How To Make Original Characters People Care About

Want to make Original Characters that get people's attention, cause them to feel something, and make the care? This, my biggest video yet, follows the same mentality of teaching a man to fish: I want to equip you with the ability to make original characters for an audience. I... also get very fired up.

On Social!

[ivancorredera]

I feel like someone from Illumination studios needs to see this.

[tatiannachandler]

For the last point you made about target audiences:
*" You can make the most delicious and appealing cakes in the county, but there's still gonna be people who won't like it."*

[redxpp]

“III: What are you trying to say?”

*ad plays*

“Everybody hates writing.”

[BologneyT]

THIS VIDEO JUST CHANGED MY LIFE.
UNFORTUNATELY, it ALSO showed me why every character and story I've created is garbage, BUT, AT LAST I know! I've been searching for years for my problems. You can't fix your problem when you don't know what it is, and now, I think I know.
I want to support you one day soon.

[nose_rice]

This is why I don't like when people say "It's not realistic for them to break out into song, " or "Their reaction is way overboard!" Because not everything is set to be perfectly realistic, that is what pushes the character arc! For example: If someone had a family member or friend taken away from them and is now going to destroy or get revenge on them you could say "that is unrealistic" but in reality it is a fictional character going through tough times and going through and arc so you can have your entertainment. Like, imagine this one character going through tough times and you just watch them sit there and be sad for a long time. That would be boring :)

[Donteatacowman]

As someone who really developed character writing in the fan roleplay community, it's interesting how some of that intersects with OCs. The characters that you play every day for years quickly develop their own history and personalities beyond what the original canon gave to them, so those mun-vs-muse (writer-vs-character) moments aren't unfamiliar!

[areoants]

I like how this talk about making appealing characters temporarily evolved into "the new star wars really wasn't that bad"

[skeletalwither]

It also annoys me when people say "why didn't they do this instead of that". My response is that "people are human and make mistakes".

[deadlywork]

The worldbuilding thing is so incredibly true. It feels to me like a LOT of erstwhile writers spend a lot of time trying to create a unique universe, but have no real grasp of how to go about actually WRITING a proper, well-constructed story with complex characters who have believable and interesting interactions with one another, which to be honest I think is a lot more important.

[ravenfrancis]

I think it also needs to fit the overall tone of the story you're working on. If it's a serious drama? Sure, all the traumatic backstories and emotional character arcs you want. But if you're aiming for a more lighthearted comedic tone then maybe using Rule of Funny should apply first before any serious character arcs. You don't want to make a The Last of Us out of what was intended to be a Crash Bandicoot, and vice versa.

[sageserendipity]

All this time, I was sitting here fretting about my characters and my story, trying to make it PERFECT. And then, after getting frustrated and nearly fainting from exhaustion, I go to YouTube and find this video. I just want to say thank you so much for this and the rest of your videos! You have no idea how much I need this right now!

[OrangeDragonofDusk]

As someone who spent years trying to find a "perfect" world-build and getting discouraged from critical reviewer friends (who ended up being toxic rather than constructive), this video is life-changing. Thank you for making this!!

[splitorama]

Ignorance is bliss but knowledge is power. It's sort of harsh as an artist to have to acknowledge that my characters are not perfect and my stories are flawed or unappealing to others, but if you're here and you're feeling that way too, be happy. Pride can really get in the way of learning and developing as an artist, realising the issue is first step to fixing it, no one gets anything right the first time. This was a big help, thank you for another eyeopening video.

[warpzone]

Yeah, about the Plausibles. it turns out that if a character does something the audience wouldn't do, but the reason they did it was a character flaw that's internally consistent and well-signposted... doing that groundwork _makes_ it plausible.

So I say be as plausible as you can be without making your writing worse!

[nvcomics]

With the "anime aesthetic", if you have a more slightly realistic body structure similar to that of Avatar the last Airbender is that still okay? I thought it was okay to have a set body type but have someone be shorter or maybe be a bit more muscular or on the chubby side rather then them being a completely different shape than someone else.

[Ruenig]

The plausibles point really helped me feel better about what my character did. I kept thinking "I wouldn't do that, it's obviously not the best course of action". I can get over it by remembering that's not me so they won't do what I would do anyway, and I'll always know more about situations than my characters, and also sometimes people make miscalculations or don't think things through.

[kuremyona]

omgosh, you...just made me feel less crazy...I was writing fanfiction once, and had made a "throw-away OC" it was the first character I ever had speak to me. I went to write him do something, and i heard him say in my head "Why?" and my thoughts were like "What?!" and he told me "I wouldn't do that...thats not who i am." that night, his position in the story changed because i never forced him to do anything he thought he wouldn't...the first time i told someone about it, they said i was crazy, that, That was impossible. so i stopped telling people about him.

[tommyrojas]

HAHA Mark I love your cameo I wish I had all those books.

[REX-gqur]

I have been writing my characters for almost four years and sometimes I find myself unconsciously asking myself "What would she do in this situation?" or doing their mannerisms. :0

[lve]

I came here curious about comics, developing a character and such... and ended up with a life lesson unlike any other... now I’m indebted to you.