Once during November during NaNoWriMo I stumbled upon a thread in the fantasy forums where author Rachel Aaron had decided to do a sort of AMA. One of the posts was in regards to struggling to write. She said that for her, whenever she is struggling to write something it is because it just wasn't working. At that point in time, continuing to write was pointless, because first she needed to take a nice big step back from the writing and look at it, objectively, to figure out what had gone wrong and where.
RP is not the same as writing a novel. But, it is writing, and part of it is the development and actions of the character. True, while we're all in character we don't have the luxury of do-overs. There is no editing once you submit the line, or paragraph, or short story -- it's done, it's out there.
But, I think even given that, we all have the opportunity to reflect upon what we did submit and figure out what felt off with that. I think that this is what you need to do now. A character (and people) are more than just the sum of their parts. You can, for instance, read a biography about a person and read interviews they gave and all of that and still not understand them; people sometimes do strange things that go counter to everything they've done prior to that moment. It's a constantly evolving thing that is a matter of circumstance, emotion, and interaction. And in that vein, don't feel bad for not getting him! When a person creates a character, you are creating a whole other person. From scratch! I don't care how many authors or writers or rpers there are in the world, and how many fictional characters: that's a Big Deal, and it ain't always easy! Nor should it be, in my humble opinion. Creating a believable and sympathetic character does take some work and thought.
So how are you gonna get around him feeling wooden? I can't give you the magical fix, but I can offer suggestions. For some people it's a matter of filling out questionnaires. For others, it's a matter of taking various personality tests with their character in mind. Sometimes it's doing up lists of likes and dislikes. Sometimes it's all in the history. Sometimes it's just picking a few personality traits and letting the rp figure out the details. Most people have a hard time getting into the skin of new characters, so sometimes it's a matter of continuing to rp. Me, personally, I like to write out the history and incorporate character strengths and weaknesses (be they physical or mental) into it: for example, Zhi committed to being a criminal because of the time she spent with Galine, and because of the situation she grew up in and the lack of a strong mother or father figure. On the other hand, she wound up in Galine's clutches because she is a stubborn brat who doesn't think things through. She's a stubborn brat who doesn't think things through because she resented her mother's occupation as a whore and the fact that her mother was not able to spend much time with her. She joined the gang because of that feeling of lack of acceptance and affirmation. She left the gang because it was not a replacement for a mother, and the budding paranoia it instilled in her lead to her making bad choices.
So, keep trying. That's the most important part.
As for feeling like your scenes are boring or not interesting to others -- man, that's a writer thing. It doesn't matter how often someone compliments me, or how many people write with me, or even whether or not I impress someone with my writing: I am in constant fear that you know, the next post or line that I write is bad, and therefore all the compliments that came before it were out of pity or I somehow fooled the person into thinking that my writing is likable. While that sort of thinking can lead to effort and not letting down your guard, you also have to not let it dictate how you write and how you feel about your writing. Separate it out from how you feel about your character and what problems you are having with him, because in the end whether or not someone enjoys your posts is different from the struggle itself. They might be related, true, but it is not the same thing.
(and, for what it's worth, I've enjoyed the snippets I've read here and there of Rurutani)
So, now is the time to take a step back and evaluate your character. Understand that some characters you will never wholly empathize with due to them being just that different from you (I have several who I understand from a remote perspective, but do not emotionally understand -- take Zhi, for example: the idea of stealing or conning someone is abhorrent to me. I can understand why someone would be driven to behave in that manner, and I have fun exploring a character who has so few morals, but it is not something I can empathize with). Could be that's your problem with Ruru, or it could just be that you need to delve a little deeper into who he is as a person and what drives him -- you could try to point to moments in his past (be it recent or distant) that move him forward, and explore how they continue to emotionally/physically affect him.
I hope I was able to help even a tiny bit. For what it's worth, I'm rooting for you! Keep trying, take a step back, and try not to let your emotional dismay get in the way of evaluating your character. If you do decide that it's just not working and you're not having fun, try out an alt first. Sometimes you just reach a wall with a character and need some time to let things settle in your head so you can get past it.
RP is not the same as writing a novel. But, it is writing, and part of it is the development and actions of the character. True, while we're all in character we don't have the luxury of do-overs. There is no editing once you submit the line, or paragraph, or short story -- it's done, it's out there.
But, I think even given that, we all have the opportunity to reflect upon what we did submit and figure out what felt off with that. I think that this is what you need to do now. A character (and people) are more than just the sum of their parts. You can, for instance, read a biography about a person and read interviews they gave and all of that and still not understand them; people sometimes do strange things that go counter to everything they've done prior to that moment. It's a constantly evolving thing that is a matter of circumstance, emotion, and interaction. And in that vein, don't feel bad for not getting him! When a person creates a character, you are creating a whole other person. From scratch! I don't care how many authors or writers or rpers there are in the world, and how many fictional characters: that's a Big Deal, and it ain't always easy! Nor should it be, in my humble opinion. Creating a believable and sympathetic character does take some work and thought.
So how are you gonna get around him feeling wooden? I can't give you the magical fix, but I can offer suggestions. For some people it's a matter of filling out questionnaires. For others, it's a matter of taking various personality tests with their character in mind. Sometimes it's doing up lists of likes and dislikes. Sometimes it's all in the history. Sometimes it's just picking a few personality traits and letting the rp figure out the details. Most people have a hard time getting into the skin of new characters, so sometimes it's a matter of continuing to rp. Me, personally, I like to write out the history and incorporate character strengths and weaknesses (be they physical or mental) into it: for example, Zhi committed to being a criminal because of the time she spent with Galine, and because of the situation she grew up in and the lack of a strong mother or father figure. On the other hand, she wound up in Galine's clutches because she is a stubborn brat who doesn't think things through. She's a stubborn brat who doesn't think things through because she resented her mother's occupation as a whore and the fact that her mother was not able to spend much time with her. She joined the gang because of that feeling of lack of acceptance and affirmation. She left the gang because it was not a replacement for a mother, and the budding paranoia it instilled in her lead to her making bad choices.
So, keep trying. That's the most important part.
As for feeling like your scenes are boring or not interesting to others -- man, that's a writer thing. It doesn't matter how often someone compliments me, or how many people write with me, or even whether or not I impress someone with my writing: I am in constant fear that you know, the next post or line that I write is bad, and therefore all the compliments that came before it were out of pity or I somehow fooled the person into thinking that my writing is likable. While that sort of thinking can lead to effort and not letting down your guard, you also have to not let it dictate how you write and how you feel about your writing. Separate it out from how you feel about your character and what problems you are having with him, because in the end whether or not someone enjoys your posts is different from the struggle itself. They might be related, true, but it is not the same thing.
(and, for what it's worth, I've enjoyed the snippets I've read here and there of Rurutani)
So, now is the time to take a step back and evaluate your character. Understand that some characters you will never wholly empathize with due to them being just that different from you (I have several who I understand from a remote perspective, but do not emotionally understand -- take Zhi, for example: the idea of stealing or conning someone is abhorrent to me. I can understand why someone would be driven to behave in that manner, and I have fun exploring a character who has so few morals, but it is not something I can empathize with). Could be that's your problem with Ruru, or it could just be that you need to delve a little deeper into who he is as a person and what drives him -- you could try to point to moments in his past (be it recent or distant) that move him forward, and explore how they continue to emotionally/physically affect him.
I hope I was able to help even a tiny bit. For what it's worth, I'm rooting for you! Keep trying, take a step back, and try not to let your emotional dismay get in the way of evaluating your character. If you do decide that it's just not working and you're not having fun, try out an alt first. Sometimes you just reach a wall with a character and need some time to let things settle in your head so you can get past it.
