How do you write the perfect....

[d13]

I would like to know how do you write the perfect character? I think perfect might not be the right word. I guess a really good character would do to. Also I would like to know how to create a really good story that makes the readers/ audience feel involved in the future of a character or characters. Is there like a checklist that you can use while creating a story and character? All help is appreciated

[The Anti-crest]

Haha, like its that easy. A real person isnt just a checklist of things, neither is the perfect charecter.

There is a way to help though.






Be honest.

[Knuckles]

Everybody has read what a good character is like, which is different for everybody. Just write something that you would like to read more about.

[Buckyrig]

A good character usually likes peanut butter.

[JonHParrish]

A perfect character would be boring. The best characters are flawed and realistic. That is what makes it easy for people to relate. They fall in love, get dumped, hate their jobs, get fired, and collect porn like any other person. I think what makes a great character is when he or she is in an extraorndinary event that would never really happen, but reacts in a realistic way. People can say, "that's what I would do" or "what a jackass." Either way they feel connection.
I tend to ramble, but that's what I think makes a good character. If you can decipher my gibberish and see what I'm saying. Thanks.

hope I helped some.

[mohaps]

Character is conflict.

As reaper points out most great characters are multi-dimensional...

there is no perfect checklist... but there are a few thumbrules:

a) Fatal Flaw - everything that makes your character "not perfect".. batman has paranoia, wolverine has his cynicism, spiderman has that teenage insecurity

b) Motivation - what motivates your character to do the things he does.. again to repeat the example of batman his parent's murder is his motivation...

c) Plausibility - this is a double edged sword.. some characters appeal because of the precise opposite an over the top implausibility. so balance it accordingly

d) Appeal - you find a character interesting because you like it so much you want to be it or you hate it so much that you want bad things to happen to it. That is +ve or -ve appeal

e) Intangible - well what can I say some characters just work others don't .. ain't that the way most stuff is??

hope this helps

regards
mohaps

[Enresshou]

A perfect character, as stated before, is boring...but I'm pretty sure that's not what you were implying ;)

To answer your question, since you're no doubt trying to craft a character for use in a story--get to know your character. Understand your story, understand the atmosphere you're going to be putting him/her in, and then spend time with your character. See what they like, what they don't like. See what they'd do in certain situations. Imagine it like spending one-on-one time with an actor you want to cast in a movie--except, if you don't like an aspect of their personality, you can do a little reshaping.

The most important thing for a story, I believe (after acquiring the basic tools of grammar and such, but you've no doubt done that ;)), is understanding your character. Your understanding allows you to become and write from that character...it's a delicate process, but it's ultimately a very rewarding one.

[Eric Palicki]

Whenever I've heard Mark Waid speak about writing, he's said that the best way -- maybe the only way -- to write a convincing character is to find some common ground between yourself and that character.

Take Batman: I don't know the first thing about being a millionaire playboy in top physical condition, but I do know a thing or two about loss.

And so on. Find that place where you and the character are most alike and start there. Not that every character should be you, but if you can think of how you might react (or might not react) to a given situation, then you can begin to get into your character's head.

As has been stated above, "perfect character" is a misnomer, (there are no perfect people in the real world either) but a perfectly realized character, I think, begins internally, and grows outward organically.

In short, and I know it's cliche, write what you know.

And, of course, perfect characters do like peanut butter.

[Buckyrig]

Always know ten times as much information about your character as you actually reveal in your story. Construct a background, childhood, family, romantic background, etc. Be careful. Have your character act naturally. You may need him or her to reveal something about him/herself...do it the way the character would. If you use captions or thought bubbles, be sure to do it properly, not as a way to shoehorn information into the story. Keep your point of view consistent. If you are writing the story in third person limited (very few comics seem to do this however), the character needs to reveal him/herself in a manner you would observe in the real world. People often filter their thoughts and feelings before voicing them in the real world. Allow the artist to convey information through posture and body language that a real person would communicate non-verbally. Although you unfold your plot through character, never use a central character as a prop or plot facilitator.

If you've carefully and properly constructed a character, you do not control them...only the situations you place them in. You are beholden to their personality.

[KH]

The perfect comic book character checklist ... I think it's pretty comprehensive:

-Talks like this, "Holy sausage-fest Batman!"

- Has a totally righteous computer with a database on every criminal that's ever existed.

- Can catch bullets with his teeth and or some badass eye lasers that can shoot bullets in midair. If neither of those ... impervious to bullets.

- Enjoys peanut butter.

- Has a catty sidekick that is either always getting into trouble or saving the day.

- Disguises himself as an unassuming reporter or lives in a fancy mansion with other superheroes. If superhero is female, she must be a mousy secretary.

- Is celibate. However, he or she is very flirtatious in a bumbling sort of way.

- Never counts his money when he's sittin at the table.

- Never runs away even if he is seriously outnumbered; or, when faced with giant brainmonsters from Andromeda that are the size of cities, develops an action plan that will only work if, and only if, Batman & Robin can spray them down with a bottle of Neural Devolution Juice first.

- Has a wise aunt or uncle who's advice not only helps out in the superheroe's personal life but helps them defeat the villain.

- Parents must be dead.

[Trey of Diamonds]

Sounds like you want a short cut. Sorry, a checklist isn't going to get you past the need for experience. The way to write good characters is practice. All the advice above is valid, especially the peanut butter one. Try them all.

[Knuckles]

A good character usually likes peanut butter.

I like peanut butter...does that make me a good character?

[chrisjohnwagner]

I was wondering if including jelly to the characters likes improves him, her, or it?

[omega sentry]

have him be obsessed with porn during the day and fight crime during the night... :happy:

[JonHParrish]

have him be obsessed with porn during the day and fight crime during the night... :happy:

See ! Omega Sentry gets it ! :w00t:
Remember this- Realistic Character+ Porn Obsession+ Peanut Butter= GOLD !

Oh yeah, and anything involving Kung-Fu Hookers is okay in my book to. Just saying. :thumbs:

[Eric Palicki]

have him be obsessed with porn during the day and fight crime during the night... :happy:


That's not a 'character.' That's me. (Minus the part about fighting crime.)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to find some peanut butter.

[KH]

That's not a 'character.' That's me. (Minus the part about fighting crime.)

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to find some peanut butter.

eew.

[Lewis]

"Perfect character", to me, means staying true to the character. Too many writers have ideas of how the story has to end and then force characters to act in a way to bring about that ending even when those actions are easily picked up by the readers as being "false" or untrue to those characters.

I find that my characters tend to take me to an ending and that I get to know them as I write. I don't believe that you need to write extensive backgrounds on them or know that when they were 7 their dog was run over by a car which has impacted them for the rest of their lives. If it's there, they'll let me know when they want to let me know. I also find that if something is there, it has been there all along, underneath it all.

Then again, I could be full of it.

[kamikaze]

all these are great ideas. I would advise you to look up how to write comics by DC. (or how ever the title goes, it has batman on the cover). It has a great answers about how to write and a fantastic section on characterization. I use it myself and refer back to it when Im stuck.

[AthenaRose]

A character should be well-rounded, with their faults as well as their good points for a 'good' character, and redeeming features as well as nastiness for a 'bad' one. Knowing your character's favourite colour, some details of their past, how they would react to finding a spider in the bath all help in getting under their skin. If you know your character as well as that, you will be able to write them more convincingly, and your readers will care more about them.

[Comix Obsession]

This is a very general answer, but I think there's a reason anti-heroes tend to be more interesting than the average good-guy. It's all about flaws, in my book. You can write a character who is just good - but give them a dark side and you've got more depth instantly. It's because you're giving them what is usually referred to as the 'human condition'. Faults, self-loathing, self-doubt, fear - we all relate to it on one level or another.

Take Alan Moore's Rorschach in 'Watchmen', for example, or Spider Jerusalem in Warren Ellis' 'Transmetropolitan'. Both are horrible characters, the kind of people that would really upset you in real life. But you enjoy reading about them, you just love them, almost - because they have a realism about them. They have flaws, they have dark sides, and they have an evil quality about them which we can all relate to in some small way or another.

When I write a character, I tend to aim to give them unattractive qualities, both physically and mentally - things I don't like about myself maybe - to ultimately make them more attractive as characters.

The most perfect (read 'interesting') characters are usually the most imperfect people - just like in real life.

[fluxchild]

I think the best characters are built around people that you know in real life....maybe a lil more flawed, or a lil more in your face. I am actually casting my characters amongst my friends, and they are gonna be those characters.