Tips on making your own original characters

Welcome back! As a writer, I have made (and unfortunately scrapped) many original characters, or OCs. If you’re a writer who has questions like…

How do I avoid cliches?

How do I choose their appearance?

What do I do to make them interesting?

WHAT DO I DO!?

Don’t worry, I have asked all of these questions. And after years of writing, scrapping, and rewriting stories, I’ve learned how important character development is. Here are some tips for all the writers out there!

Here are some helpful websites, and what they’re for!

• Character Hub (Account needed): In my opinion, the BEST place to start developing characters. You can make their bios, interact with other writers/creators, and it really helps give me ideas. I definitely recommend it!!
• Picrew: A great place if you need help thinking about what your OC looks like if you aren’t much of an artist. It’s full of fun customizers so you don’t have to draw them yourself!
• Ifaketextmessage: A fun thing to do after you’ve made your OC to make fake messages with them and another character!
• Babynames.com: A great place if you’re struggling to come up with your OC’s name!
• Pinterest (Account needed): An app/website that I use a bunch to look up photos of people for my OC’s, names, references, ideas, etc! (Ask permission first!)
• Headcanon generator: A fun place to put in your OC’s name and make up little details or things about them. It’s also pretty funny!

Other tips!

• Always try to make your OC unique, really try to find them a personality that feels real. If you aren’t feeling something, scrap it!
• Decide even the smallest detail about them. What’s their favorite drink? Are they left or right handed? Every detail counts to make them more realistic and fun.
• Give them dislikable traits! If a character has all perfect traits, it can make them too cliche or unrealistic. Remember, real people all have flaws, so why shouldn’t your OC?
• Don’t just make up everything on the spot while you’re writing. Don’t rush yourself into writing it all, but instead write down ideas you have and take your time. Rick Riordan, author of Percy Jackson and the Olympians, revises his initial work at least four or five times after writing it before it’s even sent to an editor. Take your time!
• Something fun for me has been deciding my characters’ nationalities. For example, one of my characters is Greek, so it’s given me chances to research Greece and the culture while I design his character. 
• Give them a specific relationship with each of your other characters. For example, if they’re best friends with one character in a friend group but barely interact with the other, it can make it unrealistic. Make sure you know how they all act around each other! Do they talk differently? Do they get quiet? It’s up to you!
• Give them weird, random quirks and interests! I always find it fun to make my characters have strange things they love. Does your character spew out random history facts? Are they completely obsessed with The Maze Runner? You can decide every single detail about them.
• Accept criticism if it’s helpful. If someone dislikes something about your OC that you love, don’t let them change it! It’s YOUR character. You call all the shots!
• Really think about their looks. Have it reflect their personality! Here are some examples to get you thinking.
  • Do they have dyed hair? Highlights?
  • Do they have any piercings? If so, where and how many?
  • What kind of clothes do they wear? Do they have a specific style or aesthetic?
  • Do they have glasses? Braces?
  • How long is their hair? Long? Really short? No hair at all?
  • Do they do things like paint their nails? Do they wear any makeup?

I hope this all was helpful for all you writers. If you have any questions whatsoever, don’t hesitate to ask!