Im making a comic sometime later in life, but im having so much trouble with my characters. My situation goes like this: I've been sitting back looking at life for a long time, and my story is sort of like that: LIFE. It involves alot of characters with different plots that interconnect, because every person in real life has their own story which their friends and family fit into. I just have alot of trouble of where to begin with developing my characters..I have their basics like their looks and such but i just feel that they're so shallow still. Im trying to make them like real people that can function in a world other than their own (because right now, they're pretty much dependent on the world they live in...which is not quite..right to me) Any tips? I think well created characters make the story- more than the plot itself.
Well, okay, I don't have this problem as much because I think of plots as a support device for the character, not the other way around as some people think. But anyway, okay, I don't what characters you have currently, but here's an idea. Get some WEIRD people, like someone who has severe paranoid schizophrena, and pair them up with normal people. Then, have them learn from each other. For a less extreme example of the former, maybe have someone who is Vegan, or has a similar type of moral conviction that heavily limits their behavior in some way. What this does is contrasts the characters, however that's just the beginning. You still need to flesh out the characters individually and give them goals with motivations for said goals. Not that you can't write an inactive character, but even apathy has a motivation behind it.
I REALLY like the whole weird characters ideas XD Thanks!! (p.s i currently have a character who has an extreme dislike of being touched by women, and i have the most fun writing him. haha)
Good, you're already on your way. You just need to flesh them out more. Also, have two characters interact in your head, like that guy who doesn't like to touch women perhaps with a woman who does, to not only get comedic effect at times, but also to flesh them out. You'll need LOTS of character depth for this story to make it interesting, so pay special attention to fleshing them out.
Just remember the wise words of Francis Porretto: The raw material of fiction is people. The essence of story is change. That's about all you need to make a story. Come up with realistic people and figure out how they deal with the change you plunk in their world. Simply figuring out how they deal with change can help develop a character. What would I do in this situation?