What is your 'most used' defining character quirk? (provided you have one)

[Naruzeldamaster]

I'm not sure I have one to be honest, I try to write my characters as different as they need to be to fit their role in the story.
That being said I do tend to lean on a couple of tropes, but those tropes aren't like, the whole character, if that makes sense.
Though I find it really difficult to write interesting male characters, I'm not sure why. I just have way more fun writing female characters for some reason.

 

[pmmg]

Tropes and quirks, no. I just try to write them true. Sometimes it takes some writing to figure out who they are. But no one has any artificial traits or the stories I write. Though...I may have dont that at times in my RPG and Game Master days.

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

Tropes and quirks, no. I just try to write them true. Sometimes it takes some writing to figure out who they are. But no one has any artificial traits or the stories I write. Though...I may have dont that at times in my RPG and Game Master days.

I tend to use tropes as blueprints more than actual features of the character, more specifically I'd call it DNA. (and even then, never just like the 'one' trope per character) Then when I start writing the character I let them take their own strides and see where they go. I've gotten some pretty interesting results this way.

I've never played any tabletop games (not even DND) but I feel like that'd be fun, wish I could get a group together and play sometime. I'm not sure if I'd rather take part in the campaign or be the DM because both roles seem equally fun to me when I watch people play DND.

 

[pmmg]

As you may be aware (but maybe not), I dont have much use for Tropes. I would like meaning and truth in my stories. People are not tropes and I dont write them such.

I might I suppose if I was a different type of writer. When writing with quirks and gimmicks, what type of characters do you end up with? You say it does not make up the whole character to use them. Would you consider a character who did not use them at all?

 

[Naruzeldamaster]

As you may be aware (but maybe not), I dont have much use for Tropes. I would like meaning and truth in my stories. People are not tropes and I dont write them such.

I might I suppose if I was a different type of writer. When writing with quirks and gimmicks, what type of characters do you end up with? You say it does not make up the whole character to use them. Would you consider a character who did not use them at all?

Lately I've been experimenting with no tropes at all, it leads itself to a little confusion at the start (hence the 'how do I write x character good' threads) but as I write them they kind of grow into their own thing while still mostly being what I imagine them to be. Usually I will pick one or two tropes as a building block, but then I let the character be what they want and it's been really fun writing them this way, they often do things I don't expect, but are still completely within what I feel is in character for them.

 

[Mad Swede]

I've never conciously given a character a set of quirks or deliberately used a set of tropes as the basis for a character or story arc. Somehow the characters are just there when I start to write and it all goes from there.

 

[Incanus]

I'm not sure if this is what you mean, but my characters all tend to be a bit overly logical and rational (rather like myself). At least they start that way in early drafts where I get caught up in moving the plot forward, and characters tend to get a bit buried in scenes. And that results in scenes where characters exchange information fluidly, without the different personalities creating difficulties for each other, without tension between characters, or without opportunities to really show who the characters are. All too often I don't realize I'm doing it until after I look back at a completed scene. I often have great difficulty getting my head around the idea that these issues are fixable through revision and targeted editing.

As it turns out, I'm trying to nip this in the bud before writing (revising, really) the next chapter in my project--which happens to be one of the 'quieter' moments in the story, where characters exchange info. I think I've found a difference in two of the characters' personalities that I can exploit and use to add tension to this scene.

I don't begin character creation with any tropes in mind--I figure that most characters will likely end up matching this or that trope sooner or later anyway, so I don't deliberately start with them.