NYC Midnight : Creative Writing & Screenwriting Homepage
Forum Home Forum Home > GENERAL DISCUSSION > Creative Writing Corner
  New Posts New Posts RSS Feed - How do you prefer to use the assigned character?
  FAQ FAQ  Forum Search   Events   Register Register  Login Login

How do you prefer to use the assigned character?

 Post Reply Post Reply Page  123>
Author
Message
MidwestToImpress View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Regular
NYC Midnight Regular
Avatar

Joined: 21 Jul 2016
Location: US
Status: Offline
Points: 340
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote MidwestToImpress Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: How do you prefer to use the assigned character?
    Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 10:18pm
Hey Short Story comrades!

Overthinking our Round 1 over here (as is part of my *process*) and had a question!

How do you prefer to use the “character” in your assignment (in this round or previous, or even just in stories you’ve enjoyed on the forum?

Last year I went and straight forwardly made my assigned character (“a caterer”) my main protagonist. But interested in maybe going a different route this year.

Have you had success (read: written a story you loved, regardless of judge success!) using your assigned character as a supporting character? An antagonist even?

Vetting story ideas tonight so I can hit it big tomorrow and just want to make sure I’m not screwing myself by not casting my assigned character as my lead!
Back to Top
dtill359 View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Groupie
NYC Midnight Groupie
Avatar

Joined: 23 Jan 2021
Location: South Carolina
Status: Offline
Points: 140
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote dtill359 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 10:24pm
I got "caterer" as my character in the first round last year, and I used them as a supporting character. Made it into round 2, and the judges loved it.
Back to Top
taaaylor View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 14 Jul 2018
Location: Idaho
Status: Offline
Points: 6946
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote taaaylor Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 10:24pm
No preference for me, personally. I just follow what feels best for the story and the word limit. I've used the character as the main character, secondary character, love interest, and antagonist, depending on the story :)
SSC R1
250 Micro R2

SSC 2021 winner
Back to Top
ZoeLou View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 19 Jan 2020
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 2809
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote ZoeLou Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 10:37pm
Not intentional, but they usually end up as my protagonist (except for this round, when they've become the love interest). 

The one thing I do try intentionally (with every prompt, actually) is to push it to the vaguest possible interpretation without being DQ'd, so my coder worked with DNA code, and my mechanic built stars. Feels like a dangerous game but it's fun running away in random directions ;)
SSC R1: The Many Faces of Gemini

All my NYCM work: Author Archive
Back to Top
Kneazle View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Groupie
NYC Midnight Groupie
Avatar

Joined: 20 Jan 2020
Location: New Zealan
Status: Offline
Points: 136
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Kneazle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 10:37pm
Mine's the main character and it was the same with the last time I entered.
I got a Musician last time and a skater this time and they both seemed to work with the story I was writing. 
My musician was the pianist at a child's beauty pageant that was ruined by robot children. 
Back to Top
iress View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 28 Aug 2021
Status: Offline
Points: 4138
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote iress Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 11:01pm
Originally posted by ZoeLou ZoeLou wrote:

Not intentional, but they usually end up as my protagonist (except for this round, when they've become the love interest). 

The one thing I do try intentionally (with every prompt, actually) is to push it to the vaguest possible interpretation without being DQ'd, so my coder worked with DNA code, and my mechanic built stars. Feels like a dangerous game but it's fun running away in random directions ;)

I like have only done specific "character" prompts twice and both were easy to make the main character for me. 

But now I have "trooper" and I want to get away from the military or police connotation.  In California, our State police are not technically called "troopers" like in other states, and I know my story takes place here. Maybe girl scout or boy scout "trooper?" Maybe even Disney Storm Trooper costume actor.  What I really want is the idiomatic way of, "you're a real trooper for putting up with x, y, z." 
But too far? DQ territory?
Back to Top
cford View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 10 Jul 2021
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 2346
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote cford Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 11:15pm
Originally posted by iress iress wrote:

Originally posted by ZoeLou ZoeLou wrote:

Not intentional, but they usually end up as my protagonist (except for this round, when they've become the love interest). 

The one thing I do try intentionally (with every prompt, actually) is to push it to the vaguest possible interpretation without being DQ'd, so my coder worked with DNA code, and my mechanic built stars. Feels like a dangerous game but it's fun running away in random directions ;)

I like have only done specific "character" prompts twice and both were easy to make the main character for me. 

But now I have "trooper" and I want to get away from the military or police connotation.  In California, our State police are not technically called "troopers" like in other states, and I know my story takes place here. Maybe girl scout or boy scout "trooper?" Maybe even Disney Storm Trooper costume actor.  What I really want is the idiomatic way of, "you're a real trooper for putting up with x, y, z." 
But too far? DQ territory?
I think if it was a repeated theme throughout, a character that was constantly putting up with things, like really obvious that he was 'such a trooper' then it would work. 
I had a character that was 'overdressed' for my subject and I definitely doubled down on it and he turned up overdressed the next day as well 

Back to Top
jennifer.quail View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt


Joined: 07 Feb 2018
Status: Offline
Points: 7931
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote jennifer.quail Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 11:23pm
I placed third in a first round with a horror story where the prompt person was "artist" and I not only never have them physically appear, I went ahead and called it "The Artist is Not Present." I also placed high in a romance heat with a character "a disabled person" who never directly appears, either, though they are indirectly relevant.
Back to Top
ZoeLou View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 19 Jan 2020
Location: Australia
Status: Offline
Points: 2809
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote ZoeLou Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 11:27pm
Originally posted by cford cford wrote:

Originally posted by iress iress wrote:

Originally posted by ZoeLou ZoeLou wrote:

Not intentional, but they usually end up as my protagonist (except for this round, when they've become the love interest). 

The one thing I do try intentionally (with every prompt, actually) is to push it to the vaguest possible interpretation without being DQ'd, so my coder worked with DNA code, and my mechanic built stars. Feels like a dangerous game but it's fun running away in random directions ;)

I like have only done specific "character" prompts twice and both were easy to make the main character for me. 

But now I have "trooper" and I want to get away from the military or police connotation.  In California, our State police are not technically called "troopers" like in other states, and I know my story takes place here. Maybe girl scout or boy scout "trooper?" Maybe even Disney Storm Trooper costume actor.  What I really want is the idiomatic way of, "you're a real trooper for putting up with x, y, z." 
But too far? DQ territory?
I think if it was a repeated theme throughout, a character that was constantly putting up with things, like really obvious that he was 'such a trooper' then it would work. 
I had a character that was 'overdressed' for my subject and I definitely doubled down on it and he turned up overdressed the next day as well 


Agreed! Usually the advice is that you're fine as long as your interpretation is covered by a normal dictionary definition. Google says a trooper can be a "reliable and uncomplaining person" so I think you're fine! Might be a good idea to actually use the word "trooper" though so you can't miss it :)
SSC R1: The Many Faces of Gemini

All my NYCM work: Author Archive
Back to Top
Suave View Drop Down
NYC Midnight Black Belt
NYC Midnight Black Belt
Avatar

Joined: 25 Jan 2015
Location: Thailand
Status: Offline
Points: 25027
Post Options Post Options   Thanks (1) Thanks(1)   Quote Suave Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 16 Jan 2022 at 11:49pm


I like to kill them all. Don't force me to like anyone!
Back to Top
 Post Reply Post Reply Page  123>

Forum Jump Forum Permissions View Drop Down

Forum Software by Web Wiz Forums® version 12.05
Copyright ©2001-2022 Web Wiz Ltd.

This page was generated in 0.184 seconds.