Your Fantasy Characters Need 4 Identities
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- čas přidán 31. 05. 2024
- This simple technique will add tremendous depth, complexity, and realism to your fantasy characters.
⏲️ TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 - Introduction
00:22 - The four selves
00:52 - Bilbo
01:51 - Snape
02:45 - Gavin Guile
03:38 - Logen Ninefingers
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Hi! My name's Jed. I'm a fantasy author with three published novels and a bestselling video game. On this channel, I draw from my 10+ years of writing experience to help you become a better writer. - Jak na to + styl
Watch this next to avoid the 10 most common main character mistakes I see new fantasy writers make: czcams.com/video/l5lLurCzeRU/video.htmlsi=9O3_JGIdy5Y1Ozgd
Remind me, have you done a video explaining how to worldbuild monsters in a fantasy story, or just any story, because I feel like anime like Attack On Titan and Chainsaw Man would be great examples to mention if you haven’t.
The contrast between Logan’s core self and his hidden self is what makes him such a great character. Great observation Jed!
Immediately adding this to my character profiles. Thank you, Jed.
same
This is why I’m subscribed.
Everything that you post is exactly what I need all of the time.
It’s almost humorous.
I do need quite a few things at one time, but you always help with that.
You never fail to be a very helpful person.
Thank you Jed.
Ok so. I’ve sort of loosely done this with characters I’ve made just on my own but having it spelled out is going to help me refine it a lot more. Like with the main character of my current project. To most people on the outside she’s kinda cold, stoic, and hard to read. To her closest friends she’s more open with humor, and enjoys conversations about funny hypothetical situations and wants to be very caring. And the last 2 were sort of combined in how I initially thought of her but I think I’m going to form a distinction between her alone self and her deep true self which share a theme of being inquisitive and hyper analytical (because she’s a scientist, so she is explorative deep down at her core)
This is an amazing point and something I wish I heard way earlier in my work but I will be applying this effective immediately
Out of all of your videos (which are all great) this one is maybe the most helpful. Ten minutes examining a character through this lens helped connect dots that I'd been struggling with for years. Love your channel, and keep up the good work!
Thank you! Glad to help.
Gonna attempt to do this for a Tabletop character I've been working on called "Ether".
Social Self: Leader of the Glass Gang, strong and independent, vicious fighter and skilled hacker. Blasted public identities online with so much fake information that no-one knows who they truly are.
Personal Self: Physically weak but extremely dexterous and magically capable, trusting of others and dependable. Values her family and friends over anything. Incredibly emotional once you get past her shell.
Core Self: Attempting to keep a balance in the core of the city and the rest of the megastructure everyone lives on (picture the Earth but completely man-made and 1/3 bigger), worried their weaknesses will hold them back.
Hidden Self: Fiercly loyal and determined, she won't back down from a fight, especially if the little guy is being picked on. Distrustful of most Corporations. Hates dictators.
Edit: Yeah, that worked pretty well. Good system I'd say! Good luck to anyone else in their creative pursuits. ✌️
Great ideas. But a little superficial, I think. Really dig into WHY for the things you’ve written, and you’ll have some great depth:
- Why does she value family more than the average person?
- Why distrust corporations?
- What event(s) make her particularly hate dictators? (Was it something a specific one did that affected her family?)
Ooo this looks fun. Let’s try it with one of my dnd characters
My character: Wood Elf fighter, scholar
Social self: These days, is known to be friendly, polite, dependable, and dedicated. Kind to people and strangers, especially children. Also known for being physically strong. Has been known to entertain the kids with piggy back rides for this reason and will help older folks with lifting things or getting things from high shelves for that reason. They are also known to be a scholar of linguistics.
Personal Self: Insightful, sad, and mostly honest person who seems to try to convey a silver lining in bad situations. They like to see the whole picture of a situation and often rely on their long life to understand the reality of those life lessons. Their friends would know them to be a very sentimental person. They also know them to write poetry and draw. They also will always do their best to keep a promise if they make one. They can be a bit reckless with their life but are a dedicated protector. Sometimes they treat ones they are close to as if they were found family.
Core self: Despite outward appearances, they can be pessimistic and reckless. They are melancholic as they are still grieving their late fiancé. They see themselves as a failed protector. Guilt often eats at them. They are also resentful towards their blood family due to the years of responsibility forced on them as a parentified eldest child. They take their failures very personally. They don’t give out promises if they can help it but when they do so, they keep them. They get fulfillment in looking after others. They can be a bit domineering at times and relish the few times they can reveal their snarky and petty side. They are aware they are manipulative in their honesty and social interactions.
Hidden Self: They despise being constrained under restrictions they don’t choose themself but also feel a deep need to look after others. They truly believe they are at fault for their fiancé’s death despite it being a tragic event beyond their control. They do sometimes have control issues due to the lack of control they grew up with. They look out for everyone as a means to peace keep and feel awkward in confrontation going on around them. They are a protective individual and empathize greatly with others around them. They have a deep wanderlust that keeps them moving. They do love people even when they are pessimistic about them. Having faith is less scary to them than not. They believe letting go of their memories of their fiancé is equivalent to letting him die again and is deeply afraid of this. Basically, this person is always deeply afraid to some degree which is why they try to manage and sort out the things before them to maintain some control, even if it’s limited to only them and their loved ones. As was said in previous, they are sentimental and so memories are deeply important to them. It’s part of why they record things, learn, teach, draw and so on. They live a long life and believe it is their responsibility as a being of a race that lives such a vastly long life, to go forth and remember all they can and share it with the world so they do not forget either. Sentimentality is deeply ingrained.
Ok I got a bit wordy but this was mostly because I went with what came to mind on the subject. Hopefully I conveyed this character I play very well. I have worked with my gamemaster extensively on this character and they have really blossomed and become easier to understand as I play them. The table I play at is very roleplay and storytelling heavy so this style of play is quite rewarded. The other players very much enjoy this character of mine and has clicked in well with the party despite being a later addition. Honestly one of the most fun characters I have ever played. Love all my characters but this one is the most fun to play.
Actually its very good that it got wordy. Shows you're ready to use them in a story.
@@brainflash1 much appreciated! And I am. I play this character in my dnd game and we are quite a ways into it now. It’s been a blast! So thank you! I take it very much as a compliment.
This is quite useful to layer characters.
This was great, Jed. I'd love to hear more discussion about how to select 4 ids that will drive my characters to do what I need them to do for my plot.
THANKS A MILLI FOR THIS VIDEO... It just gave me a deeper insight on how to make my character more relatable
This is really helpful, I've watched a couple videos, and I'm trying to build up a whole sci-fi universe, and all these writing and character help videos are actually really good, cause earlier today ideas trying to write a antagonist, and this simplifies the motives and personality a lot.
Once again great job here! I believe I was close enough to it for my main characters and those secondary ones I thought the most about as I found the selves almost immediately, however I'm missing it for many others, if I want to develop them I know exactly what to do now :)
I've too often heard rants on writing advice, and I love that you actually pinpoint what to look for within a short span that you make sense even to my waking up self :P
Thank you for your advice. I've been writing my main character like that already, at least I think so. It's nice to know I'm following a good path for my character. Also, I remember in a past video you've been saying to avoid the word then. I've been catching myself using the word then sometimes.
This video just by itself is awesome and super helpful. But the fact that you chose to include Logen Ninefingers, one of my all-time favorite characters, is fantastic beyond words! I had goosebumps all over when you were going over his four identities. :D
Logen is great
Dear Jed, your videos are great. I found your "Top 10 mistakes" video while searching for a solution to a problem with my novel. Your first three examples kept me nodding my head: "Yep, Sure, Got all of that." Because your videos are so useful I went ahead and also bought one of your novels - and I must say: I really liked it. Especially the fact that you keep the story going: constantly. (That's the problem I struggle the most with.)
Thumbs up! :)
PS: I also checked your website - and there are a lot of pages that don't work anymore or don't have https... )
Thanks!
And with the website - yes, I need to redesign this soon. I originally built it five years ago and I think a lot of the code is breaking down. Thanks for the reminder!
@@Jed_Herne I know how you feel. My main business website is ten years old... ...and creaking everywhere. :) I might hit you up at some point in the future for some coaching, if you are available.
This is really cool. I got excited when you used Bilbo as an example because I was thinking of him in the intro.
Nooo this vid is way too short we like longer vids mate!! 🙏🏼
Oohhh this is really cool. Never thought about this before, but it makes total sense (and also gave us a laugh as a plural system lol)
Thank you, Jed! Im doing some character work right now and this is gonna add so much!
This video reminded me of a technique in psychology called the Johari window.
Hope you’ll one day publish a fantasy novel writing workbook. Would be helpful to have all the information in one place.
I think I might try this out with some of my characters.
One more helpful video goes to my writing techniques and advices playlist!
Thank you 🙏🏻
Logen Ninefingers sounds like Guts, "The Black Swordsman", protagonist of the 'Berserk' manga. I may need to read 'The Blade Itself'!
Am I early? Can’t wait to see what juicy advice you got here.
Love your videos dude
Thank you! Love your videos. They are very helpful!
Epic video bro! Thanks for sharing!!
Your videos are so helpful man
These are all so epic, Jed! I'm having an awesome time applying this to all my characters. It helps me perceive them from different perspectives. Thanks again!
You're welcome!
I think the third one should be called the ideal self
Love these videos Jed, they've been really helpful for me developing my DnD character
Quite useful, thank you!
I saw your magic system video and thought of something myself I like to share: the power is based off of an equivalent exchange with every magic spell you wish to cast placed on a scale one of 2 kinds that will be talked about later but basically by offering something on the other side of the scale to balance it out the more you put as a offering then stronger the spell and there are 2 kinds of scale first one is the divine scale it has the same principle and the offering is one of 2 things either directly being mana, your invisible life force that allows all mages to cast any magic or magic circles in the first place or you could give it materials that contains mana and the more the mana and the more pure it is the more its favored on the scale and second is called lucifer's scale where instead of mana or materials the offerings are human whether it would be a human soul or a body part i put this in place to creat plot and because this scale does give you more in the short run it creats very strong temptation and later on there could even be unqiue scales made by the users and the options of offerings could be endless but obvesily they would still have to follow the law of equivalent exchange
Great insight!
this is massively helpful and made me realize a lot of things to make characters more in depth! Is there any encounters about method of writings you ever noticed?
Let's try with a character, a magic wielder and dragon shape-shifter who is part of a team of heroes in a modern world where random magic powers have appeared.
Social self: He's a mysterious, angry and powerful force to be reckoned with. He's very withdrawn and not socially great to be around.
Personal self: He's protective of his friends, still rough around the edges but has his occasional moments of being able to joke around.
Core self: He's someone struggling against manipulation from a greater force, and is constantly irritated that his actions never match up to his intentions. He wants to be kinder, less angry, but can't.
Hidden self: They're just someone who wants to be free, especially from the aforementioned manipulation that has actually overwritten many parts of their true being, and slowly they need to figure out which parts of themselves are theirs and which were forced onto themselves (hint: The anger is part of that)
Another character! Someone who can control water and has a form of super speed, leader of the previously mentioned team of heroes
Social self: He's the leader, always making the necessary decisions to get things done. Furthermore, he's rich and influential, and highly respected.
Personal self: He may still be a leader but he trusts his friends to do what needs to be done, so he's more relaxed.
Core self: He doesn't really want to be the leader, because he wants to have the freedom to go out in fights and not have to worry about anyone else, in particular, he doesn't like all the paperwork involved when all of the fighting is said and done.
Hidden self: He's scared, and often can feel powerless. Ultimately, he wants to be with his girlfriend.
Third character, who's arc I've actually finished. Someone who can control nature and technology, part of the team but usually plays support.
Social self: Withdrawn, analytical but can and will show off whenever her gets the chance.
Personal self: Likes to occasionally chat with his friends, but still somewhat withdrawn into his world of analysis and ideas, though he's very eager to share information about what he's been working on.
Core self: Always working on a new project and analysing the world around him, he's somewhat figured out the magic system and is always trying to make connections between what he knows and what he's seeing. He wants to be a father but in a roundabout way (creating life)
Hidden self: He seeks constant improvement, aiming higher and higher. Man literally is creating a new thinking living being, his own son, from a car. An evil version of him have an ideal of "constant evolution"
This is a fun exercise to categorize your characters. Also a good way to help flesh out areas for characters you think might need more depth.
You know it's good character building when those same strategies could be used for effective counseling.
❤ love this
Man, this is awesome! I actually struggle with creating arcs for characters, and I think this will really help.
I did have a question though, and it relates to your previous video on premises. You mentioned that when writing a multi-pov book, I could use something like you did for Jade City, where you tied them together. You also said that if I can't do that, then I might have a story that will feel disjointed and doesn't have enough cohesion.
So, what would you say for a book like The Way of Kings, where Kaladin's, Dalinar's, and Shallan's stories are very distant. TWoK is a phenomenal book, and it doesn't suffer from a lack of cohesion, so how would you write a premise for it?
Good job Jed your a great writer
Question: hey jed what's the most interesting words you use in your vocab
Robert McKee, in his in-depth book Character, covers the same 4 aspects of identity. This works for any character, not just fantasy.
This may be where I initially got the idea from. I've read so many writing craft books over the years that I tend to forget where I learned things from (and in many cases, I've changed and adapted the concepts through my own writing / teaching as well). His book on Character is great!
YO! Early! Glad to be here. Thanks, I'm building a setting for TTRPGaming and need some interesting characters to fill my world. The trouble I run into with a lot of your advice though is that the character's end and the specific story is planned, but in setting-building for sandbox play, that can't be done. Curious if that sparks any advice for us worldbuilders...
🎉 epic thanke you for this .
I struggle to even make a start how am I suppose to do this!
Hey Jed! I love your videos and have learned a LOT from them, helping me with my first novel. Thanks so much
Fair point! I know a lot of people have mentioned they dislike the music, and it does actually add quite a bit of editing time ... so maybe I'll scrap this moving forward.
Bro, I love your vedios, you are amazing, you are content is Mind blowing, all other people just bluff and talk sh*it ,but your vedios are amazing, I'm your big fan buddy ❤
live saver :D
Hello, my name is Maya, I’m an illustrator and I’m currently writing a fantasy novel. I love your videos and all you do. But sometimes I feel like I want to give up with it because I think what I’m going to make has nothing new, everything has been written and I don’t know how to deal with these feelings. I hope everyone is doing great btw ❤
Don't ever give up on your writing. If for no one else, for yourself. That is just as much or more important than a thousand people loving your work. Just do it for you. Have fun with it. Also, Abbie Emmons is wonderful as well if you ever need some more encouragement for your writing. Best of luck out there.
Is this Carl Youngs theory
It's kinda like astrology!
Subscribing cuz you clearly know your shit
So I need create Shallan
😂
She's a great example of a character with tremendous depth and layers
How do you achieve this if you have a book where your main protagonist is shown as both a child and an adult at different points in the narrative?
I'd say you do it twice, or as many times as any of those evolve throughout the story?
I'd say from the most likely to change to the least, social > personal > core > hidden. From their actions and how they look, how they are perceived in society (or even, how they are perceived in another society) can drastically change within the story or between childhood and adulthood. Think also how who they are around close ones changed, or how they perceive themselves in both instances. For the hidden self, I think it might just stay the same or have only very minor shifts because it's what makes your character consistant.
I disagree with your analysis of Severus Snape. His hidden self is that he is a deeply damaged individual, who has never allowed himself to experience true connection to others, and is driven by his desire for revenge against Voldemort, who killed the object of his infatuation. He's also deeply unsure of himself, despite his surface level extreme ego. I mean, he was a young child when he "fell in love with" Lily, and never really knew her on a deeper level. It's not LOVE, it's infatuation, to an unhealthy degree. This is what we are SHOWN. What you explain, is what the fanbase, and to a certain degree, J.K. Rowling, have been trying to tell us. But it doesn't correspond with what we're shown in the books. I mean, he's a complete psychopath. He literally terrorizes his students, to such a degree that he traumatizes several of them. The fact that Dumbledore allows him to work there, speaks volume of how screwed up he is as well.
I dont quite agree. Yes, his fascination with Lily began before he really knew her, but they spent a lot of time together even before they went to Hogwarts. They were still friends for many years at Hogwarts and that is when he fell in love with her. It wasnt until James got in the way and humiliated Snape to the extent that he called Lily a mudblood that they stopped speaking to eachother.
He thought she'd never care for him again and that just drove him deeper into the Death Eaters cult; this was probably a subconcious way for him to punish himself and a masochistic selfharm behaviour. Depression was probably a big part of his life ever since then and would never fully go away.
That's why he was so sadistic towards students. He was acting out, probably without really comprehending the damage he was doing (also, his tenure as a teacher was during the 80s and 90s, a period when mental health was rarely ever talked about).
Snape did love Lily and hated himself too much to ever move on and find someone new. Add to that his hate for what Voldemort did to her, and the hate for himself for the part he played in the murder, then you're left with a man who had some serious mental health issues that would probably take years of intense psychotherapy to heal.
Hi jed there is a big chance you will not see this comment but if you do please tell me how can i contact you or how can i join your bootcamp ( i have a felling i will get rejected) really need help with my novel but i don't know how to contact you all of the videos you have uploaded seem to overwhelm me can you please help me with my story vis discord or anyother app zoom maybe ?
This is my first piece of work i have only wrote 4 chapters so far i am 13 and i so so i also have to keep up with my studies
Pleaae i beg of you to help me 🙏 🙏 🙏