OC Reviews and Advice No One Asked for

Planning A Personality

When writing a character, a personality is a crucial piece of the puzzle of who they are. However, writing an interesting personality is far more difficult than it sounds; sometimes even professional writers struggle with developing their characters' personalities. 

Often, when I see beginner writers "create characters", they lay out a list of the character's traits without really giving any thought as to WHY the character would have those traits. For example, let's say that a writer creates a character whom they describe as "daring, attention-seeking, humorous, and flirty".However, this list of traits is just that; a list of traits. WHY is this character attention-seeking? Perhaps their parents were always too busy to care for them when they were a child. Maybe they're flirty and humorous to hide their insecurities that stem from them feeling inadequate or useless, a hidden inferiority complex, from years of never receiving praise from the ones they look up to, or never being good enough for their parents. The best personalities and backstories are the ones that are built hand in hand with each other; the personality reflects the backstory and vice versa.

For example, I'm going to use the description of Tyrion Lannister's personality from the Game of Thrones Wikia. I'll try to avoid spoilers as much as I can in case anyone is planning on watching the series.

Tyrion is a highly intelligent man who recognized from an early age that his mind was his greatest weapon, due to being born a member of House Lannister with the expectation of upholding his family's noble name, yet lacking the physical attributes possessed by his older siblings. Thus, he has committed himself to possessing a sharp intellect in order to help make up for his dwarfism, and he is frequently able to use his superior intellect to get the better of those who initially look down upon him or weasel his way out of tight situations, though he is not above resorting to using his family name and enormous fortune to bolster his position.

This description of his intelligence is excellent. Tyrion is a character with dwarfism, which is highly discriminated against throughout the story. Because of this physical attributes and the expectations coming from being born a nobleman, he has to rely on his high intelligence. This is an example of personality trait being based upon backstory, social environment, and even physical appearance.

Tyrion has admittedly developed a soft spot for his fellow outcasts and has shown them kindness. Being physically weak, Tyrion is also upset when the helpless are harmed.

Tyrion is one of the more moralistic characters in Game of Thrones (though admittedly, it's a low bar), and George RR Martin gave him a believable reason for being so. 

Tyrion, however, is not without faults. He tends to overindulge in food, drink, and sex in part to self-medicate for the terrible treatment he's suffered most of his life; when overly stressed, upset or uncomfortable, he will quickly find the nearest container of wine or beer and consume most of it. Tyrion can also act viciously if he feels he's been wronged. Because his father and sister treated him like a social leper, Tyrion craves love and acceptance and is genuinely hurt when this is denied him by others.

As with positive traits, a character's faults must also be rooted in reason and background. In Tyrion's case, the cruel treatment he has suffered throughout his life is responsible for the less-than-ideal aspects of his personality, which is reasonable, understandable, and relatable.

That's all that I'll be using from Tyrion's description as to avoid spoilers.

To the void of nobody who is reading this story: Are there any topics that you would like me to talk/rant about? I was kind of thinking about doing a "What Makes A Good Villain" chapter, a "Romance" chapter, an "Overpowered Characters and Creating Tension" chapter, an "Annoying Wattpad Cliches" chapter  a "Character Design" chapter, and an "Archetypes" chapter. Do any of those sound interesting, or what do you think would be interesting?