Specific Character Arcs/Natural Progression

[Preliat Mantis]

Which do you prefer? A character that has a pre-determined outcome, or storyline that you plan out with other writers, or a character whom eventually evolves into what they are, through what they experienced? Personally I like a bit of both- I usually start out with a set goal of my characters. For example, I wanted Preliat to find atonement, or redemption after the Dark Harvest- and I don't think he's ever found it, until about now with the Civil War (maybe, we'll see how that turns out). Or with Tracyn, how his life ended up going down the drain because of his own choices and his own inner demons.

I like to say that I don't have a specific plan for my characters, but personally I think I actually do, I'm just not sure how I get there, or really how my characters got to where they are. I like changing how I write a character as well- I personally re-read old threads and storylines to see how it changes, and what I should change based on what the character has been through. For example, the worse the things that happen- the darker the writing gets.

 

[Aela Talith]

Natural Progression.

When I make a character I generally have an overarching theme for them but in the end the story shapes what they are and who they become. I think its better and allows your character to take on a life of their own rather than just being a series of goals.

EDIT: I should also state however that this has a massive downside, at least for me. Because I have no specific goal for a character it is really easy for me to lose interest in them. In order to keep a character going I need that story 'hook' which keeps them interesting and driving forward. This is why I often make a character and then two weeks later it dies or gets deleted, I just didn't do enough RP'ing to actually get them hooked.

 

[Teynara Jeralyr]

[member="Preliat Mantis"]

The problem with pre-determined outcomes is that they often fail to allow for variation. The character must progress along that path, and will either a) do so no matter what happens (which makes their development seem miraculous, wooden or just odd for the circumstances) or b) simply avoid situations which don't fit that development (and you therefore get less RP).

Characters aren't supposed to be perfect, overpowered, or walking a set path: as is true with life, sith happens. The plan you had turned out to be flawed, messed up things happened to you, you got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time...

More importantly, pre-determined characters have pre-determined personalities, responses and actions. They're a set piece that you're simply expanding on. Organically-written characters, on the other hand, are capable of surprising their writers. You go through a thread and something happens that you didn't anticipate, and your character's reactions are therefore something you didn't predict, hadn't previously decided and can be utterly spontaneous. Amazing how often that takes you in new directions.

I'll be honest: the only time you should ever write a pre-determined character is if you're writing a book, and even then, the fleshing out of the character may cause things to change as you write. Organic writing (particularly if you're a Method Writer) can be some of the most entertaining, shocking, surprising writing you'll ever do, and it's always fun, because you adapt to the situations you write in and you do not know what the final product will look like. It's how some of us can write the same character for a decade or more - a pre-planned one wouldn't last half that long, if that!

 

[Gilamar Skirata]

I tend to let natural progression dictate what my characters arcs are/look like

 

[NightSister]

Overplanning a story has a lot of pitfalls in an RP setting. I will confess, I am not somebody who likes to be caught by surprise when I had something else in mind for a thread/story/whatever, but rolling with it has led to some of my most organic and developmental chunks of story (this happening led in a big way to Aria's fall to the dark side, and I loved writing that story to bits).

But I also don't like to not plan this stuff at all, because then the character feels a little aimless to me. I never make a character knowing what they're going to be at the end of X or what they'll be doing for Y, but I also rarely make characters I don't have a clue where to take unless it's a side-character that I'll rarely use outside of certain threads.

Generally, I like to find a nice mix between the two.

Plan some things, don't plan some. Create a general idea for a story but leave the details open (the best story plots are the ones where you don't know exactly what the ending will look like). Start threads without any idea what'll happen and see what stuff springs from there. Little things can lead to really fun narratives. If something happens to throw your plans into disarray? Roll with it. It might lead to something even better.

Yes, this was probably the most in between, wishy-washy answer I could have given. But all the same - plotting is fun. Winging it is fun. Do both!

EDIT: Another thing I thought of - it's definitely a good idea to write your character aimlessly at least for a little while. Get a good feel for them and then you can start planning much more personal story arcs.

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Mostly Natural progression, but i do occasionally plan.

I find when you have plans, things tend to go awry for so many reasons, be it people stop posting or the idea you had in mind doesn't quite work out the way you thought or sit right. My favourite characters have never really had any planning behind them to begin with. Mia's probably my best example of this, everything that defines her has been spur of the moment decisions or as a result of being caught up in a public thread and i love it. That being said, when you've got the right partner that you bounce off of really well, vaguely planning arcs can still be incredibly fun, but i emphasise on the vague, because too detailed and you lose the opportunity to through curve balls in that can change a character.

 

[Sena]

I myself do a bit of both. I know for Sena, for the time being is gonna be neutral. I'm gonna work her up in the Force and really get into HOW I write with her. At some point in the future depending on how her story goes, she will either go all the way to the light or basically become Satan. I also have planned what kind of abilities she will have and how well I want her to be able to use them.

 

[Jsc]

Natural Progression.

However. I like to imagine a character at 60 years old first. A definitive sculpture of this unqiue and otherworldly person. I stop then. Just to see what they are like. How they hold their shoulders. How they stand up amongst the crowd. I what the sparkle in their eyes for any sign of weakness. I ask them questions then. See what they made for themselves, of themselves. See how the world affects them. How the river has made them smooth. Then I try to chart a course of how they got there. Starting from childbirth in their bio. Their parents and early domestication. Then I start real threads when they reach about 24 years old. Trying desperately everyday to fill in the gap between them.

Now. The idea is to get this raw adult, this mellow lump of clay, to turn into that magical 60 year old person as quickly as possible. Finish the painting. Gathering as much wealth, power, and good friends as I can to make the picture match the frame. And if they die along the way? Get maimed or blow up with the ship? Well. That's just life and good RP. Ha. Gives me a chance to pick up the pen and try all over again. And again. And again. And again.

Until we win or we run out of chances.

 

[Ugohr Poof]

Usually I tend to plan only for the short term when it comes to writing characters; planning for the long run, even with only the endgame planned, and only a very rough idea as to how to get there, can affect a character's life cycle. I did that mistake once, I'm upfront about it.

Beware of the "We have arrived" syndrome if you write your character around one long-term goal even when you did very little planning as to how said goal is achieved. You might then lose focus to the point you might then be unable to answer the question "What's next?" for that character.

That said, if you have a clear objective, the journey is more important than the destination.

 

[Bestala Vizsla]

A character that has a pre-determined outcome, or storyline that you plan out with other writers, or a character whom eventually evolves into what they are, through what they experienced?

Yes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Every character of mine has a hidden backstory with set goals for them. But since it's hidden from everyone else, it's all very malleable.

Example: Daella was going to be an independent Sith that wanted to destroy the Sith Empire as a "Jedi" then the Republic from within to win bigly. When the One Sith were made, she became a sleeper agent for them instead.

 

[Ellie Mors]

A defined end-goal with natural progression to get me there. I'm not going to micromanage every thread I do to get to the point I want in the end, which is generally either character death with a specific method in mind or (in this case) something ambitious, but I'm also not going to just let a character go on endlessly until I get so tired of it/them that I have to kill them or shelve them in order to move on. Usually this means I create a character, set a goal for what the character should do or accomplish or if they are destined to die early, and then just thread like normal without planning any threads from point A (Creation) to point B (the goal).

 

[Cira]

a character whom eventually evolves into what they are, through what they experienced?

This. I generally have characters and I enjoy simply roleplaying with others to see what happens. We may start out with a general idea like -- let's do a reverse roleplay where we go backwards to figure out how we ended up where we are at. Or we have a general idea of wanting to start a thread on a planet and then rolling with it.

Some of my best character arcs have been with [member="Alric Kuhn"] 's , [member="Asmus Janes"] ' , @Kaili Talith 's , [member="Judah Dashiell"] 's, [member="Jonathon Patches"] ', and [member="Sarge Potteiger"]'s writers.

 

[Lemon]

I just think the best way to RP is to know your character well and let the galaxy around you shape them. There may be set plotlines you may do which create development and that's fine as well.

 

[Raziel]

I used to be quite bad at planning out character arcs. I would say things like "that sounds fun, but it doesn't suit what I have planned for the character."

I realised that by preventing other characters from really having an effect on my own I was really marginalising them by giving them bit parts in the story I had planned. Instead I spent my time plotting these long arcs and writing long, flowery posts and finishing for complements.

I have less free time now, I write shorter posts and go with the flow. It's a lot more rewarding.

 

[Siobhan Kerrigan]

Natural progression mostly.


I like having some broad, generals goals, but those are subject to modification or outright change. I tend to have an easier time finding motivation for characters when there's something concrete for them to strive for. Then again, as [member="Valiens Nantaris"] knows, my mood regarding characters changes a lot.


Enyo's probably the most planned out character, and her story has still taken a great many twists and turns. E.g. she was always going to rebel against her creators one day. But it was not predetermined that she'd be turned into a cyborg or a brain in a jar. Furthermore, she was originally supposed to have a confrontation with Sio, but I abandoned that goal after her story moved in another direction.


Most of what happened to Sio was the result of organic development with little planning. She definitely was not intended to become a corporate magnate, an aristo or even marry. At the start I just wanted a radical, rogue Jedi.

 

[Mishel Kryze]

I learned a lesson here.

Never make detailed plans for characters, ever.

Things just don't go the way you initially intend and believe me at first I was a little annoyed.

Now? Now I just roll with it.

Certainly more entertaining that way and a little more refreshing. Not knowing what will happen or how the character will react or think. Either way, a natural progression or an organic growth is usually the best and you as the writer are better off for letting it happen. Unless you enjoy pain, in which case, by all means.

 

[Vaylin]

Natural progression, with some planning along the way.

For all of my characters I generally have something in mind for the beginning, middle & end. What happens between those, is down to what naturally comes about from stories that are made.

 

[Kaalia Pavanos]

Although detailed plans will pretty much never come to fruitiion, I have found that without a general idea of where I want to take my character will lead to me losing my muse extremely quickly due to not having a real direction to go in. If the path leads to a different outcome in the end that is completely fine, what matters is knowing what you want to do with the character.

 

[Ilias Nytrau]

I tend to fly by the seat of my pants for a lot of my characters, but planning has come in to some extent here and there; a bit like a general roadmap that I build/adjust as things occur, and arcs (if I have them) contain certain things I want to achieve, but little to nothing in the way of a strict plan as to the journey to those points, much less an order of events.

 

[Captain Ironbeard]

It's best to have goals, but keep them in charicter. I don't want to be an awesome pirate, my charicter does. I don't want a droid army, my charicter does. Don't just do it because of out of charicter, and don't set a goal for too far ahead. Planning too far in to the future stresses you out and gives you heaps of threads to post on because you wanna get there asap.