Creating new characters, or revisiting existing ones?

[ElectricBlue]

Which is why I so often want to re-use characters.

I'm a lazy sod, and my stories are far more about the women than they are about the central male character, who is basically fantasy me in the first place.

So I have Alex, the young university aged version of me, who features in stories where he's between eighteen (the obligatory first time story) through to his very early thirties. Then there's David, who features in stories from his late thirties to, I dunno, late forties. Then there's Adam, who first turned up in my Floating World series five years ago (in a café, obviously) who is essentially a younger version of me, now (vanity allowances permitting).

Writing essentially the same man at different ages (fantasy version of me, because otherwise, what's the point?) simplifies writing, and allows me to focus on the different women. Who are completely and unashamedly the point of my stories. I'm just along for the ride.

 

[IWroteThis]

Why refer to your work without anyone being able to access it?

Maybe because it was a discussion about preferences, not specific works?

 

[EmilyMiller]

Maybe because it was a discussion about preferences, not specific works?

OK, their entire post was dripping with references to their works, it made allusions to the types of work they write, and how this pertained to the question. Their post makes zero sense without context, which they didn’t provide.

But, hey, whatever.

 

[DeMont]

Which is your preference, or do you like both?

It’s fun to shape someone new, to figure out what they think about the world, how they act, their strengths and weaknesses, how they interact with others, what their social circle is like. It’s new and exciting. It can be almost breathtaking.

But going back to established characters is sometimes just so deliciously comforting and warm. You know them, the writing flows, you can have fun putting them in novel situations, but it’s just so easy and pleasant sometimes. The word kinda write themselves, because you know these people inside and out.

How about you?

@EmilyMiller,
Good evening my dear colleague,
As usual, with me, it very much depends on the story. Naturally, if the story is a part - be it a standalone part or sequel - of a larger work then it does, to my mind, demand following the same characters that you have already established. They bring experience, knowledge and history to the different part of the story so you don't run the risk of repetition ruining the flow.

Having said that, however, with one notable exception my stories are all 'standalone' short stories which allow for the building, introduction and development of new characters with differing outlooks and viewpoints. This, to me, follows on from the old adage, "Variety is the spice of life."

So, for me, both have their place depending on what I'm writing.
Respectfully,
D.

 

[UnexpectedLuggage]

I tend to create new ones. At least insomuch as I create them, considering the women in my stories are all based, to an extent, on real people.

I have revisited one thus far, and I've debated revisiting the one from my first story a few times.

My stories are based on fantasies of mine, so I try to keep them fresh as much as I can.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

I use yWriter (free/optional registration to support it) and one of the things I really like is that I can put all of that information in the character object within the software.

I use an Excel spreadsheet as well, but just to keep an exhaustive list of all the character names I've created. Mostly it's to prevent overusing any specific first or last name, but it's also helped me to catch myself trying to use the same combination a couple of times.

I was left several Kik chat groups years ago. When the place started getting assaulted with spam whores, I made a list(that I forget about) of their usernames for characters.