Lets have a take on character. You come up with a simile for either ”Characters are like...” or ”Developing characters is like...” Your simile can try to be spot on, funny, ironic, poetic or whatever you feel like. But you not allowed to be vague or get into relative discussions like ”...Well that depends on what kind of writer you are, and genre and style and we are all unique...” You suppose to capture -something- with you simile so decide on your take of it, a style, genre or how or is for yourself as an individual or someone else. --- Developing characters is like cooking. When you first start to learn to cook on you own you know about some dishes, and know the about some common ingredients. But you don't know exactly what temperature is best for frying things, how to get the sauce right, or how to cut a chicken neatly. Either you take some known common recipe and follow it, or you improvise wildly, with varying results in the beginning. After a while you know some recipes by heart, have you favorite ingredients and spices and can improvise somewhat without risking a disaster. You can use most common methods and ingredients. You done some mistakes and learned from them. Finally after a few years and a lot of practice you really begin to get this whole cooking business. You know how to compose a dish and to combine dishes to a fancy dinner. You can take whatever you have at home and improvise a meal from it, and it will taste great. You understand the ingredients, their upsides and downsides and what to watch out for, like how easily fish overcooks. You know a bit about nutrition and know how to get the best results of all the ingredients you use.
Characters are like...an itch that has to be scratched. or Characters are like...an irritating child, screaming to be heard. or Characters are like...your friends, always there in the back of your mind.
Characters are like your children. You can raise them as best you can, but it is they who have to go out into the world and make their own connections with people. You can't do it for them!
Characters are like friends - they provide company, entertain, argue, and are always ready with sage advice
Characters are like You! They represent different parts of you, be they worldview, fears, dreams of what you wish you could be. Even characters that are nothing like you will have parts of you. They will at the very least be examples of how you see the world. Their lives could also be filled with things you wish you had. For so many reasons, characters are like YOU. They're people, to you at least, and hopefully to your readers.
Characters are like my friends--People I admire but set on paper. Characters are like doubles of me--The version I wish I was at times. Characters are like people I miss--People I never had the privilege to meet.
Developing characters is like painting - you work as diligently as you can to create exactly what you have in mind, but then someone else will look at the final product and see something different.
Developing characters is like giving birth (as if I experienced it...), it takes time to develop, it's a pain to bring forth, but it's a pleasure to have -- oh! they grow up so fast.
... like dreaming. Just as in a dream, complex creations appear fully-formed in my head, and while I know that they come out of my brain and there's a reason for everything, I have to think about them for a while to see where they came from - and to decide if they're any use to me at all. (_Complex_ creations appear fully-formed; that doesn't mean that they're _good_ creations.)
Developing characters is like playing pretend games. You put yourself in your character's place, and temporarily become them, to see what they would do and say.
Bad characters are like poo - they both come out of your backside, they both stink and both end up being flushed away Good characters are like girlfriends - the more attention you give them, the better!
Characters are like riding a rollercoaster. From a distance, you can look at it, and get an idea of what to expect. But until you get on the ride, you never really know anything about the experience... the sharp drops, the tight turns, the crazy loops. Even if you know what's coming next, it still surprises you.
Yes, very sad. Poor you. Actually, I feel the same way. My characters are my large extended family, dysfunctions and all.
Developing characters is like Doctor Frankenstein working in his laboratory. You stitch together bits and pieces of friends, acquaintences, and strangers, but it's all in vain if you can't imbue the result with the spark of life.
Characters are like the muffins for purchase in a mad bakers shop. They may start out as generic and uniform, but they all depend on which ingredients you put into them, some will be loved by most and some will be loath by many. It all depends on what goes into them or what has been omited.
Characters are like children. No matter how much you plan, or how hard you steer them in the directions that you think are best for them - they always just do whatever the heck they want to do.
