Creating new characters, or revisiting existing ones?

[EmilyMiller]

Which is your preference, or do you like both?

It’s fun to shape someone new, to figure out what they think about the world, how they act, their strengths and weaknesses, how they interact with others, what their social circle is like. It’s new and exciting. It can be almost breathtaking.

But going back to established characters is sometimes just so deliciously comforting and warm. You know them, the writing flows, you can have fun putting them in novel situations, but it’s just so easy and pleasant sometimes. The word kinda write themselves, because you know these people inside and out.

How about you?

 

[BobbyBrandt]

Very few of my stories don't include a character from another story making an appearance, usually in a very minor supporting role, but occasionally, they get a larger part.

Readers seem to enjoy running into someone that they are familiar with.

 

[THBGato]

I'm going answer this as a reader and, very specifically, a lesbian reader.

What I really like - and what I get the sense a lot of lesbian (story) readers really like - is to see characters again. NOT as main characters - more on why not later - but for them to crop up in the background, perhaps as significant side characters, or maybe just as another set of customers in the pub. That way those of us who have become very invested in the characters and their relationship can see that all is still well and good with them. BrokenSpokes does this very well, as do DawnDuckie and HobokenSweat. It's lovely to see that Liz from Wheels in Motion is pregnant in The Journey, or that Tammy and Alex from Genius Girl are still going strong in Peebles & Zembrovitch.

What I dislike is when we follow the same protagonist as they bounce from one sexual escapade to another... I'm interested in romance. When I'm reading a story, I want to have the hope that things will work out romantically for the characters in question. If I can see that this is one chapter in series, with each subsequent chapter mentioning a different lover's name, well that's a big clue that the emphasis will be on sex not love. I especially dislike it, as a lesbian reader, when there is the sense that the FMC is just playing with other women as a distraction but will eventually end up with a man. I get how for bisexual readers and writers this is no biggie (and they probably feel quite seen). This is just my view. It's why, as well as she writes (and she does) I've never been able to get into FreyaGersemi's stories - one of her Lesbian stories is subtitled: "Without Alex around, what are the girls going to do?" To me, that just makes lesbian sex sound like settling for second best.

That's just me of course. I'm sure there's plenty of readers who are just reading for sex and don't care if it's with a different partner in every chapter. Likewise, I can understand how there are plenty of readers who love the thought of women having sex with each other then going back to cock when it becomes available again. I'm just not one of them.

 

[StillStunned]

It depends on the story. For sword & sorcery, I like to go back to Sligh and Avilia, because I think there are loads of stories to tell in that world and they're great characters to use. But I'm happy writing about Hew and Astor in that same world, but a thousand years earlier. And for the City of Scum I like focusing on different characters each time.

Most of my other stories (if they're not series) feature unique characters each time. The only exception is Allie, who's featured in three otherwise unrelated stories.

 

[ShelbyDawn57]

I'm more inclined to create new. I've tried series, and they just don't work for me. having said that, I do reuse some locations and characters as sub characters, and my readers seem to appreciate the occasional nods; Ricki and the Halftime bar are an example. They appear in a few of my other stories, but not as the amin character.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I'm going answer this as a reader and, very specifically, a lesbian reader.

What I really like - and what I get the sense a lot of lesbian (story) readers really like - is to see characters again. NOT as main characters - more on why not later - but for them to crop up in the background, perhaps as significant side characters, or maybe just as another set of customers in the pub. That way those of us who have become very invested in the characters and their relationship can see that all is still well and good with them. BrokenSpokes does this very well, as do DawnDuckie and HobokenSweat. It's lovely to see that Liz from Wheels in Motion is pregnant in The Journey, or that Tammy and Alex from Genius Girl are still going strong in Peebles & Zembrovitch.

What I dislike is when we follow the same protagonist as they bounce from one sexual escapade to another... I'm interested in romance. When I'm reading a story, I want to have the hope that things will work out romantically for the characters in question. If I can see that this is one chapter in series, with each subsequent chapter mentioning a different lover's name, well that's a big clue that the emphasis will be on sex not love. I especially dislike it, as a lesbian reader, when there is the sense that the FMC is just playing with other women as a distraction but will eventually end up with a man. I get how for bisexual readers and writers this is no biggie (and they probably feel quite seen). This is just my view. It's why, as well as she writes (and she does) I've never been able to get into FreyaGersemi's stories - one of her Lesbian stories is subtitled: "Without Alex around, what are the girls going to do?" To me, that just makes lesbian sex sound like settling for second best.

That's just me of course. I'm sure there's plenty of readers who are just reading for sex and don't care if it's with a different partner in every chapter. Likewise, I can understand how there are plenty of readers who love the thought of women having sex with each other then going back to cock when it becomes available again. I'm just not one of them.

As someone who “eventually end[ed] up with a man,” but could have easily ended up with a woman if I wasn’t quite so good at denying reality, yeah I can feel seen in many contexts.

I write some romances, both hetero and lesbian, but I also write event-driven erotica, where the protagonists are ultra-sex positive. Even within that, my she-demon and angel girlfriends have somehow managed to get engaged while continuing to enjoy other people, together or apart. It’s a fantasy.

But I agree, with some stories, you want a kinda normie closure, to know that A and B are still together. I do write that type of story, but I also write other types.

 

[SkyBubble]

Which is your preference, or do you like both?

It’s fun to shape someone new, to figure out what they think about the world, how they act, their strengths and weaknesses, how they interact with others, what their social circle is like. It’s new and exciting. It can be almost breathtaking.

But going back to established characters is sometimes just so deliciously comforting and warm. You know them, the writing flows, you can have fun putting them in novel situations, but it’s just so easy and pleasant sometimes. The word kinda write themselves, because you know these people inside and out.

How about you?

I love creating new characters, finding out what make them tick, and I have been known to write material about my characters that doesn't fit in the story. It's a way to get to know them so you can depict them better.

But some of my characters essentially ask for more, so I write it. I have a few series featuring characters I've written. As you pointed out, Emily, there is some comfort in that familiarity.

But I sometimes forget to describe them in subsequent stories.

 

[SkyBubble]

I've tried series, and they just don't work for me.

I have never set out to write a series, but as it turns out, I've written several. Dorothy Surrenders was a standalone for 5.5 years. I wrote it in September 2014. In April 2020 something told me to "write more about Dorothy, so I did. And that story picked up where the first one left off.

Something similar happened with Homecoming. I wrote it in 2020, and 3 years and 2 days later, according to Lit's listed posting dates, the second story went up. Something told me there was more to the narrator and Carla than I had written.

 

[FrancesScott]

What I really like - and what I get the sense a lot of lesbian (story) readers really like - is to see characters again. NOT as main characters - more on why not later - but for them to crop up in the background, perhaps as significant side characters, or maybe just as another set of customers in the pub. That way those of us who have become very invested in the characters and their relationship can see that all is still well and good with them.

That’s the nice thing about my Community Pool anthology series, I have an ever growing cast who I can draw on to fill out minor (or sometimes more major) roles. The stories are in different genres (I’m midway through my second lesbian story) but the sexual orientation of characters doesn’t change. So one of the central characters from my lesbian story, The Soldier’s Widow, is asked - in a second story - by an eighteen year old male lifeguard for advice on getting together with a female lifeguard, because “You know about women.”

 

[Statius]

I have one character I've used twice, specifically because she represents something for me. Otherwise, unless it's a series I try to create new, or use background characters who had nothing established in their first appearance, like the story I'm working on now.

 

[AchtungNight]

Varies with the inspiration. If I have an existing character I can incorporate, I usually do that somehow. If a new character makes more sense, I create one.

 

[IWroteThis]

I mostly prefer to create new characters. It gives me more freedom, as I don't have to conform to what I've already written about them.

That's not to say I won't write sequels, as sometimes those characters have more stories to tell. However, I only do that when the new story idea actually stems from those specific characters. I won't take a new story idea and try to shoehorn existing characters into it. Likewise, I'd only do a spinoff with a background character if it was something about that character in the original story that inspired it. I'm not going to limit myself unnecessarily just to avoid creating a new name. (Speaking of, am I the only one who has a spreadsheet of character names to avoid reusing the same ones too often, or using the same combinations in different stories?)

What I don't like and therefore don't see myself doing is creating a small universe where every character in every story is either from a previous story or is bound to be included in a multitude of future stories. There is one writer on here who I think only does that, and I always feel like they hurt their stories by trying to pigeonhole existing characters into what should be different roles.

 

[dirk2024]

I do both. I have one (unpublished) character, with associated friends, who will be in several group sex stories, all inprogress. But I like the MC a lot. I find that I have to resist overusing him.

But I like to create new characters too. I have an Excel spreadsheet, each story its own worksheet, to store character names, attributes etc.

 

[EmilyMiller]

But I like to create new characters too. I have an Excel spreadsheet, each story its own worksheet, to store character names, attributes etc.

Strangely - Excel is a big part of my life - I’ve never done this. All my characters and their characteristics live in my head.

 

[dirk2024]

Strangely - Excel is a big part of my life - I’ve never done this. All my characters and their characteristics live in my head.

Aahhh...youth. My older memory banks are insufficient to juggle all that information. i use it, hoping I'm not too repititious with my characters and their qualities.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Aahhh...youth. My older memory banks are insufficient to juggle all that information. i use it, hoping I'm not too repititious with my characters and their qualities.

I mean I use Excel to store recipe ingredients

 

[dirk2024]

I mean I use Excel to store recipe ingredients

I use Word for that. So I can include a picture of what the dish is supposed to look like, the ingredients and the directions. Plus I can make changes to the recipe after I've cooked it, but then you can do that with Excel as well.

 

[NaughteeDragon]

For me it depends on the story inspiration. If the story is inspired by characters, I just re-use the characters, though I may re-skin them or give them new motivations. If the story is inspired by an idea or a theme, those characters will be original.

 

[SkyBubble]

I prefer stories where it's the first time together. Not sure why. I lose interest after that.

I've written several of those.

 

[SkyBubble]

just to avoid creating a new name.

I do have a couple of characters (totally unrelated to each other) who have the same name. I have characters named Mary, for example in Virgin Mary and one in Gretchen's Unexpected Passion. One is MFC and the other is a second banana best-friend provocateur.

 

[old_prof]

Oh god, I have three Mary's, a Maria and a Marty in my original series. I guess I struggled creating names in that series. It was hell on editing. The characters at least came up with their own naming scheme to refer to the three Mary's (MaryA was from Australia, MaryB's last name started with B and MaryO was Mary Oreilly an easy nickname)

 

[Rob_Royale]

New ones. New characters, new places, new circumstances, new worlds. After I finish my current series, I doubt I will ever write another. From now on, if I do a series, it will be completed in one go and released in chapters a few days apart. Because revisiting them months later feels tiresome.

 

[old_prof]

New ones. New characters, new places, new circumstances, new worlds. After I finish my current series, I doubt I will ever write another. From now on, if I do a series, it will be completed in one go and released in chapters a few days apart. Because revisiting them months later feels tiresome.

I enjoy creating new characters, but I still love my old ones. I don't think I will ever tire of them. I released a new story a month and a half ago which introduced one new character into the universe of my original series. Every other major character in that story was from my original series. I have several more stories I will write along those veins.

Two stories later, I wrote a sequel, with the two main characters from an earlier romance learning to live together. (And having penetrative sex, now that they acquired condoms.)

But I have two other stories published in the interim and a WIP novel well under way that are completely new characters. I like doing both. They are different experiences for me.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I often revisit characters at different stages of their lives, when there's a new story to tell about them. Which means I have to remember that 95% of readers won't know them already, so I have to provide key info quickly without it looking like an infodump.

If the story is about two people getting it together, then I'll often create new characters for the purpose, but older characters often get cameo roles, to amuse me and the dozen followers who notice.

 

[TheRedChamber]

The majority of my seventy-odd stories are stand-alone one-shots. In the past couple of years though I've written thirteen different stories in the Hannah has Plans series featuring the same nerd couple. I've tried to keep it so that each story can be read completely independently of any other and the stories jump around in the timeline of the relationship. A lot of my other stories are about couples meeting and getting it on for the first time - and like Romantic Comedies, it's hard to do a sequel to those because they typically have a happy-ever-after ending built in. In contrast, writing about the sexual adventures of a couple who are by nature sexual adventurous, into BDSM and willing to try practically anything provides the possibility for a great variety of stories. Most of the early ones started off as simple humorous stories about a particular fetish, but as I've written them it's been possible to explore a range of much deeper topics, especially because, as Emily said in the first post, it becomes easier and easier to write the bread-and-butter parts for them.