Main Characters, and How to Write Them - Original and Unheard Of Forum

Vive Ut Vivas's Forums » Original and Unheard Of

Topic Subscription

Forums » Original and Unheard Of » Main Characters, and How to Write Them

Author

Post

Vive Ut Vivas

Topic: Main Characters, and How to Write Them

Now, I'm not an expert, but with *your* help - yes, you, reading this right now, - I hope I'll be able to come up with a formula for the most realistic lead characters. Here's what I've got so far:

Character = (personality + flaws) x occupation(plot) / supporting characters

So, you rate your character on a scale from 1 to 10 in each of the categories, to get (and I'll use my character Lupe for this)

Lupe = (7 + 8) x 6 / 6 = 15

Now, let's compare this to a Mary-Sue.

MS = (10 + 10) x 10 / 10 = 20

And now a flat, supporting character (I'll use my character Amelia for this one)

Amelia = (4 + 6) x 3 / 4 = 7.5

So, I guess you'd be aiming for a number between 10 and 20 for a good female lead. What do you think?

#1 Mar 08th, 2:52pm

Rimma

I don't really understand how the rating works for the different categories. Is it 1-10, 1 being least personality or most? 1-10, 1 being least flawed or most? Or something else entirely? 1-10, 1 being least involved in plot- I get that. Is the supporting characters category the number of characters in the heirarchy of characters total who are in the grand scheme of things less important (gotta scale them so that you can score another supporting cast member, of course)? It actually looks like a good formula, it just needs to be explained.

#2 Mar 08th, 10:54pm

Vive Ut Vivas

Haha... ^_^ Looks like I was getting ahead of myself - I do that sometimes!

Personality: 1 would be flat, boring, 10 would be outgoing/spunky/hyper

Flaws: 1 would be a lot, 10 would be almost (if not) none.

Supporting Characters: What I guess I was aiming for is 1 being the character doesn't interact well with supporting characters, or there aren't any supporting characters, or they're all stupid to make your main character look better. 10 would be your supporting characters interacting well with your main, attributing to the plot, actually having some role in the story rather than just some random guy named Bob who comes around every 2 chapters.

#3 Mar 10th, 4:32pm

Rimma

That explains it then. ^^;

The difficulty I see now is, then, that if you get a lead that could be scored decent otherwise- say, it's got an okay personality, maybe a little bland, a few extra flaws- but the story is character driven... well, you get an issue. If the story is character driven, you get a high number for the third variable, because the character is then /required/ to be highly involved with the plot. And because a character driven plot requires more than one character with which to drive the story, the fourth variable will have to be high as well. That will sharply reduce the score for character.

So this /would/ be effective, as long as it was not applied to characters in which the plot is character driven.

#4 Mar 12th, 12:00am

Vive Ut Vivas

Excellent point - then, as long as the - Vive Rimma Theorem? - is not applied to character driven plots, then it serves its purpose.

Now, if we add in the laws of physics:

Okay, just kidding!

Hmm. What else to say...?

Hey you! Random person who's viewing this forum but not posting anything! Say something we can discuss! :D

#5 Mar 12th, 3:08pm

Rimma

Well, we could take the Vive Rimma Theorem, tie it with a piece of string to a cat's tail, glue a piece of buttered toast buttered side up to the cat's back, stick it in a box... seal it, write "42" all over the box and congratulate ourselves on having a box which contains all of life's answers! (And has the answer to life, the universe and everything on the outside.) We'd just have to promise not to peek because I think the poor cat will die then.

._O I don't know why. I don't understand physics.

Yes, random person, speak to us!

#6 Mar 13th, 10:52pm

Moderator(s):	Vive Ut Vivas,
Rule(s):	Forums are not to be used to post stories. All discussions, language and content, must be suitable for teens. The owner/moderator(s) of this forum is solely responsible for content posted within this area. All forum abuse must be reported to the moderator(s).
Members:	Forum admin/moderator Fanatic (on site for more than 2 years) Fan (on site for more than a year) Regular (on site for more than 6 months) Camper (on site for more than a month) Apprentice (on site for more than a week) Newbie (on site for less than a week)

All times are GMT -8, US Pacific Time Zone.

Return to Top