[ SECRET POST #2088 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2088 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 01 pages, 021 secrets from Secret Submission Post #298.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

This just sounds limiting, honestly. If you're good enough at understanding human psychology, at constructing a believable psychological profile for any given character, you should be able to change any facet of your character without a problem. Simply tweak, or sometimes, completely re-write, that psychological profile (this profile does not have to be literally written out, mind. Mine are just in my head.) Then they are not "just words on paper" in the negative way you seem to mean. They are very believable human beings.

It's just like yourself... If somebody understands themself really well, they should be able to make educated guesses (and believable, realistic ones) as to how they might be different if they were another race, another gender, if they'd been orphans, if they'd been abused or not been abused, etc...

I know not everybody analyzes them in this way. But I think any writer should be able to construct a realistic set of reactions and personality changes based on any given event. That's what you're doing when writing a story, after all? So why is it suddenly impossible when applied to a specific character?

I'm not saying you should change your characters for anybody else. You shouldn't. I just fundamentally disagree that what you're describing is a superior form of writing, or what most good authors do.

The better and more experienced I get with writing, the more changeable my characters have become. Most writers have characters that appear to them. How else would we start writing, or be inspired to do so? It's just that a lot of us don't see these characters as unchangeable. They came to us in a split second. Surely it will be rare for my brain to create something better, and more realistic, in a split second, than when given more time, right? Characters often improve a lot when you research things and think about them and make your own decisions in a more thoughtful way than your knee-jerk brain activity can.

I simply feel you may be limiting yourself by seeing these characters as fully formed people that you can't change unless it feels right. Your brain creates what it is comfortable with, what it knows. What "feels right" again represents what you are comfortable with, what you know. Some of the best writing happens when we do something that takes us out of our comfort zone, but this is rarely going to "feel right" immediately or groove well with our split-second initial character creation. Conversely, it's often when authors start talking about how characters have minds of their own, is often when their writing goes down hill, when they don't take appropriate criticism. See: Anne Rice. It's possible what you're doing works for you but in general I highly, highly highly recommend against it.

[(Anonymous)]

Look, even if they are our own characters and not somebody else's, some actions (or changes) would lead to OOC-ness or outright character derailment.
That's why we (I hope you don't mind me including you, Saku) keep saying that some changes aren't possible.

[saku]

yeah, pretty much. i'm not going to have a character act... well, out of character simply because some folks seem to think that these drastic and random changes without reason are beneficial to the story, because in my eyes, they aren't. changes that work with the character, the plot and the setting, etc. are the ones that are worth keeping if they don't flow then they're likely not good changes, unless you're writing a story that is meant to be erratic.

[saku]

the bottom line is that if it doesn't feel right then it'snot meant to be. i'm not limiting myself at all. it's my style and through it i find really strong, well-rounded and dynamic characters.

this:
"I know not everybody analyzes them in this way. But I think any writer should be able to construct a realistic set of reactions and personality changes based on any given event. That's what you're doing when writing a story, after all? So why is it suddenly impossible when applied to a specific character?"
is not true! like i said before, challenging yourself is cardinal to improving as a writer. if you write a certain event in which your character changes in some way, then that's cool, but i wouldn't force it.
let me give you an example. i have a character who's an android but who is programmed to learn, rather than to already know. this makes him more human than other androids in his era. he's very close to a person who happens to be human. i currently can't decide what fate i like best for them (i have a few brainstormed) so i like to flesh out each one just to see where it takes my characters and their story. in a few of these futures, when the human dies, the android's personality changes drastically. this is a conditional change that feels natural. it's his response to losing a friend. i didn't force it, it's just what feels right when i place myself in his shoes. so i don't think i'm limiting myself at all by just considering scenarios that feel like, hey, this is how my character would react or become.

people replying to me don't seem to understand that when i say i change my characters often, i mean it. i'm not limited by my lack of desire to change a character unnecessarily.