Bucky → Wintersoldier

Oh God i needed this

are you kidding me I have to give this fic a title?!! wasn’t it enough that I wrote the damn thing

Any tips on how to make readers root for a character that's not the narrator?

Well, why have you ever rooted for characters other than the narrator? What have you read or heard from other people that makes them root for a character? Oftentimes a good chunk of an answer just takes a bit of introspection or listening.

Typically, readers root for characters that they find to have at least one of the qualifications:

Useful: Contributes positively to the story, either by helping others or driving it themselves.

Sympathetic: The character is understandable as a well rounded person.

Funny: Is amusing to readers.

Relatable: Readers can see parts of themselves in the character. A Reminder About “Relatable” Characters (link embedded)

Admirable: Has generally good qualities, but does not have to be perfect. A realistic role model.

Interesting: The more they learn, the more people want to know more about them.

(This isn’t a rigid list, but the qualifications are generally positive or entertaining)

None of those qualifications are restricted to only show-able in a narrator in any way, however a good part of ‘rooting” for someone involves wanting them to achieve their goal. Not being the narrator, they’re likely not the protagonist and therefore the main plot may not be about their goal. You can address that in a few ways:

Subplots: Give the character and their goal a subplot, however remember that subplots have to be related to the main plot and can’t just be a character going off for unrelated reasons. 

Aligned goals: By participating in the plot and alongside the protagonist, the character’s goals can be worked toward, though it’s not the same as the protag’s.

Same goal: They have the same goal as the protag. (When using this option, make sure to give that character unique motivation. Being too similar to a protagonist in motive can decreases reader interest.)

Side stories: The character is allowed to have their own adventures, you just shouldn’t be dedicating a lot of “screen time” to them if they aren’t directly plot involved.

In the most generic sense, you just want to write an interesting character. No, the reader is not going to be able to see their inner monologue, but they can’t see most of any book characters’ inner monologues and it’s rare for a reader to hate everyone but the narrator (unless they’re all poorly written or that’s the point).

You can still teach a reader about a character through: body language, description, dialogue, symbolism, actions, choices, etc. 

Good luck with your character!

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small writing exercises

make up an origin and meaning of a name

write a family history going back centuries

pick a character and make them ramble about their favorite thing

make up a fable, pretend it’s as famous as the Grimm fairytales. how does this fable affect the world and what would people reference from it? (i love this one because it can be as crazy and silly as you want)

make a commercial for something that really shouldn’t be sold at all. try to convince people to buy it.

ACRONYMS. but, like, try to have it make sense

make a poem about your story/something in your story

rewrite a classic but put your own twist on it

make up a detailed recipe

make a monologue with a plot twist or punchline in the end

create a ridiculously detailed timeline for a character

childhood memory (real one or make it up!)

improv rap lyrics

the story behind an inside joke

make up a mythical creature

pretend to be a commentary youtuber and pick a topic

the what if? pick a story and create an alternate ending to it

pick one scenario and several characters. how different are the reactions based on their personalities?

This cat.... is now my favorite cat

“Vines for $800”

“STAHP”

“What is You almost made me drop my croissant!”

I just imagined a jeopardy category of solely vine references

MY ENTIRE FUCKING CHILDHOOD I WANTED TO BE A FUCKING CAT

Reblog if you've actually SEEN the movie "The Aristocats"

has this been done yet or

LOOK AT THAT PROUD DAD HE JUST WANTS HIS SPIDERSON BACK

You can hear me sobbing in the background