Saturday, January 30, 2010

Making Characters: By Association

I've heard it said that you can judge people by the company they keep. If you see somebody who hangs out with sexist jerks all the time, there is a good chance that this person is also a sexist jerk. Usually, though, things are not that simple.

People can have very different sets of friends. One person could have a friend who talks bout worldly matters like politics and religion, another friend who talks about video games a comic books, another friend who is an active participant in community outreach programs, and yet another friend who likes to tell jokes about peeing on things that shouldn't be peed on. Judging from these friends, the person in question is not easily defined. Still though, we can get an idea for the things that this person likes and would be interested in.

When you want to create characters, consider this approach: figure out who this person's friends are and why. If you can determine what characteristics your character resonates with, you will better understand your character for it.

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