Casting Your Characters (Fiction Writing Advice)

[@vpnightshadepersonal]

The family line is an excellent point. Most of my characters throughout my books are family members, and as I have found in my own family, are the first ones to call out the Main Characters for their actions in any particular novel. From my personal experience, your family is more likely to call you out for your actions than a friend would be (unless it is a best friend). A friend may sugar coat an issue, whereas a family member rarely does. It definitely can cause conflict, and the more brutal (or honest) the criticism is the more conflict it can cause.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Family is such an interesting dynamic because it's one that you're stuck with (in most cases) and family members know each other in ways that outsiders simply cannot. I always take advantages of sibling rivalries in my stories. It's too good of an option to pass up.

[@GACHAShadow-cb5kf]

​​@@WriterBrandonMcNultyMost of my characters' families are dead but they still have shaped them into who they are and still cause conflict for them. For example, one of the characters in a book I'm currently writing is a king whose parents are dead but during their reign they enforced terrible laws that caused their people a lot of suffering which has caused conflict between him and a lot of the people around him no matter how hard he tries to correct it

[@renzezekieldivida3014]

This teaches me of every character villain nor hero, still going to have disagreements cuz no character has the same background history as the other. Also, this made me realize that every conflict of a character has from his/her supporting/antagonist can get into a character transition, maybe the villain will finally join the hero's side or the hero is becoming a villain because his/her love one died or something.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Whenever people spend time together in real life, they inevitably rub off on one another. The same goes for characters too

[@DwayneF]

Good episode today! I added a family member as a supporting character. But that's just it, they're totally supportive of the main character. So, they're separated, by light-years, with no direct communication. It's only toward the end of the story do we hear from them directly. It's a way to give the main character a pep talk and reinforce I'm them, that they have the skills to do what needs to be done.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Sounds like it works since the lack of communication creates conflict/uncertainty. You might also have your MC think about times in the past when that family member ignored him or disappeared for frustratingly long periods of time.

[@DwayneF]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty I did include regret for the way the MC felt they took advantage of their sibling. My voice actors are liking the story. Already pushing me to continue the story. I let them give feedback. If they felt their character wouldn't do/say something, we changed it.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

@@DwayneF That's awesome that your VAs double as beta-readers. I envy that aspect of podcasting.

[@DwayneF]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty 🤔 hmm, what about a stand alone 20-30min Bad Parts episode? Part of a horror anthology show?

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

​@@DwayneF Like a prequel or post--book 1 story? Tempting. When would you need by?

[@Aextra101]

Hey Brandon! I’ve been watching your videos constantly. I started writing my very first story not too long ago. I want to turn it into a screenplay eventually, I’m just very inexperienced at the moment. I have been pleasantly surprised though, as I watch your videos and I start applying your logic with my story, I begin to see that I am actually doing so much better than I thought. I’m glad I found your channel. Keep up the great work. As a soldier on deployment with much more downtime than I expected to have, your videos have really helped me focus and improve my skills in my favorite hobby. Thank you!

[@saskiastanhope6243]

Your videos are brilliant, insightful and inspiring. Thank you! You’re helping me get more out of my writing. I’m working on something where the hero is reckless and puts himself in dangerous situations. His partner is struggling with a long history of rejection and gets into arguments with the hero but can’t quite say ‘your risk taking make me feel like you don’t care about me’. The partner eventually learns that the hero takes risks because of who he is and not because of a lack of love for his partner but it’s not without major conflict along the way.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks so much! Best of luck with your story!

[@beakt]

3:19 Something's waiting in the bushes for us; something's waiting in the bushes of love!

[@TheBluenyt09]

Yeah a good conversation is with contradiction, with that you can see the characters differences in personality. They should disagree on things.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Spot on! Even if they want the same goal, they should want to accomplish it through different methods

[@russellvitranoiii3504]

I'm currently working on a story involving a threat that's not been substantiated, so some of the characters think it's real, but the main character does not (at least, at first he doesn't). So, that's a source of conflict and it helps the main character grow and decide who he is and how he handles things. I'm still working on it, but it's a fun project.

[@connorcoltrane1777]

In my WIP, the main character is a retired member of a group of magical girls/pulp adventurers who thinks that the whole thing is dangerous and pointless, while the main supporting character continues along that same path into adulthood. When the main character finds a person who would make an excellent recruit to the cause she retired from, she starts going to great lengths to "protect" him from finding out.

[@Oswlek]

Supporting character conflict was a big difference between season 1 and 2 and Reacher, and why I found the former to be a more satisfying watch.

[@yogiglass]

Brandon - thanks for all the great advice videos!!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Glad you like them! Thanks for watching

[@shanardsmith218]

In the manga I'm making, some people I met in my life were inspiration for my characters.

[@JackPitches5647]

Most of my characters are like that

[@shanardsmith218]

@@JackPitches5647 I'm glad we can relate.

[@Skyy0409]

I do the same!

[@Rachel-art-and-design]

Okay KZbin stop reading my mind. I was just thinking about creating my characters for my book’s sequel. 😮

[@S80sRings]

These videos help a lot thank you! I have a few story’s but one of them is a fantasy story where four seasonal knights chosen by the gods to keep peace but the “summer knight” and “winter knight” (I know very original😅) fight a lot because winter is weaker then everyone else summer feels as if he’s just dragging them down. It’s still a work in progress.

[@KindanThe1st]

My main character and his brother are total opposites. The protagonist is a pessimist and is only self concerned, while his brother is an optimist and is trying to press the importance of self sacrifice to save their city.

[@aritrachoudhuri6716]

4:21

[@AmyK007]

Absolutely brilliant ❤

[@LarryThePhotoGuy]

An overly protective teenage daughter argues with her attractive single mother over her interactions with a handsome new assistant.

[@ThrasherMan]

What if my book has an incredibly small cast? In my book, there is only one character that stays throughout the series, and that is my protagonist. I'd love to see a video on how to balance internal conflict and worldbuilding in a story where the protagonist is alone for most of the book.

[@12Blueace]

Something like this falls under man vs himself (which the main character is dealing with some kind internal struggle and the antagonist is the negative thoughts and feelings they struggle with) or even man vs society (which the main character is battling the world around them in some way, shape, or form. The main character could deal with pressure of trying to fit in or disagree with something going on and they could be on their own in their decision).

[@ThrasherMan]

@@12Blueace Thank you! I guess I didn't need a video on it!

[@TwinPeaksIndustries]

Can't say much about my main antagonist, there's not much I have on him yet aside from his name and that he's the leader of a major criminal organization. For my protagonists, They're both freelancers/mercs, operating in a remote, lawless region of Terran space, and they've both suffered in the past due to said organization. One is a human, a level-headed guy from a well-off family, who was expected to take over the family business, but was drawn to adventure among the stars. Adventure he has definitely found, but not always in the way he wanted. The other is an alien, who has grown up among humans as her parents had left their home planet many years ago in search of better fortune. She's a loner, very determined and can be hot-headed. She has a tendency to rush headlong into battle when her emotions get the better of her, leaving him rein her in and cool her temper to avoid things going sideways.

[@LtSprinkulz]

It's not exactly an argument but in my WIP the main character is a career soldier and deep cover agent whose previous assignment before the events of the book had him stationed as an off-the-books cadre for a foreign regime. The supporting character in question is a former war journalist who is working off a debt as an informant and making ends meet with what's left of her reputation. They become close over the events of the book, and in an intimate moment she reveals the reason she quit her last job. She'd witnessed the maiming of her close friend and the death of several soldiers when the transport she was in was hit by an explosive, survivors guilt ultimately causing her to drop the story and quit the profession of war journalism, breaking her contract and tarnishing her reputation. The MC is responsible for training the men who carried out said attack, and is now obligated to console a woman who has been damaged by his actions. As she describes the scene he reflects on his own memories of that conflict as an instructor-- comfortably distant from it all, training strangers to kill other strangers. I'm debating whether or not to have him include her in on this knowledge at some point, as part of the story is about how he's so embedded and isolated that he can't make deep personal connections anymore. His feelings for her might not even be real, she's simply a valuable asset, and he's simply playing the hand he's been given. If so then why does his chest hurt like this? Just trust the conditioning, Morgan.

[@sarahsander785]

Haha, good QoD here, even if it's some years old. I always have a pretty huge cast in my first draft, lots of support characters and at least one of them is a family member, mostly a sibling. In my current WiP my main character's brother is overprotective and controlling, out of fear to loose his younger brother to the same goons that killed their father. The conflict within the first part of the story is thus that my main character wants to be seen as a grown-up, he wants to follow their fathers footsteps and become a warrior, while his brother loathes the warrior class, keeps him bound at home and even wants to go as far as not letting him take part in the initiation ceremony, which is mandatory for all youths of his people. They are also in conflict about the story behind the death of their father, my main wants to know what has happened and avenge his father, while his brothers wants to forget.

[@ComandaKronikk]

This is awesome!

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Thanks for watching!

[@chris_7869]

Family's a great idea. My characters are arguing other methods, new and old.

[@DJaycerOfficial]

In my original story, my main character and villain both kinda sucked and didn’t have any reason to do the things they did (mostly because it was originally written when I was 11). One thing that did kind of survive though was the fact that my main character has anger management classes and will sometimes lash out, leading to impractical decisions and other random things. I’m still trying to figure out the personality of one of my supporting characters since he’s kinda just there. He never really interacted with the cast all that much before the events of the story and originally he was just the comedian. Again, originally when 11 year old me wrote jokes.

[@aWolffromElsewhere]

In the story I'm writing, the main character who is a wolf, starts to suspect his traveling companion ,who is a clever and comedic raven, knows more about his mysterious father than he lets on.

[@josephbolcome5462]

In my current WIP (a personal fanfic/script thingy), the main character (a survivor of World War Three, veteran, current firefighter) argues with one of his friends from college as they are on an investigation into an alien device with the potential to end the world should it start. Some aliens that are on the planet want to activate it, while another faction wants to destroy the device. The MC takes risks, and the supporting character calls him out on it; she thinks he's being too extreme. Another SC, a fellow WW3 veteran, also pushes back against him, especially after one risk nearly gets them all killed. The last SC, a friend from the MC's former college he transferred from, she thinks he's taking just the right amount of risks to save the world, while she has her inner doubts about the whole mission. BTW in this work, WW3 is conventional just like the other two because Russia and the US bowed out of using nukes (China convinced Russia an alliance they had would grind America to its knees through manpower alone).

[@PhoenixCrown]

My MC is breaking the system because he can use magic (but he shouldn't be able to supposedly). The villain is the High Elder of the existing system, but the real conflict in book 1 is between his granddaughter and the MC. The granddaughter represents the status quo; she's been brainwashed just like him, so it's about the two of them discovering truths and coming to realizations together--with tons of conflict, because one wants things to change and one doesn't.

[@blackcowboy5337]

I am having struggles finding good metireal to write about

[@AIRIDAS.1]

Just go to Pinterest always helps me.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Here's one of my favorite writing exercises: Write about a character who loses one of their five senses and then finds themselves in a situation where they need that sense but have to rely on the other four. Can be permanent loss of sense or temporary

[@blackcowboy5337]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty that's actually really helpful

[@nicholaslucas2360]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty the opponent/antagonist is poking at a weakness within in the main character.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

@@nicholaslucas2360 Yep! It's the opponent's job to attack a hero's weakness (and, if possible, their strength too)

[@ridleyformk1244]

6:37: More general stuff around the house. I'm writing a domestic abuse story, and the wife and husband don't stand on equal footing, so full-out arguments don't happen often. But as the story goes on, the wife finds her long lost backbone and stands up to her abuser.

[@pelipoika88]

My main character is a thief who has not gotten over his girlfriend, another thief, who died years prior to the story. It's not healthy for him. And two supporting characters know that and are gently trying to push him over that. Another supporting character and later on love interest brings conflict when the main character doesn't want to bring her into his criminal life. Especially not because he lost his girlfriend, although it had nothing to do with both of them being thieves and everything to do with the Dark Lady. So he tries to keep her in the dark which turns out to be difficult when this woman keeps nursing whatever injuries he gets as he tries to figure out who stabbed him and why.

[@TheAceAllagator]

As the family disappoint I can agree

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Haha there's disappointment in every family

[@samaelkrieg]

Do you have a video about killing off a major supporting character? (Like a side-kick or love interest?)

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

I did a video years ago on killing off characters. Search “8 Tips for Killing Off Characters”. If you want me to do an updated video, let me know

[@samaelkrieg]

@@WriterBrandonMcNulty Thank you. I will check it out.

[@Greatermaxim]

Whst if they are all main characters reacting to a situation or planned out the mission years in advance? Straightforward can work when done well.

[@NC-dw1ir]

I have characters arguing over ethical uses of magic

[@elizabethwright5261]

Brandon could you give me advice about making sibling relationship over time between friends. I can't seem to write them, no matter how many different types I try and I have 5 siblings.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

What is one thing you MC and a Supporting character argue about in your current work-in-progress? Let us know!

[@AIRIDAS.1]

Awesome content mate!!!! MC and his wife are disagreeing on how to use the power capable of reforging their fate. (Interpret that as you like.) Well, she is not really a supporting character since she has a big plot of her own but just thought I would throw that out there.

[@WriterBrandonMcNulty]

Haha well everyone can be a supporting character depending on the POV we have at a given time. Husband/wife offers tons of potential conflict, the idea of them disagreeing on how they reforge their fate can play out in many ways

[@TwinPeaksIndustries]

Well, as an example, there is this one scene, where they come upon some henchmen of the villain faction who are hunting a guy that had helped Venna, one of the MCs, in the past and was probably the closest thing to a friend she had, though that is stretching it. Anyway, Brandon, the other MC, is trying to come up with a strategy to best deal with the bad guys, but Venna jumps it and rushes into battle, leaving him to pick up the pieces. They are ultimately victorious, but she gets wounded in the fight because of her recklessness, leading to a tense argument about teamwork and companionship. It bugs her to no end, but ultimately she has to agree with his assessment, even if only grudgingly. A bit later, the two are seeking the help of a group of hackers and intelligence specialists to find out more about the bad guys. The boss of said group had previously established the rule of "no touching anything of the big bad guys" because he deemed them too dangerous to mess with. Only now he comes to the realization that they can no longer ignore them, so he breaks his own rule, which makes some of his people unhappy, both with him for doing so, and with the protagonists for being the catalyst to that change.

[@emeraldqueen1994]

One story I wrote was a character in conflict with her PTSD, the supporting characters were trying to help her recover from her trauma…

[@jesusromanpadro3853]

The main 2 characters share the same body, so they are never appart. Except when one.is sleeping.

[@AzureSymbiote]

Audio too low.

[@potatomanboooi3105]

i was thinking of making the second main character a pervert that pleasures off spying on other woman so what i did as an idea is that the main character gets upset because she caught him spying on her so i made that the main character takes his art supplies and says he can only get them back if he apologises and promises to never do it again.the second main characters wants his stuff back but he refuses the promise because that is what he likes to do