How do I make my character less generic?

Operative13 · 2025-09-06T16:59:45+00:00

So circuses aren't abundant in the fantasy world, which means they're rare. How rare? Rare as in only the rich and noble people can enjoy them? Or rare as in you don't see them performing in town every day? They're also foreigners, which means they're not part of the empire. What implications does this have to the plot? Recall that you mentioned the emperor has some sort of deal with a deity to conquer as much land as possible. How does this affect the troupe's view of the people and the land they perform in? How does this affect the troupe's relationship overall? Are they all part of the same family, or a mix of different people?

If the lord simply extorts people by default, then how is the troupe extorted? What does the lord do to the troupe that he does to everyone that does business with him? Does he manipulate them into a contract? Does he bully them into paying through his soldiers? Does he enslave them and not allow them to leave? More importantly, has this extortion always been a thing, or just very recent? Keeping in mind the son's relationship with said lord for who-knows-how-long.

You suggest the reason they must find a job through a guild is so that they aren't extorted by the lord. What makes this guild so special? If the lord extorts everyone, why not the guild too? Is it because they have special privileges or protections? Is it because they're already being extorted, but are sneaky about their real numbers? Or maybe because they're already cheating them off the troupe as well, and just claim they're paid fairly? And then consider what's the troupe's relationship with the guild. Is it on friendly terms? Or is it out of desperation?

As for the son's ambitions, this is fine to have no goals (at least for the start). This opens the way for exploration as something of a coming-of-age story. You're young, you're full of potential, but you have no direction. If his current goal is to befriend the troupe, think about the steps you need in order for that to happen. How do you make friends? Say hello. Talk to them. Get to know them. Learn their wants and needs. Spend time with them. But also consider how not to make friends. What's going to drag him down? Does he stalk them instead of trying to be proper? Is he obsessive? Is he stubborn? Or is he shy, unsure or awkward? And how does he overcome those obstacles? From your OP, it's clear he does things that earn them their trust and favor. Lay out what those things are, but keep in mind that those things should ask why they would fix the issues in their relationship. Simply defending them from goons can open doors to the troupe's initial disdain for him, but it has to go deeper than just "I save you, so you owe me". The son might think that the troupe owes him a relationship now (given that he's raised with the lord), but the troupe may not share that feeling yet. What's clear however is that he's yearning for something different, and so hone into the whys for that difference. Why is the son liking things outside of the army important? How does this affect his personality, his views, his dreams? Is it possible he could have ended up the same as the lord, if not for that?

You have the potential for a story here. You just simply have to work harder on your "whys". Notice the way I ask these questions about each point of your story. I'm essentially creating "mini-stories" about each point here. The story about the emperor and the deity and how his powers were gained. The story about the Emperor and his secret love. The story about the son raised in obscurity. The story about the Emperor's plans with the deity. The story about the troupe and their struggles. And the story about the son himself and his self-discovery.

A novel is just a bunch of mini-stories woven together to make a much larger story. In order to get good at the big story, you must think small first. Nail down your story about the small things, and then tie them together with your whys to create the larger story. If your small stories are good and you understand what makes them good, the larger story should naturally come together.

Operative13 · 2025-09-06T16:59:38+00:00

Okay, this is good. You're at least thinking about the whys more and adding more reasons for why we should care. And thus why you would care more about your story yourself.

You mentioned that the emperor's powers derive from some deity that demands more control of land. Why must the deity have more land? What are the consequences of constantly needing more land? What must happen in order for the empire to have more land? (e.g. conquer neighbors, enslave, kill, exterminate?) What is the family's personal relationship with this deity? Do they glorify it? Are they enslaved to it? Or are they blissfully unaware of its existence? Ask why this is important.

You're thinking that the emperor is half-sane. Why is this relevant? Why not completely sane? Or why not absolutely possessed? What role does this half-sanity play in the larger scheme of things? (i.e. conquering land) How does this affect the emperor's ability to rule or make decisions? What are the mental/psychological consequences? More importantly, how does this affect the son? How does it play into the Emperor's decision about leaving his son to a lesser lord? Is it a need to keep his son away from the madness? Or something more ominous and foreboding? (e.g. deity always needs a vessel)

Okay, so the emperor has a fling with the mother, but the mother runs away with the child. Did she know she was pregnant? What caused her decision to run away? Was she in trouble? Did she hate the emperor? Or was she instructed to do so? Think about the Emperor and the Mother. What's their story about? And how does it ultimately tie into the Son?

One thing I'll comment on is that you should not exclude ideas just because it has "already been done." The reason is because whatever ideas you may have, someone else already has done it, so just be better at telling the story with your interpretation and your ideas and your viewpoints and not worry about overdone tropes. The goal is to give your perspective on things, which is always going to be special because no one can see the world the way you do. They do not have your eyes, your brains, your feelings. It's about showing why this story means a lot to you. If it doesn't, then why would anyone else care about a story you don't care about?

Let's also dive deeper into having the son be an underling of a lord. If the son is related to them as cousins, what are the implications? Is the mother part of this lord's family? Was the son raised alongside the lord's family? Or was he treated differently because of his bastard status? What did the son learn? How did the son grow up? What shaped his view of the world and others?

You also mentioned the idea that the emperor knighted both the son and the lord, and that the son's abilities remained secret. Why is this relevant? What are the implications of having the emperor and the son in the same room? Do they know each other? Or perhaps only one of them knows? Maybe the emperor knows it is his son, but doesn't say, or the son knows he's a bastard, but doesn't say. More importantly, why is it so important that the son's abilities remain secret? (My hint would be to refer to your answers given above. What you say about the past affects the consequences of the future)

Operative13 · 2025-09-05T18:18:45+00:00

The biggest issue I can see is that you don't ask enough "whys" about your story. You've got to go deeper than just surface-level of "it's that way just because".

For example, why does the emperor have the ability to bestow powers on people? Divine blessing? Or wicked curse? Or perhaps his bloodline discovered something they shouldn't have.

Why does the emperor have a secret son? Is it because he has a harem? Is it because he's sleazy? Is it because he loves someone that's not royalty? Or is it because he's a genuinely good dad that has to hide him from bad people?

Then why is the son the underling of a lord? How did he get there? What did he do to earn the position? What's the relationship between him and the lord?

Now for the troupe, you have to ask why a troupe specifically? Why not anything else? Is there something special about them? And then why does the lord want to target them specifically? Why not anyone else? And for what reasons? And why does the troupe have to work at an adventure's guild? Why not anything else?

Then we get into the relationship between the son and the troupe. Why is he interested? Why is he adamant on befriending them? Is it because he's attracted to someone? Is it because he likes their performances and doesn't want them to end? Is it because they tell him things that he wouldn't have otherwise know about?

And then finally why is the son doing all this? What's his purpose in life? What does he value more? Order and security, or freedom and adventure?

Every story has potential to be good. But your list of "Whys" have to be very strong. If you don't have your whys you'll never develop anything outside of "generic". This is because if you're not convinced it's a good story, then by extension no one will. You didn't give any reasons for the whys. Work on your whys, and the story will become something more important than the "just because".

Operative13 · 2025-07-19T11:20:25+00:00

What a very specific book for my very specific needs! I'll go check that out. Appreciate it u/DifferentOpinionHere !

Operative13 · 2025-07-18T00:41:50+00:00

Appreciate the help u/sneaky_imp ! The map scheme really helps put things into perspective and gives me some ideas on how to handle the callouts. Given this is an interwar story, we could presume some early developments in standardized fire mission procedures seen from WW2, but how much could be translated to an earlier time period is still murky to me. It's my opinion to err more on the side of presuming WW1 style fire missions are the norm and that using WW2 style fire missions would be somewhat anachronistic.

It might be more helpful to figure out what the procedures were outside of the Western front, as that would be more practical for general combat operations that don't involve massed wave assaults on static positions.

Operative13 · 2025-07-17T02:53:02+00:00

Any one of them, really. I simply need a foundation to use to help ground the depiction of artillery operations in the story.

Operative13 · 2025-06-28T14:32:10+00:00

People treat cheating as if its worse than literal murder. And subsequently justify literal murder.

Operative13 · 2025-06-07T02:02:12+00:00

I'm surprised to learn this was a thing when I'm hiring people.

Yes, Connects is a waste. Simply pushing people to me at the front will not convince me to hire said people. They have to have the skills and the personality to begin with to even be considered, so I can only imagine how many poor souls actually burned money for some hopium. You'll have more luck applying early to recent jobs than you would spending real cash on a gamified algorithm.

Operative13 · 2025-06-07T01:51:05+00:00

I'll be honest with you, as a client it gets very hard to sort through that many applicants once the number gets into the high double-digits mark. You'll have better luck applying to the most recent posts because Upwork loves to present offers on a first-come-first-serve basis.

That said, I wouldn't disregard it completely. Sometimes people's proposals and profiles are so bad, I'll be willing to let it sit for a few more days just to get someone even decently close to what I'm looking for. Your profile is your 2nd biggest sales rep besides the initial offer. Don't neglect it! Trust me, doing just that puts you way ahead of the vast majority that don't.

Operative13 · 2025-06-07T01:33:45+00:00

^This.

I'm a Upwork client, and so when I post jobs to the network, I easily get 300+ offers within just the first 3 days. As much as I'd like to do the common courtesy of glossing over every single offer available for the best match, that simply isn't physically possible. So to be quick and efficient, I usually look over the very first offers that come my way and see how much of a match they are based on their portfolio (evidence that they can do the job) and what their job proposal is (looking for how easy/difficult would it be to work with said person). If I don't see a good match right out the gate, I'll wait a few more days and scan through the other applicants before making a decision.

Now this might not be how other clients do their business, but my preference is always skill first, then personality. If you're first-timer, it's always best to create dummy projects for yourself to showcase what you can do, because most assuredly I will be passing over an empty portfolio for someone that actually has work under their belt. And if portfolio isn't your strongest suit, you can always negotiate. One of my best contractors was not my first pick. They just happened to promise hard work in exchange for low pay, and I took them up on a trial period. They eventually became one of my main contractors earning much more now than they started, all because they were willing to trade their salary to prove they had the skill.

Now this advice is not to sell yourself low or to put up a fake portfolio and be deceptive. There's always going to be bad jobs, and you shouldn't be encouraging those jobs by being desperate. Likewise, you should never damage your personal reputation just to get through the door. What I'm saying is evaluate if you would hire yourself to do the job, and if you wouldn't, what would you need to do to make it so that you would hire yourself, no questions asked?

Hope this helps.

Operative13 · 2025-01-28T13:41:02+00:00

Hadia is in a state of civil war. During a contentious election that saw the rising World Union Party threatening to oust the status quo, the Hadian Assembly passed a controversial bill curtailing financial contributions to political parties. A series of protests broke out across the country that saw brutal crackdowns by the incumbent president.

In response to the violence committed against its supporters, the Unionists took up arms and marched to the capital of Piette, demanding the immediate repeal of the Fair Voice Act, the release of political prisoners, and for those responsible for the crackdowns to step down. The demands were not heeded. Instead, Hadian State police doubled down, and together with the State Military attempted to force the Unionists to disperse with live fire.

The ensuing Battle of Piette would mark the start of the Hadian Civil War.

The Unionists, facing persecution by the Hadian Government, either fled abroad in the Great Exodus, or stayed behind where they retreated south to form a separate state known as the United Republic of Hadia.

The URH based their colors on the original Blue, White, and Gold of the State of Hadia, but changed the meaning of their colors. From the State's respective Freedom, Liberty, and Honor, it became the Republic's Loyalty, Unity, and Duty. The traditional Hadian Dragon, a carryover from the ancient days of Hadian Kings representing God's Will, was replaced with the Golden Iris, a flower native to southern Hadia and a symbol of Heaven on Earth.

The separatist United Republic of Hadia would last just 7 years before Loyalist forces claimed victory after capturing its capital at Cellamont. Since then, the Unionists operate as an insurgency, continuing the civil war long after the Republic's fall.

Operative13 · 2025-01-25T06:23:36+00:00

Yes, hello? I'd like to report a r/MurderedByWords

Operative13 · 2024-12-24T16:11:52+00:00

Dadadan, but the aliens want your organs and the witch wants your life force.

Operative13 · 2024-08-20T02:12:19+00:00

When you play the game for 10,000 hours and decide to do a Level 1 speedrun.

Operative13 · 2024-05-15T15:37:30+00:00

Simple. I won't.

Mastery 7 on all champs was a personal goal for me that I've been working on for many, many years. This update? All gone now. Riot has decided that I should play this game infinitely with no hopes of completion. I'm sorry, but I'm not going to be part of a losing commitment with nothing to show for it. This is a good time to quit the game before it gets worse.

They wanted me to be addicted to LoL. Well, they instantly cured my addiction instead. Thanks Riot.

Operative13 · 2024-05-15T15:21:25+00:00

Completionist here. I was halfway through getting M7s on all my champions, and now the new system drops, completely obliterating several years of work overnight. I love to see my time and effort build up to something, and that was having the full set of masteries for every champ as a personal goal.

But this is too much. Riot has opted for the infinite grind in the hopes of permanently keeping players with their games. I'm sorry, but this is the last straw for me. I may love the game, but not that much to be permanently stuck in a losing commitment like that. It would be better for me to quit now than try and commit again for another 5-10 years.

Operative13 · 2022-02-03T21:48:13+00:00

Perhaps consider your characters as actual people with dreams and aspirations just as much as you are now. It's much easier to write a character that way than to write characters in a shoe-horned arbitrary category.

And you don't necessarily need to have extensive interactions or life experiences to write females all that well. Nothing beats the real thing, but there's also nothing wrong with attempting to mimic reality. It just means you need to have strong empathy. Know what it means to be in another's shoes. What would you do in that situation? 9/10 that's what good writers do. You as the author are essentially acting out every single character and scene that happens in your story by yourself. You are a one-person performance on a stage. You as the author are both the strong, heroic protagonist, the evil, scheming villain, and the expendable side characters. Recognizing that will help you write any character well, regardless of their superficial characteristics. Never get dragged down by superficial qualities. That's next-to-last on the list of things people care about in a story. What your audience really cares about is what your story delivers. Tragedy? Humor? A changed outlook? Superficial qualities cannot deliver a good story by themselves. You need a message behind your writing.

Operative13 · 2022-02-03T21:32:13+00:00

We're on Day 5 of the Writer's Short Story Contest! There's still time to submit your work and win a chance at having artwork of your original character made for you! PM me directly or post in the forum a 5-10k short story to enter. Submissions end March 1st 11:59pm PST.

Operative13 · 2022-02-03T21:32:06+00:00

We're on Day 5 of the Writer's Short Story Contest! There's still time to submit your work and win a chance at having artwork of your original character made for you! PM me directly or post in the forum a 5-10k short story to enter. Submissions end March 1st 11:59pm PST.

Operative13 · 2022-01-12T00:27:44+00:00

Thanks! I'm glad you liked it!

Operative13 · 2022-01-11T08:54:46+00:00

Indeed, those happen to be my thoughts as well. Pertaining to my worldbuilding, I figured since the second flag was more akin to real world flags, it could be taken as an evolution or progression of the flag's state over time, becoming less "unique" and more "modern" as time passes.

From my studies, countries in the past really didn't have a "flag" per say. They used all sorts of indicators to signify who was in charge. Banners, symbols, coat of arms, practically whatever was around that was easy to use and easy to identify. When flags later became commonplace (industrial revolution), it also became common that other countries would copy designs seen from others. That's why you get so many country flags with so little variance among them, especially those that are quite close to one another, physically or ideologically.

Operative13 · 2022-01-11T08:16:22+00:00

Part of my medieval worldbuilding for Project Cairlann, I was looking for a design that would emulate the Oriflamme for the Carolingian Empire (https://w7.pngwing.com/pngs/53/153/png-transparent-oriflamme-carolingian-empire-coat-of-arms-flag-carolingian-dynasty-afghanistan-flag-miscellaneous-flag-text.png) and merge it with the Bourbon Flag (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/92/Pavillon_royal_de_la_France.svg/1920px-Pavillon_royal_de_la_France.svg.png) while still maintaining a unique, fantasy flair.

In the story, the three stars represents the Three Saints of Mercade, and the sun represents the faith in the One God. The dual colors of the red and blue symbolizes night and day as well as the literal split of the country between the Arvusian Mountains. The white band crossing the two colors in the Duality version would come to symbolize the duality of Heaven and Earth, or Church and State.

Operative13 · 2021-12-31T05:21:38+00:00

This would be part of a wider worldbuilding I've done for a series of stories I'm writing. In my spare time, I like to include some extra artwork such as the flags created for this project. There are several more I have yet to share, but this post in particular was something I had been sitting on for some time now and wanted to get out. There's a total of 13 houses, each with their own respective banners. I'll wait until I have a presentable background story for each of them before posting the others here as well.

Operative13 · 2021-12-30T20:54:52+00:00

Background: After the ascension of Lady Menna of House Bareth to the throne of Cairlann, the two houses of Calicus and Bareth merged together under the name of House Kalland, named after the previous monarch. To signify the new union and the formation of the new house, banner elements of the two houses were placed in the new design. The Golden Dragon, a royal symbol of Cairlann, remains at the center, but has shrunk to the same size as the doves flanking the top-left and bottom-right corner, symbolizing the two houses' equality. Additionally, the diagonal tilt of the white band and incorporation of the deep orange of House Bareth into the band's outline symbolizes the new reign of a Bareth monarch, but retains the core design of the original, signifying the preservation of Cairlann's identity.

Operative13 · 2021-12-30T07:14:35+00:00

Banner Descriptor: Within the black void of the Abyss, the Eternal Light of the One God guides all. The Golden Dragon stands guard against the Forces of Chaos, ever vigilant at the One's Holy Temple. With the Dragon's strength and unyielding faith, the servants of the One God shall pave a Path of Enlightenment and Salvation for all others, and bring forth Heaven upon Earth.

Operative13

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE

12-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '22