Forums » RP Discussion » Anyone else feel they can write a varied cast?

I've seen a lot of people here say stuff like: "I find it easier to write males, need help with females", vice versa, or they only play characters of a certain gender, sexuality, etc because other ones are difficult for them. But, even when my writing skills weren't as good as they are now, I never thought that way. At all. I wrote both males and females, but I admit I did, and still do, lean toward heterosexuality and cisgenderism.

Just wondering if I'm the only one who never considered differences like that making some characters harder to write than others. It just never crossed my mind and I was surprised that it did for so many people.

I used to have a terribly difficult time with it. Though, to be fair, I used to be a terrible writer and even worse at character creation. Years of practice sort of help with that, though.

For example, I still recall the first villain I ever made. He was just terrible. Everything about him was cliche, and I had no backing to why he was doing what he was doing, etc.. Now, I have no problem sitting down and creating someone that is seen as a villain because of their actions, but internally they believe they are doing the right thing.

What you're talking about is a tad bit different, but I think the same sorts of principles apply. It just comes down to putting yourself into the right head space to imagine what it would be like to be someone other than ourselves. For some people, that's difficult, for others, not so much.

By now I've hit the gamut, and have no problem playing varied genders, ages, idiots, geniuses, good guys, bad guys, and on and on. For me, it came down to really thinking about origins and thought processes.

For those having difficulty - when you're watching your favorite movie or TV show, think about what the characters are going through and thinking. Everyone has a reason for what they choose to do, whether it's rational or not. The same goes for what we create here!

My characters all run the gamut: some have had darker histories, some come from a normal background, some are male, some are female, and half have varying skin tones. But the one thing about all except a few is that they're bi- or pansexual, or don't care much for labels to describe how they feel about others. I only have one gay character, and a character that's asexual. I don't think I have a straight character at all.

But that's not because of lack of trying or I find it difficult. It's more of: you don't see enough varied LGBTQA+ representation in media, especially around bisexuality and pansexuality, and I want to change that. I want more positive bisexual experiences that are as varied as my characters. I also want a decent representation of polyamory as well, so that's why half of my characters are in relationships with varying degrees of polyfidelity.

"NEEEERRRRRDDDDD!!!"

Hey, shut up! Anyway... I want to cover the usually seen relationships (gay and straight) as well in my series, but I just want the focus to be on the underrepresented, with a bisexual female main character who gives no craps about her own sexuality and welcomes it even. Of course, the touchy stuff is always the hardest to write about, but I think it's worth it.

Short version: It's usually not hard for me to depict characters of different backgrounds. I just choose to not depict some because I need to develop what I already got first.

I have more trouble writing older characters. Characters who are 20+ and older that is.

Most of my characters are 13 to 19 years old. I find it easier to RP them. I tried RPing characters who are older before, but I made them either super derpy or felt uneasy.

Like Asroc, I tend to play younger characters, for roughly the same reasons.

I feel like I can write a varied cast, though, because I'm in a private RP where I am playing nine people who are all apparently likeable and suitably different.

When I was younger I had a lot of hang-ups about writing what I didn't know, because I didn't have a lot of experiences under my belt. I think that as you start to expand your sphere of influence by both observing people in your day-to-day life, and seeing how media portrays characters (and picking apart what you like about them, and what makes you go 'nope nope nope') you get a good framework. It's very similar to drawing: you practice different ways to make your character framework more fluid, more vivid, and you learn tricks to fill in the gaps. You observe more subtleties and you begin to provide more nuanced character beats when you try for compassion and understanding, vs. when you're judging your character against a trope.

I mean, I say this and then have most fun writing POS characters who have so many internal hang-ups that they are hardly a good representation of their class, or gender, or race (or species for the non-humans.) I do find myself finding it easier to write from my own experiences, and I would feel uncomfortable co-opting a culture or a race without reading up a lot on what is okay, or talking to friends or acquaintances who represent and are willing to talk about what bothers them and what they'd like to see more of.

Like LightSide mentioned re: sexual orientation and levels of poly--I get annoyed when the media chooses to represent folks who identify as bisexual all one way, or denigrating poly as a weird-and-wacky lifestyle. I can only imagine how bad it is for folks who get racially stereotyped, or who find their culture co-opted for fantasy backgrounds just to be othered as ~mystical~ or ~so weird and cool~.

Complete tangent... TL;DR: I believe I have the tools to write a varied cast, but I prefer to put in research and double-check that I'm not replicating a stereotype that's been subconsciously been ground in, so my go-to's for fluff wind up being drawn from my own experiences or desires to see representation of my experiences done in a more varied way.

Oof, I feel like I got sucker punched with this one

I want to raise my hand and shout "ME!" Because that's exactly what I'm going through right now. I've been writing RPs a little over a year now, half of which was in hiatus. And the only characters I have ever written were males. Stereotypical manly males and all of them have beards, now that I think about it. What the heck.

It might also stem from the fact that I'm a stereotypical male, a husband to a wife, and have not been able to experiment in my youth. But don't get me wrong, it's not because I'm biased or anything. I'm just afraid to even dare and try to play as a female. The girlier, the harder it is for me, and in turn, scarier to start with.

The stories I have played have all been in all kinds of relationships though. I guess I'm the same as most of the people here when they say that their characters doesn't have a defined sexuality. As I mentioned in my personal page, "As long as I think the plot's good and I have the potential to make it gold, I'll do it." And that's what I've been doing with all kinds of writers. I draw the line with minors though and extreme fetishes, for that matter. Does that make me too square?

Anyway, I've decided to break that mold and actually created my very first female character. I'm taking baby steps and went on to make her a lil' bit of a tomboy. She's not finished yet and no one to RP with as of the moment, but I wish to remedy that soon.

I've always felt like I could write a pretty wide variety of characters. I have a lot of characters and to have them all be the same would just be...boring, I guess lol. x) One of my biggest hangups is still finding ways to make characters with similar attitudes unique. Multiple people can be outgoing and happy, for instance, but how do they react differently in similar situations based on their history or experiences etc...

I definitely still lean toward heterosexuality and cisgenderism as well, though am now starting to branch out into those areas where I wasn't as comfortable before. It is a lot of fun. I feel like the challenge of writing these new scenarios makes me a better writer so hopefully others decide to take the leap into that unfamiliar territory (whatever it may be for them) as well.

I feel like I can write a nice cast without them being too similar. I say that, however, but I still have limits.
I find myself being able to easily write in both sexes, having had tastes of both worlds. What I have trouble at are ages younger than 13 and older than 50+ without being immortal age-wise or having something slowing down their physical age. As someone who didn't really have a 'childhood' (I hit puberty/felt the effects at a really young age and I was, and still am, taller than people older than me ever since I was 7.) I struggle with portraying young children. People older than 50 are difficult as well, as I haven't really met many people in that age group and I don't feel comfortable writing them.

Another thing I have trouble with are characters who are just good. And I don't mean the blindly heroic ones either. There is always going to be something that makes my characters seem like bad people in some way or another. There is only one(?) of my characters who strives to be a hero and do good deeds, (he's not on my profile ) and let's just say he isn't all rainbows and sunshine.

While I suppose many people are the opposite, I actually feel confused on writing heterosexual relationships?
I mean, I guess they aren't so different from same sex relationships? But like, I've never been in one and I have no clue?
How does work? I also feel more comfortable writing transgender characters, if that makes sense? That's probably one of the reasons the main character of the book I'm writing is one? I mean, a lot of my friends are transgenders?
I just feel more connection with characters with insecurities with their gender/who have been made fun of because of their gender/been suppressed because of their gender. By 'suppressed because of their gender' I don't mean sexism, rather not letting a female go into the female toilets because she 'looks like a man' or has the build of one, or a guy for the same/reversed reason. I used suppressed because I couldn't find another word in my brain.
But yeah, those are a few things I can't incorporate in my casts well. Other than that, I think I'm alright? I mean, if you want a character that is strikingly different, throw in a sentient toaster or balloon. Works 9 out of 10 times.

Vanderhuge: yeah, your topic asking for help was the reason I made this one. But you're not the first person I've seen who does that.

It might also depend on innate writing skill? I've always been told I'm good at it, even if I have improved tremendously even then. So maybe, yeah, it's easier for some people than others?

Ahaha... I usually feel like I can write a varied cast, but when I look back I see so many similarities between my characters.

To be fair, most of the characters I can read archived material on fall into certain archetypes. Because they were either designed for a tournament setting or because I pulled them from my stories to participate in a tournament. And certain archetypes, I wanted to see more of, or try my own hand at in the tournament scene.