Bowyn Aerrow's experience is similar to mine. I am frequently surprised by what my characters "decide" to do. I recently gave my protagonist's love interest a new last name after hearing it somewhere.
Agh you are making me want to shirk other responsibilities and go write!
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Well, alright, maybe the main character is boring because the author is keeping him too closely tied to what the author *thinks* he should be or do -- rather than letting the character take on a life of his own. And, BTW, in case it wasn't obvious, I was being sarcastic. I'm not much of a writer but I am an artist and I learned long ago that I do my best work when I get (perhaps not all but) most of my ego out of the way and let the work create itself through me. If the work doesn't surprise me in some way, then it isn't good work. Besides, what difference does it make whether I "like" it or not -- it isn't solely about "me" -- it's about the work and what (if anything) it is trying to express.
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I don't have links handy now, but I've seen character questionnaires that help you flesh them out. You can probably find them in a search. You might try the AbsoluteWrite forum.
I usually think of the goals of the story and what a character needs to do to get there -- sort of problem solving rather than focusing on the character specifically.
Somewhat related, I'm currently having trouble with making my characters more interesting. They were fine in short stories (some of which I've published), but for longer works, I need to add substance.
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There are questionnaires for fleshing out characters -- sorry, don't have a link now, but you might be able to find one in a search. Going through the process of answering questions about your character might be useful.
(I tried posting something before, but it seemed to go to moderation and then disappear.)
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Have you looked at the book from the perspective of what if the main character had never occurred? Does the book have a life if that character does not?
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Maybe your main character doesn't like you either.
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On that note, the protagonists's father's in both my stories are bastards; one is cold and unapproachable and the other is a drunk with an incendiary temper. I get along great with my dad, so where are these characters coming from?
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