Warriors Fan Fiction Organization

I don’t come here often but hello everyone

tis time for some character-related advice

Part 1: What you can do to make your characters more engaging:

1: develop platonic relationships between your characters! unless all your characters are lonely all the time it’s good to give them friends, acquaintances, and people they just don’t like or are uncomfortable around for whatever reason. it helps to grow your character as you can experiment with how they react to people with different personalities. the setting of a Clan opens up a lot of opportunities to expose your characters to a variety of cats.

2: give your characters hobbies! it doesn’t have to be something too overt but give your characters something they like to do. It could be sorting herbs extra fast if they’re a medicine cat, meticulously cleaning their pelt all the time if they’re a neat freak, playing with bugs or watching birds.

3: always assess your characters’ personalities! it makes it so much easier to write them if you know ahead of time how they’ll react to a given situation. This also includes determining what would be out of character for a given cat. If you have a shy, nervous character who’s shown to be a pushover, it’s unlikely that they’ll snap at someone berating them. though it can be hard to let your beloved characters suffer because they won’t stand up for themselves, it’s often necessary for plot and character development.

Part 2, regarding the Clans’ societies and how to craft intriguing storylines utilizing them, will be in another comment

Part 3 of writing advice: how to come up with compelling villain characters

1: consider: what kind of villain does your story require? this usually involves analyzing your protagonist and saying ‘what kind of villain would provide them with a believable and compelling struggle?’ this can also work in reverse but it’s usually best to do it with a protagonist first. If you have a bold, noble protagonist, an interesting foil to them would be a manipulative, underhanded character. Similarly, if you have a shy, timid protagonist, a theatrical and animated villain helps to highlight both their personalities.

2: make your villain tie in with the theme[s] of your story. For example, the HiveMind’s themes are power and control and how they corrupt people who aren’t equipped to handle it, and of course the connotation of a political hivemind and how those who dissent are silenced or more graciously ‘removed’ from their positions of influence.

3: make your villain’s personalities and motives easy to explain to others. It’s always good if you’re able to describe your characters generally in only a few words. Even if it’s just a brief, silly description it’ll help lay the foundation for what you want your villain to achieve in both the events of the story and the minds of your readers.

4: your villains become scarier when they embody your protagonist’s deepest fears. This is how I usually go about writing villains. This again requires assessing your protagonist to see what their greatest fear is. If they fear those they love being hurt, a villain who preys on their loved ones to hurt the protagonist would be most effective. If your protagonist is insecure about not being appreciated by anyone, an antagonist who will manipulate them into believing their insecurities will again prove effective.

Anyway that’s it yall lol, if you have any more questions please ask :]