I have a story I've been working on for years, but I could never make the middle work. I think it is because even though I have a convincing protagonist and a solid mystery going, the suspects they were going to interview were way too flat. I think that if I can flesh those characters out, this story might actually happen sooner than I thought... At least thanks for the ideas.
I'm also INFJ! no wonder I like your videos. haha I never heard of doing that for characters, but seems sensible. Thanks for new vid! edit - "Piece of shaper" rofl
I predicted you being an INFJ, but I digress... I wasn't aware of the Myers Briggs until after I resumed writing again, but I've found it helpful. As an alternative or in addition to the Myers Briggs, the Big Five Model can also be used to measure a character's levels of Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Openness, Conscientiousness, and Extroversion. Moreover, personality disorders can lend a lot of flavor to a character. My significant other is a therapist, so I often seek her guidance in that regard.
Great video :) MBTI is a great tool to understanding that not all people think or approach the world the same, and definitely helps to get in different characters minds and more accurately understand and portray their perspectives. I'm also looking forward to trying out the other two techniques to mix it up a bit. I definitely have a habit of become too narrow with my character's traits!
It's funny how opposite my oc pinterest boards are from this 😅 I'm an illustrator first, writer second so visuals are most important to me for cultivating character muse and I always feel like the more images on my character's pinterest boards, the better, to give me the largest visual library possible. Then I narrow down their aesthetic using a basic character aesthetic image meme sheet, with like 12 images and save that with their bio sheet or profile.
I’m 2 years late, but I’m a fellow INFJ (not sure if you still are) and I can now understand why I always find you and your videos the most helpful out of the TH-camrs I watch. We think similarly! Thanks for this video (again, 2 years late, but whatever), I genuinely like the ideas you provided & will try them out!
Aha! Snap! I'm an INFJ too. I did a poll on my writing group and for such a rare personality type it was really common - they might call it the advocate (I've also seen it called the counsellor) but I now think of it as 'the writer'.
I flip between INFJ and INTJ though I see a lot of creative TH-camrs mentioning they are these 'rare' personality types. It definitely might be a case of like-people being drawn to each other or drawn to the same type of career/hobby. Even though the Myers-Briggs personality types are just pseudo-science, it could be an interesting study to do to see if types really do gather in certain professions/friend groups...
I'm always fascinated by overlapping types like this. Whenever I discover a group of people that I have one thing in common with (career choice, personality type, health conditions) I always want to run polls to see if we have other things in common. Surprisingly often it turns out that there is overlap (for instance, nearly fifty percent of my fellow aces that I surveyed were also positive on the VSP test, meaning they were highly sensitive to sensory stimulous to the point that ordinary sounds, smells or sights caused them discomfort on a daily basis) but I'm never sure if it's correlation or causation.
I'm a big personality buff. I've done extensive reading into the MBTI, the Enneagram, socionics, and even the four humours and I've found it very helpful for sketching out the general vibe I want my characters to have. Thank you for the card game idea because I have never heard of that before and can definitely be the "missing link" I have between my characters' personality template and creating their backstory, two things I have struggled with bringing together.
I read an article that said INTPs dont like *leading* or controlling people. Reason being their bigest weakness is self doubt. As an INTP working on confidence the best advice Ive found was that self doubt without action or some decision is always self defeating.
Aw, I loved hearing how Helena came to be in State of Flux! Your techniques are interesting, I might try them out, esp the card game & the triptych. This kind of reminded me that you can do sth similar with Tarot cards - which I find even better bc there's so much room for interpretation. Thank you for the inspiring vid!
That was definitely my dog doing a tiny bark. I often have to stop and restart takes because of her but I'm also so used to ignoring it that sometimes I don't even realise and keep going and little huffles end up in videos D:
I've used 16 Personalities for my characters once I was half way through my story so I already had plenty of information about my character when answering the questions
where do you get your face pics from? I find that search for people always gets you models or famous people who've gone through a make up artist etc. It can be hard if you want ordinary people.
I think writers digest has a list of character traits already, positive and negative. You can use a random number generator and select three from the list and go from there. If you are too lazy to make cards....
I have an idea for a story. The main character is a dragon, but they had a life before the one that they have now, if that makes sense. Anyway, they don't remember it, but they've always had a suspicion that they had a previous life, then they suddenly get proof of their previous life, and that sets them on a quest to figure out who they once were. They figure out that they're previous life was filled with despair, and they suspect that they once had a friend in their past life, who may or may not be alive. Is this a good idea for a story? I made it back when I had no idea how to make a good story.
It’s an idea, it only becomes a good or bad story once you put the work in and flesh it out! I would recommend trying to make a plot embryo for it, fleshing it out that way. Check out my first plot embryo video and the tragic version to see how. Good luck!
This is something I'm struggling with right now. I feel like I don't know enough about who my character is to do the MBTI or Triptych method, but I know too much for the card method! Maybe I'm just being difficult.
Christen McGee the techniques are about DISCOVERING things not just noting stuff you already know so there’s no situation where you don’t know enough to do them. ie PICK an MBTI Type and build on that. And I’ve still found good stuff (maybe just less) from doing the card game with a character I already know a significant amount about.
Does anyone have any good ideas for tropes they used in their category? ☺️ Edit: i uses the card game last night and it spurred on so much brainstorming! I would start with the categories and it would lead to all sorts of different ideas and conflicts.
Definitely check out my video on Motive for more details because I go into this but roughly: motive is the LARGEST goal or objective across the whole story, but yes as characters move through the story they will have smaller objectives as they learn new things and are presented with new problems in pursuit of their big-picture motive. They may also not be aware of their true motive at the beginning.
Tiffany Yates Dougherty might be an old link! The character sheet is still available on my website if you go to RachaelStephen.com and the Novelcraft Library section
I despise the INFJ, but at the same time I think it's super efficient. Kind of like William Gibson. The card game's fun, very exquisite-corpse-like. The tryptich's idea of tightness is interesting, too. Be careful with video cuts--this video was a little staggering, it didn't feel as polished as the others. More over, if you show the first two tryptich examples for four-five seconds, you can't keep the third one for only two. Or else you jump-scare people when you come back to your face. And I say this because it happened to me.
+Gianluca Forcolin despise INFJ’s or the Myers Briggs model? Yeah tbh I’m starting to reach the limits of iMovies capabilities for editing, I’d prefer to transition into those demo sections more smoothly but the way iMovie works makes that really difficult :/ definitely can’t afford proper software though
I meant the model, sorry. EDIT: You'll surely manage to save enough someday, time is on your side. I also despise SJW's, Trump haters, and I eat raw puppies for breakfast.
I have a story I've been working on for years, but I could never make the middle work. I think it is because even though I have a convincing protagonist and a solid mystery going, the suspects they were going to interview were way too flat. I think that if I can flesh those characters out, this story might actually happen sooner than I thought... At least thanks for the ideas.
You are the most helpful tutor on fiction writing I have found on youtube. Love you!
Boxlord what about Jenna moreci
I'm also INFJ! no wonder I like your videos. haha I never heard of doing that for characters, but seems sensible. Thanks for new vid! edit - "Piece of shaper" rofl
Brilliant. I love these ideas because I’m never sure how to really flesh out characters so that they are real people and not just extremes.
I predicted you being an INFJ, but I digress...
I wasn't aware of the Myers Briggs until after I resumed writing again, but I've found it helpful. As an alternative or in addition to the Myers Briggs, the Big Five Model can also be used to measure a character's levels of Agreeableness, Neuroticism, Openness, Conscientiousness, and Extroversion. Moreover, personality disorders can lend a lot of flavor to a character. My significant other is a therapist, so I often seek her guidance in that regard.
Great video :)
MBTI is a great tool to understanding that not all people think or approach the world the same, and definitely helps to get in different characters minds and more accurately understand and portray their perspectives.
I'm also looking forward to trying out the other two techniques to mix it up a bit. I definitely have a habit of become too narrow with my character's traits!
I'm excited to try out the card game and the triptych!! Thank you for these videos 💙
It's funny how opposite my oc pinterest boards are from this 😅 I'm an illustrator first, writer second so visuals are most important to me for cultivating character muse and I always feel like the more images on my character's pinterest boards, the better, to give me the largest visual library possible. Then I narrow down their aesthetic using a basic character aesthetic image meme sheet, with like 12 images and save that with their bio sheet or profile.
I’m 2 years late, but I’m a fellow INFJ (not sure if you still are) and I can now understand why I always find you and your videos the most helpful out of the TH-camrs I watch. We think similarly! Thanks for this video (again, 2 years late, but whatever), I genuinely like the ideas you provided & will try them out!
Aha! Snap! I'm an INFJ too. I did a poll on my writing group and for such a rare personality type it was really common - they might call it the advocate (I've also seen it called the counsellor) but I now think of it as 'the writer'.
I flip between INFJ and INTJ though I see a lot of creative TH-camrs mentioning they are these 'rare' personality types. It definitely might be a case of like-people being drawn to each other or drawn to the same type of career/hobby. Even though the Myers-Briggs personality types are just pseudo-science, it could be an interesting study to do to see if types really do gather in certain professions/friend groups...
I'm always fascinated by overlapping types like this. Whenever I discover a group of people that I have one thing in common with (career choice, personality type, health conditions) I always want to run polls to see if we have other things in common. Surprisingly often it turns out that there is overlap (for instance, nearly fifty percent of my fellow aces that I surveyed were also positive on the VSP test, meaning they were highly sensitive to sensory stimulous to the point that ordinary sounds, smells or sights caused them discomfort on a daily basis) but I'm never sure if it's correlation or causation.
INFJ writer here too! Sometimes INFP.
I'm a big personality buff. I've done extensive reading into the MBTI, the Enneagram, socionics, and even the four humours and I've found it very helpful for sketching out the general vibe I want my characters to have. Thank you for the card game idea because I have never heard of that before and can definitely be the "missing link" I have between my characters' personality template and creating their backstory, two things I have struggled with bringing together.
I read an article that said INTPs dont like *leading* or controlling people. Reason being their bigest weakness is self doubt. As an INTP working on confidence the best advice Ive found was that self doubt without action or some decision is always self defeating.
I used to do this all the time. Fun trying make things you wouldn't think of going together work.
Aw, I loved hearing how Helena came to be in State of Flux! Your techniques are interesting, I might try them out, esp the card game & the triptych. This kind of reminded me that you can do sth similar with Tarot cards - which I find even better bc there's so much room for interpretation. Thank you for the inspiring vid!
I can't imagine/remember faces unless i make a *really hard* effort to do so... and even then it's hard...
The cards method is cool, I might try it.
Awww yeah just in time! Gonna need this, thanks rach!
Really nice tricks for brainstorming ideas! Thanks so much, loving your videos!
As usual handy tips thanks a lot dear Rachel but we want a template for character profile may be better than the famous 3 dimentional one
This video is SO helpful and interesting!
Yay I'm INFJ too :) I've thought about doing personality tests for my characters, just seems like a lot of work. Great video!
These are all so creative! Thank you!
12:10, freaking terrified me. I wasn't sure where that came from
That was definitely my dog doing a tiny bark. I often have to stop and restart takes because of her but I'm also so used to ignoring it that sometimes I don't even realise and keep going and little huffles end up in videos D:
This was very helpful!
A peet of shaper... A sheet of paper.
I DO THIS ALL THE TIME!!!!! ♥️🖤♥️
I've used 16 Personalities for my characters once I was half way through my story so I already had plenty of information about my character when answering the questions
where do you get your face pics from? I find that search for people always gets you models or famous people who've gone through a make up artist etc. It can be hard if you want ordinary people.
I literally JUST bought a cinnamon bun before watching this. HOW DID YOU KNOW??
Brick! I love the movie Brick ^^ I've gotta go watch it again
This helped a lot
I use astrology to flesh out my characters (look at my name, duh) and map out their arc.
Canary Quill Astrology that's cool,
What is the program you are using for the tryptych? With the photos and descriptors ? Thanks!
Pages!
Did the link for the Character Sheet Template change? Getting a 404 when I try to access it...
I’m afraid it’s not available anymore! I’ll update the description, thanks for bringing it to my attention
I think writers digest has a list of character traits already, positive and negative. You can use a random number generator and select three from the list and go from there.
If you are too lazy to make cards....
oooh neat ideas.
i read state of flux 2 years ago and still waiting for the film adaptation!!!!
Me too pal
I have an idea for a story. The main character is a dragon, but they had a life before the one that they have now, if that makes sense. Anyway, they don't remember it, but they've always had a suspicion that they had a previous life, then they suddenly get proof of their previous life, and that sets them on a quest to figure out who they once were. They figure out that they're previous life was filled with despair, and they suspect that they once had a friend in their past life, who may or may not be alive. Is this a good idea for a story? I made it back when I had no idea how to make a good story.
It’s an idea, it only becomes a good or bad story once you put the work in and flesh it out! I would recommend trying to make a plot embryo for it, fleshing it out that way. Check out my first plot embryo video and the tragic version to see how. Good luck!
This is something I'm struggling with right now. I feel like I don't know enough about who my character is to do the MBTI or Triptych method, but I know too much for the card method! Maybe I'm just being difficult.
Christen McGee the techniques are about DISCOVERING things not just noting stuff you already know so there’s no situation where you don’t know enough to do them. ie PICK an MBTI Type and build on that. And I’ve still found good stuff (maybe just less) from doing the card game with a character I already know a significant amount about.
Thank you, Rachael! I will give it a try :)
Does anyone have any good ideas for tropes they used in their category? ☺️ Edit: i uses the card game last night and it spurred on so much brainstorming! I would start with the categories and it would lead to all sorts of different ideas and conflicts.
redxgrey yay! (And I used the randomize button on TVTropes.com to get mine)
Did you call me "cinnamon bun"!?
Yeah, it's adorable, right?
Wouldn't your character's motives change as they're provided with new information and thrust into unfamiliar situations?
Definitely check out my video on Motive for more details because I go into this but roughly: motive is the LARGEST goal or objective across the whole story, but yes as characters move through the story they will have smaller objectives as they learn new things and are presented with new problems in pursuit of their big-picture motive. They may also not be aware of their true motive at the beginning.
I had a feeling you were an INFJ! me too :)
I can’t get the template 😩 I love your videos so much!
Oh no, why not?!
Rachael Stephen I’m not sure! It says page can not be found! I found your plotting help though! Thank you!
Tiffany Yates Dougherty might be an old link! The character sheet is still available on my website if you go to RachaelStephen.com and the Novelcraft Library section
Interesting vid! Thanks! :D **hugs**
Did anyone else come up with any other card game categories?
Actually this is one instance where those character profile templates with a million stats and questions come in handy - to find new categories.
I despise the INFJ, but at the same time I think it's super efficient. Kind of like William Gibson.
The card game's fun, very exquisite-corpse-like. The tryptich's idea of tightness is interesting, too.
Be careful with video cuts--this video was a little staggering, it didn't feel as polished as the others. More over, if you show the first two tryptich examples for four-five seconds, you can't keep the third one for only two. Or else you jump-scare people when you come back to your face. And I say this because it happened to me.
+Gianluca Forcolin despise INFJ’s or the Myers Briggs model? Yeah tbh I’m starting to reach the limits of iMovies capabilities for editing, I’d prefer to transition into those demo sections more smoothly but the way iMovie works makes that really difficult :/ definitely can’t afford proper software though
I meant the model, sorry.
EDIT: You'll surely manage to save enough someday, time is on your side.
I also despise SJW's, Trump haters, and I eat raw puppies for breakfast.
I appreciate this, but your audio quality is horrendous and I cannot hear much. Thanks for the tips!