DoubleBlind

June Behind the Scenes: Designing Characters

Added 2024-06-19 22:11:05 +0000 UTC

Juneteenth already?! Time has snowballed lately; it's wild.

Before I get into it, I wanted to thank everyone who's donated to the Volume 4 GoFundMe. We both appreciate your assistance and continued support of Catgirls, and I cannot tell you how much stress that's helped take off of our shoulders. We couldn't do this without you. Thank you so very much.

Now, Designing Characters...

Ry took over the LitRPG behind the scenes last month, so I'd like to take this round and talk a little more about character building, digging into the design aspect. We reviewed building a character's history and backstory in April, and you can click here to read it!

We've received a lot of great feedback that one of EaC's fortes is its vast array of interesting characters that help make the world feel real. I've also had a lot of questions about specific character's designs, like, "How do you make Cannoli feel so cute?"

Well, step one is:

Make Design Choices that Make Sense

I talk with a lot of writers who get hung up on every nitty-gritty detail of a character's design. They get stuck here, searching for a hundred tiny details that will "make the character feel special:"

Now, if you're creating a vtuber, that's one thing. This is a great design. But when you're writing a story, I find that it's better to start with overall details that reflect a character's history and backstory. You can add fun details like tattoos, the logo sets, scars, and makeup later as the story progresses and you discover more about them.

Let's use Melly as an example:

This was the reference sheet I built for Marshmallow before they drew the picture on the left.

The Design's Breakdown:

Hair: In Nyarlea, we love reaching for new hair colors, and we try to match them with their parents. But no colors are off-limits.
Eyes: Same as hair.
Skintone: She lives on Ichi, and all of the girls are generally out in the sun, so tan/bronze makes sense.
Outfit: Also based around Ichi's fashion and style. Since she lives in the 2nd Shell, the fabric and jewelry would be of much higher quality in design.

And that was all we started with for her design. What really mattered was what came next: her personality.

Melly is a healer. She's kind and caring and wants to see her island restored to peace.

This part is what will determine your character overall. This is where your readers will feel the most connection. Her passion, in-depth knowledge of alchemy, and sensitivity toward other characters are what make Melly, Melly.

Her gorgeous jewelry and even the star motif came later thanks to WhiteCat and SkySom. There have been a lot of instances where we didn't decide on additional details until we had art done or something happened in the story. Like Matt didn't have his earring until the end of Volume 1 - and now it's a staple to his design.

Why it's easy to get stuck on too many details

Let's use this adorable design as an example:

This would be my thought process if you showed me this character from your story:

Why is there a barcode on her cheek? What prompted a society to force barcodes on people's faces? Or did she do this as a choice? Why?
Flavored Milk Tea, Boba, and plastic exist in her world. That's a hint at where their technology is.
How does she get dressed every day? That's a lot of clothes to put on.
How will you describe all of this jewelry? Does it serve some kind of purpose? How will you describe all of the colors she wears and different clothing styles (shorts, pleated skirt, belts, jacket, etc)?
Demons or devils are a norm. Do all of your characters have horns/tails?

While it's great when a character has a few defining details that pop out, it would take multiple pages of narrative to describe this character. And unless there's a point to these choices or they're a reflection of her world, readers' eyes are going to glaze over.

Great Characters are Made Through Their Actions Not Their Designs

Ravyn is a great example of this. When Ravyn was created, Ry wanted a tsundere, firey catgirl with red hair whose outfits were borderline lingerie.

These were the first three pictures we found for inspiration and ran with for months:

Her initial description is quick, and it's how she carries herself and acts around the others that really resonates with readers. She's grown so much as a character with time, but that has little to do with her initial design and everything to do with her personality.

One More Time: Find Your Character's Truth

I cannot overstate how important this is. Whether it's your main character or your side characters, give them one truth to always search for. Examples:

Matt: I will protect my friends at all costs.
Keke: Follow in her mother's footsteps.
Cannoli: My faith will guide me.
Ceres: Protect and serve. Failure is not the end.

If you're writing something more light-hearted, they can be light-hearted truths! Like the demon girl above's truth could be, "I will find the tastiest tea in all the land." Over time, their truth could grow, shift, or even change. But giving them a homing beacon will help them grow and can help their design. Cannoli's faith has led her to Saoirse's robes and eventual sapphires in her hair.