Thread: A useful method for character development.

A usefule method for character development that I've used since I first started to write was to throw my characters individually into different hypothetical scenarios and figuring out how they would react. These scenarios were rarely in relation to the story they were originally intended to be a part of.

As the years have gone on and the internet became readily available; I've found play by post role playing games to be very useful for character development. It's a hypothetical scenario, but one that you do not control. This gives you more focus on your character and less on the outside forces.

There are a lot of places where you can role play online via play by post "pbp". Play by post role playing games are considered to be the most literate of all role playing games; since it requires you to explain how your character percieves events as they take place as well as how your character reacts.

If you're stuck on a character, want to further develop you character(s), or want to build a new one from the ground up; try this method.

There are two sites that I frequent that I would definately recommend; but there are of course countless other places you can find online.

RPG Freak

-or-

The RPG Site

If you're working with characters in a fantasy setting, google RPG PBP (play by post). Fantasy RPGs are a dime a dozen, same goes for science fiction. Other genres are a bit more rare. THe two sites linked above have a good amount of both.

Looks like a lot of fun... will have to give it a try sometime.

Thanks very much. Great idea.

+Rep

Attend an English boarding school...

Join the Boy Scouts...

donteatpoop - If you've not noticed, WF has a board for RPG. No need to go to strangers' houses.

Bloggs and xO - What kind of characters are you two thinking he wants to develop?

I never thought of doing that before. I struggle with character developement, so I will certainly give this a try, thank you!

Originally Posted by garza

donteatpoop - If you've not noticed, WF has a board for RPG. No need to go to strangers' houses.

Where do we have this? I've looked for it but I couldn't find it.

It's classified, Kyle. RPGs Keep it under your hat!

Originally Posted by KarlR

It's classified, Kyle. RPGs Keep it under your hat!

Fantastic! Thanks Karl.

In addition to that, I do something a bit simular: I like to take online personality tests as certain characters from my fiction work. And also I fill out those Facebook questionaires that get fowarded through notes under the guise of my characters too.

sounds like a lot of fun, I'm very interested in trying this out. I love role playing, never done it by play by post-forums before. thanks for the info

looks cool, definitely trying it out!

I came up from the RP scene, it's how I got into writing proper, or, as an adolescent. I actually used to know the guy who made 'TheRPGsite'. We didn't get along. Haww haww. Roleplayings great, though, I love it. Dates back to the surrealists, they used to use it for plot and character development, so using it for that is a bit of a return to roots, ahaha. It's a great way of getting inside your characters head.

I love role-playing. I usually do all mine via Y!M, because I like to write things quick and dirty. I'm too impatient for waiting on somebody else to push out a forum post, especially when a lot of people have a knack for forgetting that forums exist.

The thing that I hate about role-playing, though? I think it ruined my ability to write an actual work of fiction, to draw completely from myself. The partnership and how the plot/meeting of characters pans out relies heavily on the back-and-forth between the two writers. Role-playing also focuses so heavily on the main character that I have trouble focusing on anything else, a lot of the time. I'm sure people don't want to read seventeen pages of 'He, he, he, he, he,' or 'she, she, she, she'. It's also made me heavily dependent on other people for dialogue creation.

All the interaction I write between two different characters seems weighted and fake, now.

I guess what I'm trying to say is... 'Too much of a good thing is a bad thing'.