is what you get into, here are the risks." If someone can't handle the heat (hellhound joke) then they're the ones that knowingly played with fire. Which can get pretty fun when others get past my barking and biting and turn the tables. Getting put in line and all. Anywho, just an example of how I go about "explaining me and my character". Also slip in the fact that I'm sub somewhere to provide an idea about "turning the tables" in RP. IC or otherwise.

I'll note something else. If I see someone with 100 characters it makes me wonder if they put in the time and effort needed for any of them. If nothing else I would wonder if someone would even be one one at all due to there being so many. I'm the last person that would ever claim others don't matter, be it people, items, activities and whatnot. Others matter, I know that. But 100? Can someone honestly make the time for each and every one? By which I mean the people that might know them.

Ooh, that's interesting. :o I've never considered making my characters anonymous just because...I dunno, regardless of how people take them they're still mine and I'd like to be associated with them, you know? I have a pretty diverse set as well, but I think it's actually more of a compliment to you if you're able to write a pretty diverse cast. It's always fun to broaden your horizons and write things that you're not as comfortable or familiar with, and I feel like the characters I have that are further away from my "norm" are actually some of the ones I have the most fun with.

Aah, the quest for design never ends lol. xD Every time I find a layout that I like for my characters I use it for a while and then end up scrapping it for something else. This is why I'll never be done with profiles rofl. OTL

You bring up some interesting points, thank you! ;

I'd definitely say that someone's perception of my characters and their perception of me would go hand in hand, of course. I wouldn't say that I'm so much of a nervous wreck socially so much as I am anxious about sharing ideas that I've mostly kept to myself up to this point, though, so it's a bit of a mix of both!

I also really agree with you on the topic of conversation between myself and my RP partners being incredibly important. I like to chat OOC with the people I RP with otherwise I find it pretty difficult to keep a plot moving, not only because of character tendencies like you mentioned with your evil fellow, but because sometimes I just don't feel like replying and would rather toss around some brainstorm ideas about plot or...whatever. xD I think it's a great idea to present all your RP habits up front to someone as well, like you mentioned with the profile bit.

I'll also be the first to admit that not all 100 characters (or so, it's slightly less but w/e) are as in-depth as others--they definitely don't all get the same amount of attention lol. Many are side characters to a story that a more main character of mine is involved in, and I enjoy giving them profiles because I'd be more than okay with roleplaying them and fleshing them out further through that. They all have a decent amount of depth to them, though some obviously have more than others. Some have their entire lives planned out and have many facets of their characters ironed out as well while others are still basically just rough ideas with personality. *shrugs* I suppose I enjoy focusing on diversity between my group and having ideas to suit a situation rather than trying to force a character I have into a RP that wouldn't work for them, if that makes sense? xD I'm just a sucker for new ideas and I like to have a somewhat thought-up idea ready in case I want to tackle a genre or subject I'm not as familiar with. I would say that a little over half of them are decently or very well thought out, the other half are still in that rough idea stage.

The amount of characters also falls into my worldbuilding habits, also. I have a pretty vast world so I gotta have lots of people I've thought about at least a little bit, right?