User blog:Crimsonalloy/tips

Hi! I'm certainly not the most active member on the fanon, and I've been blessed with a lot of support and encouragement from this community, and I'd like to contribute back in some way.

I've posted these tips on the other fanon a long time ago, but since this fanon has more traffic, I thought I'd cross-post it here, with a few edits. This is by no means a guide - it's more of me pointing out the things I find most important about character creation that I largely see missing on this wiki! That is all I have! I apologize if I sound pretentious or wordy - I'm an amateur, and I tend to ramble. Still, I thought I'd throw my hat into the ring. The wiki offers some great and comprehensive guides on the front page if you need help getting started on a character. Anyways, I hope this helps, and thanks for taking the time to read this!
 * Do not use art that isn't yours. This includes art from pixiv, anime, games, konachan, zerochan, danbooru, etc. (The worst is "I found it on the internet." You don't say?) If you want to use a piece of art, ask the original artist for permission to use it, and don't get angry if they refuse you. How do you expect anyone to respect your original work when you don't respect the work of others? There's a certain kind of irony present when I see clearly stolen art and a "do not steal!" on a character page.
 * Personality is the most important feature of any character. It also happens to be the feature many writers neglect. If all you have to say about your character's personality is a few words, they need serious expansion. Describe your character like they are a real person. I know lots of "nice but silly" people. What makes your character stand out? What are they normally like? Does it take a lot to get them angry? Do they have any habits they wish they could get rid of? There's a world of interesting quirks and idiosyncrasies out there, and it's wasted when you sum up your character as "an average teenager" or "nice." As a general guideline, if your character's appearance description is longer than their personality section, you should re-evaluate them.
 * Don't be afraid of adding flaws to your character. A perfect character is boring and static. I recommend creating a chart -- for every strength you give your character, add a flaw. Give them growing room. This will also attract people to you and increase chemistry during RPs. If your character is lacking in defense, chances are, there will be a character with strong defense you can have a lot of fun interacting with. Furthermore, make sure that strengths and flaws make sense -- for example, someone that plays an instrument is probably dextrous, and a pampered person probably doesn't know how to do household chores.
 * Here's a quote from Stephen King on backstory: "The most important things to remember about back story are that (a) everyone has a history and (b) most of it isn’t very interesting."
 * Avoid cliches and melodrama. Do not copy the backstory of another existing character, even if your character is inspired by a particular fairy tale. There's a difference between taking inspiration and completely ripping off someone's ideas. Add your own flair. This does not mean changing around a few words and names. Digest a fairy tale/myth/etc and spin it in a fresh way to suit your character, if you want to base your character on one.
 * On weapons: do not rip off video game weapons. To reiterate, taking elements and inspiration is fine. Taking the concept art of a weapon and slapping a "cool name" on it, leaving the rest virtually the same is a horrible thing to do. Refer to bullet point 1. In RWBY, the characters' weapons are indicative of the character, the elegant Myrtenaster reflecting Weiss's high birth and the Magnhild reflecting Nora's brash and reckless personality. Giving your character Cloud's Buster Sword tells me that just don't care. Put thought in your weapon, because it is just as important as your character.
 * Also, make sure your weapon is not OP. Do the same thing with the weapon as you did with the character: give it a few flaws. Make a chart. Visualize a way of fighting that makes sense. If your character has a crossbow, chances are, they're not the best close-range fighter, unless you give them a secondary weapon. Which you can! In that hypothetical situation, I'd advise making them strong in the long-range and weaker, but not totally ineffectual, in the short range.
 * Adhere to the RWBY universe. That's what makes your OC a fan OC. If something is not confirmed or hinted at, I strongly advise against making it a part of your character's backstory. Otherwise, you'd be better off creating your own original universe (that's fun too, though). Since RWBY is such a new series and we don't know much about the world, vagueness is okay. Be careful not to base your character's past solely on something that has not been confirmed.
 * Combining the past few tips: your character's strengths and flaws should match their backstory. If they grew up in an isolated environment, they may not do well in crowds. If they grew up very poor, they may be uneducated and have difficulty reading.
 * Avoid superlatives when describing your character. They're probably not the best or worst at anything. I personally have no problem with geniuses and prodigies, but make sure to give them actual flaws to balance their talents out! Many people with high IQs tend to be poor at socializing, for example.
 * Remember that your character belongs to you, no matter what anyone says. At the same time, remember that if you post it to some public website like the wiki, people have a right praise or critique your creation. Learn to differentiate between critique and flaming -- if the person has cited good reasons for their judgement, it is a critique. If they make a personal attack or offer no advice for improvement, it is a flame. This community is usually very supportive, and if they are being harsh, it is because they see flaws in your writing and want you to improve. Not everybody is out to get you. (And of course, you can choose to take their advice or not.)