Making a Character Kernel in Three Easy Steps

This certainly isn't a complete guide to putting a character together, but it might be an interesting method if you don't know where to start.

Step One: Typification

In one or two words, what is your character's role? Interpret that however you like. Archetypes, occupations, whatever you neeed a character to do or whatever you happen to come up with.

Examples:

• The mentor
• The rogue
• The murder investigator

Step Two: Contradiction

What is the opposite of the role you just put? What is a quality someone is such a role couldn't or shouldn't have? Assign that quality to your character.  (The same one it doesn't fit.)

Examples:

• The inept mentor
• The loyal rogue
• The softhearted murder investigator

Step Three: Reconciliation

We kind of made everything a mess in the last step, so let's put things together a little more. Is what you put really a contradiction? I'll tell you right now: no. It isn't. Now you tell me, why isn't it? How can those two seemingly opposite things coexist in the same person? Is one of the two aspects not quite what you may have thought it was? Does one side override the other most of the time? What conditions bring the other side to the forefront?

Examples:

• The inept mentor is the most leader-like individual thrown into the situation. Everyone in the situation has to figure out certain skills; our mentor is no exception, but he takes it upon himself to teach the others regardless.
• The loyal rogue is only a rogue as far as skill set is concerned; she's sneaky, prefers to work on her own, and knows all of the best pickpocketing techniques, but she still has friends, and she'll put her neck on the line for them.
• The softhearted murder investigator is usually one or the other. Her default is softhearted, but she steels herself for her detective work. Of course, she's not living altogether separate lives—the more grotesque murders still shake her up and haunt her sleep, and she can shut off her sensitive in her daily life when those situations become bleak.

Now you should have a good starting place. I've heard the main difference between round and flat characters is a sort of inner conflict—and most characters made with this method will have that from the get-go.

What do you think? A worthwhile tool for your writing arsenal?

New Fan Fiction Idea #28

I'd like to toy with this, but I know it will fall short of the state of inspiration I had for Phoenix Wright: Ace Tribute.

Working Title: Tributes and Tribulations

Fandom: Phoenix Wright (Ace Attorney)/Hunger Games crossover

Genre Tags: Suspense/(I never know what to tag Hunger Games stories)

Length: Multichapter

Protagonist: Viola Cadaverini (15 years old, District 9).

Other Main Character: Furio Tigre (18 years old, District 9).

Antagonists: The other tributes, taken mostly from Trials and Tribulations and aged appropriately. Includes Ron DeLite, Desiree DeLite, Luke Atmey, a Hawthorne or two, Terry Fawles, Glen Elg and Lisa Basil (most certainly District 3), Shelly de Killer, and Adrian Andrews.

Setting: An early Games, in the vicinity of the 15th. The arena is mostly beach- and island-like.

Plot: There are certain... problems in District 9 we need to take care of, as you know well. What would you believe to be the best place to strike?
If I'm not mistaken, two vital pieces seem to be eligible for the Games...
Do you mean... rigging the reapings, sir?
Something of the sort. And there are a few in other districts whom we may want to take care of as well...
Viola is reaped in spite of her family name, and a certain grandfather assigns Furio to get her back alive.

Point of View: First person (Viola).

Dream Journal #19

More like a nightmare, but not so much terrifying as saddening.

10 May—11 May

Larry had been given the death sentence. I was on my 2DS, playing the scenario like a normal Ace Attorney game as a male character (presumably Phoenix). The male character came to visit Larry not long before the sentence was to be carried out. Larry was doing his best to put on a strong face, although he was still crying a little bit. As he was dragged to the room, he commented that he would rather join the army than die or go on being a loser artist. The executioner dragging him was some sort of active army man, but he gave Larry a look akin to "nice try, buddy" and took him.

I myself was crying as the man strapped Larry down. Larry craned his neck up and told the two friends (one of them being the character I was playing) that it was okay if we didn't want to watch. The other man and my character silently put on the thick, metal masks we were given to protect ourselves and stayed. The general, wearing his own mask, held up something like a short curtain rod and began the execution. Although very little could be seen naturally, through the bluish lenses of our masks we were able to see the electricity arcing out from the rod and going over Larry. After a minute of this, he was dead. I, however, clung to the dim hope that the man hadn't actually gone through with it because of the army comment and Larry only appeared to be dead.

Suddenly the situation had changed and the dead character was Sokka. Aang had a plan to get him back and slung his body over his shoulder to get him out of there.

Then I was back in a carpeted room of my apparent house. Annie* had to be put down, so we made her eat a little poison. She was rather normal at first, going around wearing her navy sweater with light blue stripes. My parents, aunt and uncle, and I played with her for a while before she threw up a little, getting dark brown on her whiskers. We didn't think much of it until the vet in the room informed us that schnauzers didn't throw up that way. Realising it was an effect of the poison, we fell silent and watched her solemnly. She kept trying to walk around to all of us, but her limbs were slowly stiffening, and she could only progress in jerks. It was such a heartbreaking sight that I tried to stop her from moving by hugging her, but she kept going.

*Annie is my aunt's miniature schnauzer. She's a sweetheart.

Playing Favourites

I decided to do a different special in celebration of the fiftieth New Story Idea. This time I'll be handing out awards to my favourite character in each story—although my rationale certainly tends to vary.

In order by New Fiction Idea, we have

1. Clyde, who's adorable and quirky (and also Scottish) even after... I won't spoil it for you, but he ought to be tired of everything by the time the story starts.
2. Julian, because he's fantastically sarcastic and still helps people despite his crabbiness.
3. Joel, who's an optimistic cutie and a religious one at that.
4. Jordan, even though he's kind of majorly a jerk and needs to stop hitting on taken women.
5. The twin lady, who only vaguely surfaced as a character but is pretty kick-butt and unselfish.
6. Athena, seeing as she's the only one with a name and sort of has that Jerk with a Heart of Gold thing going on.
7. Edwin, although it's a difficult choice for this one and may just be based on his name.
8. Macbay, because his sense of humour is just off enough for me.
9. Josephine, (another difficult decision) because she's the small fighter type and a worrywart.
10. Chester, who's an utter dork and nerd and has the most fun perspective in the story.
11. Andromache, (again a close one) because she's a proper lady and still kicks butt in every sense.
12. Gavin, mostly since he's not that restrained emotionally.
13. Dobson and Crick, who apparently still count as one character and basically still have no development yet strike my fancy.
14. Ian, because he's a kook.
15. Lorenzo, who's overly dramatic and just a lot of fun.
16. Benny, for his lightly-portrayed paranoia.
17. Kaliause, who has lightened up considerably since her conception and just makes a great sidekick.
18. Peter, because he's the only one who was that interesting upon showing up.
19. Cerise, because she kicks butt and knows how to be sneaky.
20. Malcolm, due to sarcasm (being based off England never hurts).
21. Andraste, who seems like a sweetheart.
22. Lennon, because he's evil.
23. Shelton, because he's a big guy who's socially awkward.
24. M, who's sympathetic, confused, and has cool powers.
25. John, (another hard decision) for his general optimism.
26. Donny, because how can you not like a version of Don Quixote?
27. Cayman, who's sharp, sneaky, kick-butt, and surprisingly positive given her role in the udnerworld.
28. Francisco, because he's the most melodramatic dork pirate around.
29. Rachel, who kicks butt and is generally too enthusiastic in an amusing way.
30. Henry, who stands up for his morals like no other.
31. Edgard, for his pretend British side and general neuroticism.
32. Helen, (difficult choice) because she kicks butt but still needs help and is a brat on occasion.
33. Midas, because he's just cool.
34. Aiko, because she's a cutie.
35. Daniel, who's nerdy and an underdog type.
36. Natalie, because she's easily startled and I just tend to prefer side characters in general.
37. Onyekachi, who's morally myopic but stands his ground.
38. Liliána, for no solid reason.
39. Jaron, who's a dork, rock fan, and band nerd.
40. Chuck, because he's based on another character I love dearly.
41. Lola, who's weird to the point of intrigue.
42. Jenny, because she's just sort of a cool cat who knows how to handle things.
43. Chlodovech, for his childish pugnacity.
44. Alexandra, because she was a wonderful human being and makes a terrifying antagonist.
45. George, who's a dork that wants to save everyone.
46. Lazarus, the protective older brother.
47. Rithia, for her introversion.
48. Jim, because he's the only one who's really jumped out at me.
49. Vega, who just kicks butt, plain and simple.
50. Marius, because he's silly.

New Fiction Idea #50

Based on a prompt where god/demigod genetics were passed down in a typical Mendelian fashion.

Working Title: Detective Punnett, Demigod

Genre: Mystery/Humour, bit of Supernatural I guess

Protagonist: Detective Aristotelis Punnett, a young man of strong stature with mediocre looks. In general, he prefers to be seated and contemplating various things, but he'll interact with others gruffly when the need arises. His immortality gene derives ultimately from Athena, and he has a certain strength and fighting skill that he never trained for.

Other Main Characters: Jim, Aristotelis's assistant/secretary and finder of jobs. He's a typical mortal and a little new to all of this weird stuff, but he does have good business skills and can wrangle paperwork like nobody else.
Aikaterine, The oldest child of the Punnett family who possesses both her parents' immortality genes. She's kind of a perfect girl and tends to be just modest enough to irritate people. She's beautiful and has a particular fondness for children, but she's extremely picky about suitors. She works at the local orphanage.
Theodora, the daughter one year younger than Aristotelis. She loves music, dance, and poetry and will either isolate herself or go out among the world depending on how she's feeling that day. Her immortality gene derives ultimately from Demeter, and she has keen organisational skills and some control over plants.
Marius, the youngest son of the family. The mortal child, he is the "emo" type and tends to go on and on about life being meaningless.

Antagonist: Unknown. A murder and thief who may be trying to set up a new organised crime ring.

Setting: Film noir-ish, in the 1940s. Large unnamed city that's a little ugly and smoky to look at. The immortality gene is rare due to increased pancreatic cancer rates, but it's still hanging around and blessing its recipients with some powers derived from the particular gene's source.

Plot: Detective Punnett gets a murder case to solve and finds himself on the trail of a rising criminal force. He must solve the crime, break up the ring before it gets rooted, survive visits from his siblings, and probably get a girl or something.

Point of View: Third person, limited to Aristotelis.

Fragments X

Because not everything wants to be complete at first.

• The phrase "like a giddy boy at a giddy store" (spoken by a scholarly man)
• A cowboy story (probably still going to be steampunk or sci-fi)
• An elemental system based on this (originally fan art for Avatar):
  
• Large, glassy sheets of water as portals (unoriginal, but something to work with)
• "a novel focused around a character with braces during the apocalypse and the entire plot of the story revolves around their search for an orthodontist who is still alive and they sort of accidentally save the world in the process" (seen on Tumblr)
• Someone who plays kalimba
• An Oracle or two
• Fantasy centered on many different types of wands producing different types of magic
• The power to take someone's own perceived best trait upon killing the person (seen on Tumblr)
• A "choose your virtual reality world" type of system where the main character has a fondness for dystopias and due to a glitch gets stuck in one as a government official
• A short story following a church lady delivering casseroles to troubled families/people and what effect she has

New Fiction Idea #49

Working Title: Play Dirty

Genre: ...Not sure, actually. Suspense? Horror? Drama? Sports?

Protagonist: Gene, a sociopath doing time for financial fraud and murder. He's as charming as it gets with his level of sarcasm, and he never takes things seriously. He's tall and thin with medium-length dark hair.

Other Main Characters: Vega, a prostitute doing time for arson and accompanied murder. She's the kind of "strong woman" you hear about so much these days. She's rather muscular, dark-skinned, and has a few scars on her hands and arms.
Rayner, a serial rapist-murderer. He's athletic and handsome, although his smiles are always unnerving. He's generally not very kind, and he has a competitive streak.
Jude, a man arrested for strangling and burying his 11-year-old daughter. By now, pretty no one believes that he actually did it, but there's no evidence (or, alternatively, lack of evidence) to free him. He's of average build, although you can tell he's lost a lot of weight. He certainly qualifies as world-weary, although he still tries to do what little good he can.
Keith, a serial murderer (to cover up a past accidental killing) who has more or less repented. He's good friends with Jude but spends most of his time by himself being sorrowful.

Antagonists: The opposing teams of criminals from different prison sectors.

Setting: Some Western society. Most parts take place either in the prison or the sports field. The prison isn't well-kept aside from security issues. The playing field is a large oval with bare, horizontal hoops on either side for a goal.

Plot: The time has come for the first test of the Death Row Tournament. After a period of training, the selected prisoners are grouped into teams by their holding wings, and a bracket is formed. The teams engage in a sport similar to basketball but with much fewer rules (the players are convicts, after all). After each game, the losing team must decide on one member of their team to send to execution. The rationale can be anything, although players are encouraged to "vote off" the criminal who brings the least to the team (statistics for each game are provided). The lone winner at the end of the tournament is allowed to live. The tournament is also broadcast on television, although the viewers have no say in the proceedings.
Gene finds himself on the same team as Keith, who's trying to get others to help him get Jude out alive. After a coin flip, Gene agrees to give him a hand.

Point of View: First person (Gene).