Understanding people so that I can write characters

[Luc Ienn]

I have no idea where the best place to post this was, wasn’t sure if it was better in the Hobbies/Interests section, or maybe in Education/Employment (for like, self employment sort of?). I decided to post my thread here because I realize perhaps it has to do most with socializing and understanding people.

I have been at a bit of an impasse lately. I have been trying to write stories again, trying to get back in touch with my creative side. As I write, I realize that I’m struggling to feel like my characters are “real”. It sort of feels as if I am moving around a bunch of dolls in a dollhouse, instead of being on the same level as my characters. Only my main character feels genuine, but honestly a lot of what the main character is has a lot to do with myself. I think it’s usually normal for people to do a little bit of self-insertion, since writing comes from experiences and one’s own knowledge. Despite that, my inability to relate to the characters that fill the rest of the story really bugs me.

What’s this gotta do with autism? Well…I wonder, is it even possible for me as an autistic individual to write characters that aren’t autistic? Would every character I write end up only mimicking real people? Maybe it would be okay if my story had only autistic characters (just think of stories where every character is a woman, or every character is gay: they exist and sell well). While I wouldn’t extend the same judgement to others, I judge myself for what I perceive as a “shortcoming”. Still, my autistic brain is the brain it is, and so my brain can only write what my brain knows.

I want to be able to write a story that people can relate to at least a little bit, or at least understand. I worry that if my story is “too autistic”, then it wont land with people. I don’t talk like a lot of people do, even among other ND folks. I feel that if I should finish and publish, people might think my characters are unrealistic.

Perhaps I’m thinking too much about it, defeating myself before I even start the battle. My masking techniques are not the best, and so applying my masks to my characters would be hit/miss. I worry that a story written by me would show a world from the lens of an autistic person most, but not giving enough detail to those that fall outside of the perspective of the main character. I think my story deserves better than that.

Are you a writer? Do you also struggle with writing characters or feeling satisfied with their portrayal? Any sort of techniques you might have when it comes to writing people?

Also, I have far more many thoughts on this but I think I’ve written enough for the current moment.

 

[Wolfnox]

I am a writer and yes I struggle with that. My advice read different books and how the characters are presented and progress. Also stock up on descriptive emotion words.

 

[Knower of nothing]

Thinking in reverse, it would mean neurotypical brains can only write neurotypical characters. If that's the case they sure are able to squeeze a lot of variety out of that. And for me, as an autistic brain, reading these stories written from supposedly alien perspectives is very gratifying. It is like getting to know people. And by getting to know them, you uncover the fundamental similarities in the human experience.
From a writer's perspective I'm sure it feels limiting and a little scary to consider this, but until you have a decent sample size of feedback you won't get an answer on if it's really as debilitating as it sounds.
And as for writing characters, if it's anything like any other art I'm sure the best way to get better is to do it more and not getting hung up on perfectionism.

 

[Aspychata]

I think what's neat about character development is that they add the seasoning to your story. I really like Elmore Leonard's characters. Get Shorty was a storyline where the characters wrote the storyline, the randomness of the actual story and the characters that brought it to life felt believable. And then you identify with the plot because you are sucked into the nuanaces of each character and begin to understand how they respond to each scene. My favorite movies are where the characters blow up bigger then life, and you start thinking about them as if they really exist.

 

[Luc Ienn]

@Wolfnox
Descriptive emotion words…sounds like a great idea. I’ve always enjoyed having a superfluous vocabulary good for only single-use word usage. (No sarcasm there, despite maybe sounding like it’s sarcastic! I really do just like big fun words that have too many syllables/don’t get used often)

@Knower of nothing
You make good points, about varying perspectives and the benefits that come from it. It is good for people to become exposed to a variety of personal tales, even if they do not relate or agree with the material. Also, you’re right about the perfectionism. I wont open that can of worms all the way, but having a long history of feeling as a disappointment really seeped into every aspect of my life for me.

@Aspychata
A story where the characters write the story…you make me feel sort of foolish, but in a good way I think. I have my main character set up, but haven’t put a lot of effort into preparing the side characters. I think that was because many characters in this story do not spend a long time in it, and so I didn’t feel the need to flesh them out too deeply since they weren’t going to get a lot of “screen time” (Page time? Chapter time? Word count??). I think the next time I sit down to write for my novel, what I’ll do is begin making character bios. That will at least help with making the characters feel less like dolls that appear to suit the story and then vanish. It could also give me new ideas for how to implement them into the story.

 

[TBRS1]

According to what I've read, Charles Dickens (A Christmas Carol and many others) who created incredible characters with the strangest - though believable - "quirks," would imagine characters so well that he would walk around the house talking to them.

Maybe try that (when you are being creative you can be all kinds of peculiar and people are ok with it, but best do this when alone anyway, just to be safe). If you are lucky, they take on a life of their own and create themselves. Then, just copy the characters to your story.

Also, you don't need to reinvent the wheel. When you read, and spot a character that seems really "alive" to you, go back, reread, and look carefully at how the author presents any little bit if information about that character.

Generally it will be a mix of narrative description, what the character says, does, what other characters say to or about the character, and other characters' actions and reactions toward or about the character.

Flat characters (characters that aren't developed as full entities) are generally merely described through narration.

Carefully dissect great writing. Along with Dickens, Shakespeare was awesome, too.