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Speaking from personal experience, this scenario has happened to me more than once. The characters are prepared, a whole list of them - their names, ages, likes, dislikes, relations, everything you can find on those lists online for making your OC. Your notes look lovely, and most importantly, they're all interesting!
However, the problem arises as you can't pu them in any plot. In fact, your mind is blank when it comes to any plots or scenarios. Either you can't think of any or you can't think of good ones. Don't worry, after years of experince I'm here to offer soem solutions.
LOOK OVER YOUR MATERIALS
Let's use my character Ellardin as an example. He's a part of my study series on YouTube, but he doesn't have any plot to him. Here's what we know about him:
He's a young wizard, still studying his craft; he has two cats and a wolf as a pet. he's hard-working and seems introverted.
BRAINSTORMING IDEAS
From this example alone, you can think of a few plot points I can think of from the top of my head.
- He's a young wizard - so perhaps there are older magic practitioners who can offer him guidance.
. He's focused on studying - so that can be explored deeper, why is he so into studying? Why is he researching so much? Is it because he wants to be responsible wizard or is it because he's mentally running away from something?
There can also be a plotline where he has to explore the outside world, especially if it's as magical as he studies it to be.
He's introverted - perhaps a more cheerful personality, contrasting his would push him out of his comfort zone.
His love for animals and his pets - could be used for plotlines, but it could simply be his character trait that readers could appreciate about him.
NOW, ORGANIZING
Try picking one or two of these ideas and working through it. Going deeper into any subject matter will prove helpful.
This can work for example, if your character play a violin (and that's a huge part of their character). From that hobby, you can develop a whole plot centred around music, instruments, another set of characters - only if you wish to of course.
With our example, we can make up a whole magical world that Elladrin is a part of and start from there. Being a wizard is a hug part of his character, so we can build on that. Be it a magic system, where he lives, why he studies so hard, why he does the things that he does...
BIGGER THAN THE CHARACTER
I always aim for the plot or at least the ending to be larger than the protagonist or the character themselves. This isn't necessary, it depends on the type of story you're writing, but it's a nice idea to explore.
This can be done through villains, making a character more layered and complex, doing the same as side characters as a result. Perhaps you can add some meaningful messages, especially the ones that resonate with you. In a way, giving a story something higher to grasp on and something bigger to tell. This can be done through practice and if it's something that interests you, feel free to explore it at your own terms.
WRITING THE FIRST DRAFT
Just begin, you have nothing to lose, but a lot to gain. There's no need for corrections at this point, let the story write itself. Then, you can move on to editing, rearranging, researching more and exploring different things.
Still, don't research more than you write (I'm guilty of this too, so don't worry). I'm just here to tell you that it's better to have something rather than nothing.
Even if I planned to not give Elladrin any storyline for the puposees of this post, I've written something out. I hope you can find it inspring and enjoy it!
Ellardin’s Tale
The candle flickered on the wooden table. The steam from the chamomile tea was dancing in the air. Outside of endless books and notes, these two things serve as motivation for young Elladrin to keep reading.
Young wizard Elladrin was studying just as he always does. His eyes were going over the pages as he tried to memorize as much as possible.
He felt something approaching him from behind. It was his kitty, Miss Nightmare. She was demanding attention, especially when she jumped into his lap and onto his table.
Elladrin was quick to bring her down to his lap again as he feared the fire of the candles on the side, also the hot tea next to his books.
“Easy there,” he whispered and smiled brightly. He’d pet Miss Nightmare around her neck and back. She would purr and he’d smile again.
It was a lovely distraction in this dark and dim room. Even if he wanted to focus, another presence made him feel comfort.
I'm sharing this first draft to give you motivation and confidence to start! As you can see more descriptions could be added, more context etc. However, its impoartant that there's at least something to bulid off of. The rest will be much easir to do now because starting is the hardest part.
by; Nili
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