Characters

Now that you've decided what kind of story you want to write, and maybe even have (a part of) the plot, the next step is to decide who you want to write about. Usually, I pick one person who the story is about, and a couple of others who will also be important for the story. The more important they are, the more details I write down in what I call, character planning.

Since most of you will be or already are writing fan fiction, of course, the characters and personalities are formed already, because the people you (will) write about actually exist. But of course, there will be some changes. Those changes could be in their personalities, or some facts. For example, I changed Minho and Yuri's bloodtypes in my story, because I needed their bloodtypes to be B and O in order to fit the story plot. But you can also change their stage personalities. Example: replace Onew's sangtae for an evil mastermind. Play around with your character's personalities, and when you're satisfied, write it down! I'll give you guys a basic list to fill in for each character, and I'll fill one in for an example.

Character: (Name and Importance: Main character, second character, regular character...)
Character plot: (How the character is involved in the plot)
Character story facts: (Some facts that don't necessarily have to be true for the real person, but you'd like to add for the story.)

Example (I used my story Key's lullaby for this one again)

Character: Kim Kibum/Key. (SHINee) Main character.
Character plot: He loses his memory after a car crash and doesn't remember a thing about being a trainee or being a part of SHINee, nor does he remember the members. He needs to regain his memory and skills before the comeback.
Character story facts: He has known that he's gay since he was 12, but because he wanted to be a trainee he never openly was gay. Now that he doesn't know about his life as a star, he is suddenly openly gay, surprising the other members with thinking that Jonghyun is his boyfriend. Also, he absolutely hates everything about the lifestyle he's supposed to live: clothes, hairstyle…

Character: Kim Jonghyun (SHINee) Second character.
Character plot: When Key loses his memories and wakes up thinking that Jonghyun is his boyfriend, Jonghyun has to play along in order to keep his friend from thinking too much about what he's forgotten. He eventually falls in love, but has to face the fact that he'll have to tell Key that they weren't actually together before the accident.
Character story facts: He has always suspected Key of being gay, but they never talked about it, nor did he admit that he had feelings for a boy before, too.

Next is image. You need to think of what kind of person you want the character to be. Every story has some sort of "bad person". Who do you want to play that part? Who gets the main part? Who will be the "close friend" / "potential lover"? You want your characters to fit the part, but then again, being original is fun, too. (Like with Onew the evil mastermind)

TIP: Try different characters, see if they fit the part, discuss it with other fans. Seriously, your fan base is the key to a good story. Ask for opinions, think about every option, and when you find a character that you like, go for it!

Sometimes the process of story idea>genre>character gets mixed up, that's happened to me before. I personally find it more difficult to think of a good story idea that goes well with a character, because it drastically takes down your options. I recommend thinking of an idea first, before deciding who you want to write about.

Another important thing is the relationships of your characters. Lovers, Brothers, Sisters, Friends, Enemies… You want these things planned out so you know you won't make a mistake. If you decide that your main character is Jessica, and that Sooyoung is her sworn enemy, you can not have a scene in which they pass each other and not glare or do something y. Planning is key. Want to learn more about planning for your story? Please continue to the next part, in which I'll talk about how to begin your story! And if you have questions, please do leave them in the comments, and I will try to answer them in the best way that I can.