problem with random characters

[asher marquering]

does anyone else have the problem that some characters in a situation arise in your mind but nothing ever comes from them

 

[Troo]

How do you mean?

 

[asher marquering]

ok for some reason during the day a nameless character will appear in my head in a specific situation usually in some sort of conflict and i find myself writing done the situation and resulting conflict that the character is in but these characters usually don't spark off any new ideas for a short story or anything else they are merely characters in conflict in my mind

majority of the posts that i have made in critiques forums have been in one of these characters

 

[Troo]

Ah, I see what you mean.

I don't see a problem with this. You're still exercising your creativity, and you're still practicing the craft of writing. It's better to be writing than not.

If what you want is to develop more well-rounded characters then you need to resist the urge to resolve that conflict that the character is demanding.

For example:
Let's say you have a character named Garth. Garth has abandonment issues after finding out he was adopted, and is on the hunt for his real parents, seeking some kind of closure.

What you could write:
Garth finds his parents, they tell him why they had to give him up for adoption, they're very sorry, and everyone has a big hug and vows to spend time together to get to know one-another. The End.

Who wants to spend more time reading about Garth now? His central conflict is resolved, and he's now just as dull and lifeless as the rest of the world. So instead, you could do this:

Garth finds his father, who not only believed Garth to be dead, but whose life with Garth's mother was destroyed because of the child's birth (let's say she lied about taking birth control pills). He wants Garth out of his life, and refuses to tell Garth the identity of Garth's mother due to hating the woman. Worse, it turns out that Garth's father is now in a position whereby having a son creep out of the woodwork could put him on dangerous ground (for instance, say he's now in charge of the city they all live in, and his eldest son, in line for power, is younger than Garth). Now both Garth's dad and Garth's heretofore unknown brother have a reason to actively want Garth out of the picture, one way or another. They might even start a hunt for the mother, and it becomes a race to reach her first. But will Garth want to know her when he meets her? She is, after all, highly manipulative. Perhaps the parent who could actually love him IS his father, but the circumstances are all wrong...

See? Don't resolve your conflicts too soon. They should form the basis of the story. If your character has what he needs, he has no reason to strive.

 

[Sapheron]

If you have no extra story about them, then just leave them in the back of your head, or notebook, until a sitaution or story they fit into arises.

 

[Aes]

Honestly, I think you need to make something come of it. Except in rare circumstances, fully-fleshed stories don't just magically appear before you. Instead, they start as a general idea or concept -- from there, you have to take the initiative and play with these ideas in your mind until you have more details.

In the last thread I made in this section, fateful accidents, the scenario is exactly what you're describing -- a nameless, faceless character in a random situation, with not much else to it. Since then, a lot more detail has emerged and soon, I'll have an idea filled out enough to write about, should I choose to.

So, take an idea you've had that you really like, put on your best thinking/daydreaming cap, and get to work.