One Of My Favorite Things About Writing Is Characterization But Im Tweaking So Hard When It Comes To

One of my favorite things about writing is characterization but I’m tweaking so hard when it comes to the mystery I’m writing. Like I spent one second thinking about the missing girl who isn’t even in the book for about 90% and I was like she’s a photographer, an adventurous spirit, a prospective business owner, a dark-skinned queen, and she’s outspoken but introverted. Then I thought about my main character and was like she has braids, I guess.

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Favorite color: Purple

Currently Reading: I just finished Rust in the Root by Justina Ireland and I'm about to start Children of the Alley by Naguib Mahfouz

Last Series: Dr. Stone

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Currently working on: My linguistics homework

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Kelsee

I NEED to rant about the character I've struggled with the most in any of my wips, which is Kelsee Nightshade.

Back when I was only coming up with characters, I created her as a foil to my mc’s bestie, Catalina. Kelsee and Catalina are in the same clan, they’re the same age, and they both the same position of power as they’re each the daughter of a mistress (each mistress runs a faction of the clan). The only difference is Catalina is nice and Kelsee is a power-hungry maniac who bullies specifically her.

I started having trouble with Kelsee when I started developing the plot. I needed a way to connect her to my mc, Daron, because the story is from her perspective.

At first I doubled down on Kelsee being evil. My first thought was that she should be involved in a ritual not only her whole family, but a part of Daron's clan is a part of that involves committing mass murder. This is actually one of my favorite parts of my wip. Kelsee is the key to discovering the secrets each clan is trying to hide.

But that's the problem. It's a secret. Daron has no idea she's doing this off-screen, so how do I tie her into the plot?

That's when I made her a spy for the villain. Her purpose would be to try and befriend Daron because the villain knows Daron is powerful and wants her to join them. But Kelsee's plan backfires and she tries to kill Daron instead. Then I realized that’s stupid and I should focus more on how her bullying has affected Catalina's confidence because that was her original purpose.

However, there will still be an attack on Daron's life and Kelsee will still be a suspect. She's also still a spy but she wants Daron to join her and the villain because she genuinely likes her and thinks they will make a good team. Kelsee genuinely doesn't see anything wrong hurting people and thinks Daron will see her perspective.

While changing Kelsee’s dialogue to make her honest instead of manipulative, I realized she could be really important in Daron’s paradigm shift. They are similar in the way that they both follow whatever their families do without question, but Daron doesn’t want to be like someone she has witnessed bullying her best friend so she starts rethinking her life. But between that moment and when Kelsee is accused of attempted murder, I couldn't think of much for her to do.

Okay now that I figured out who Kelsee is, how does her arc end? I was iffy on redeeming her because I plan to redeem a lot of other characters and honestly she’s too far gone for redemption. I could have the main characters kill her, but I don't think they're capable of killing their classmate. It was then that I realized there is only one proper conclusion for Kelsee. She must be killed by the villain. It's so beautifully ironic that in her quest for power she was killed by the one who promised it to her. Rest in peace Kelsee.

One last thing about her. Kelsee has gone through many name changes. Originally I wanted her to be Jordan, but changed her to Clover per request of a friend. When that friend backstabbed me, I changed her to Kelsee, the name of one of the leads from where I worked at the time. I have nothing against her; I just like her name.

So that’s Kelsee. I hope she’s not too boring.

I realized recently that the reason I like writing disturbing storylines is because I watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory multiple times a day, every single day as a child. But today I realized it goes even further than that. One of my main characters is literally Willy Wonka. She’s socially inept, has incredibly pale skin, and is involved in a secret plot that involves killing select people. I even gave her the same stupid haircut. This whole time I thought I was just being creative 😭

Tropes I don't like

I was reading this book lately with this trope that really annoyed me and now everyone has to hear about all the tropes I hate. Btw, I’m not saying it’s bad to like these tropes or write about them. I just don’t like them. Does anyone else feel the same?

staring at someone’s body + fingers accidently touching

This one is two tropes because it was the combination of them that made the book so annoying to me. I wouldn’t mind as much if the characters interacted in other ways between the staring and finger touching, but nope. That was the only way we could tell they were interested in each other. What I really can’t stand is when two characters meet for the first time and the female mc just stares at the male mc’s body and describes every detail to the readers. It just feels like the author is holding up a sign that says they will get together, and that takes away from the excitement of romance for me. Especially when it’s the second these characters meet.

love triangles

First of all it’s never an actual triangle. It’s more like an angle. Second of all, it’s always so toxic. I have yet to see a girl choose the guy who actually cares about her instead of the one who treats her like garbage.

pick-me girl

I hear people toss around this term loosely so let me clarify. I’m not talking about a girl who has non-feminine interests. I’m talking about a girl who thinks she’s so much more interesting than other girls because she like to talk about war and eat meat. (I’m looking at you, The Last Dragon King)

giving up powers

Is it too much to ask that my favorite characters are special and powerful? (I’m looking at you, A Court of Silver Flame)

writing current events

This makes sense in some cases, like if a story takes place in the 1920s you will have some 1920s references. But if I see a character say “rizz” or mention covid, I’m done.

A few days ago my friend told me that when she was younger she had a friend with a pet chameleon, but when it died the girl gathered the whole friend group to dissect her dead pet. My friend said she was so desperate for friends that she stood there and watched. It’s now my life’s mission to find a way to incorporate this into a story. It’s so messed up that it begs to be written.