Character Story Spin Offs - Yes or No?

[Kitter Bitters]

So I have these characters that I've been developing for a long time. I am always hesitant to add to their story because I'm afraid it might detract from them somehow. Take comic books for example. Sometimes it's hard to keep it all straight because Superman has a million plot points and some of them directly contradict each other. Some of those plots are fun though such as giving him kids, giving him alternate identities, etc.

So if I add things like children, siblings, random tie ins, etc am I adding to my story or am I detracting from it?

Thoughts appreciated

 

[Cassus Akovin]

It largely depends. In some cases adding children can introduce unexpected hangups for your characters. Back when this account was Triam Akovin for example, I had to grapple with what to do with a warrior woman that was also pregnant, and while it did spawn some interesting solutions and events, I did find it more difficult to write her since her story was no longer as easily accessible to me since there was more to consider than simply "I want to jump into this thread and beat up some dudes."

Then there are others who have not only had their character have kids, but have kids that are also other writers, and they had a LOT of kids. (Looking at you Darth Carnifex ).

For me though, eventually, it came to the point where the child my character had, became the new focal point and point of view. The new generation. It's a very liberating experience, and I've been writing as him ever since. Mom still exists, but her son holds the legacy moving forward.

 

[Kitter Bitters]

Cassus Akovin thank you for sharing your experience! I think ultimately Star Wars is the story of families so there is some draw in that. I'm glad it worked out and you love playing your character!

 

[Ellie Mors]

Neither is the most "correct" take on this, adding characters that are related to your original character can both add to a story as well as take away from it.

There's nothing that inherently does either (except in the most objective sense of what it means to "add" to a story), but how you execute it is entirely what decides whether something is "adding" to your story or "taking away" from it. If you've said your character is an only child and you're afraid that introducing a sibling that you feel would work really well as a way to continue that character's story would contradict what you've built into that character's backstory then you can utilize the freedom of being the author of your writing and make your character wrong - either by having a sibling they didn't know about, or having had their parents remarry, or even entirely circumvent the more conventional idea of what makes a sibling and introduce a character that is so "sibling-like" that the narrative goal of having a sibling is still fulfilled with them. Doing it poorly would be, as you probably imagined, anything that doesn't make any sense with your character's history in mind.

Pulling it off properly is what makes it "add" to your story. The only time it takes away from your stories is when you introduce it, or execute it, in such a way that it feels cheap or poorly done - but that's something rather subjective that I think matters more to the writer than to the other people they're writing with. The people you write with, the people who read your writing, don't have an encyclopedic knowledge of your characters' lives and won't know if you fudged up and willed a new character or relationship into existence "badly" unless you've explained that to them. Even those who think you maybe pulled it off badly or at least not as well as you could have probably are still operating off of that limited perspective and might not have information that could change their mind on that, too.

All in all, it is better to do what is best for you, if that means writing "legacy" characters (a sister, a brother, a child or grandchild) then you do you and just forget about worrying how people will see them. What matters at the end of the day is whether or not you enjoy writing the posts you make and if you think that introducing a new character or many of them will do that for you then it is worth exploring, and if it doesn't then don't.

Kitter Bitters

 

[Kitter Bitters]

Ellie Mors that is actually a really good point that nobody is really invested in my character like me... so they may not even notice lol. I really appreciate that take on things.

Also I love your signature

 

[B3-LL]

Depends if you’re mostly solo building or posting with others. Most people don’t care about your family so if it’s others opinions you want, it’s not really helping them care more.

But it’s all about what you want.

 

[Kitter Bitters]

Depends if you’re mostly solo building or posting with others. Most people don’t care about your family so if it’s others opinions you want, it’s not really helping them care more.

But it’s all about what you want.

Is your avatar robert downey jr chissified? I really like it

 

[Liram Angellus]

It all depends on you really, and your confidence in the character that you built. I personally am BIG on transparency but I understand that not everyone cares that this guy's family (IC) tree goes back to the first Hyperspace War. I almost stopped writing this character because I was falling into "old habits" and did not let him come into his own.

Write what works for you, but don't spend two paragraphs telling about how your character has a cowlick just like her mom (for example)

 

[Kitter Bitters]

Write what works for you, but don't spend two paragraphs telling about how your character has a cowlick just like her mom (for example)

This made me actually laugh out loud

 

[Audren Sykes]

My non-expert opinion is that family/etc doesn't necessarily detract from the story unless the story starts becoming about them instead of your character. It definitely has the ability to offer more interactions, I've personally seen more than one family line draw in many skilled RPers and swell to a good-sized group that's more or less stayed together for years now.

 

[Miri Nimdok]

Others have answered pretty well. The only thing I have to add is that I posted a similar poll a few years ago, but I asked the community for their opinions on a particular NPC I was writing. As you can see, the reaction was mostly positive or apathetic.

That said, all my attempts at making Miri a PC didn’t work out until after I killed off her dad. I think it’s because I was too focused on trying to make her distinct from him. Now she fills the Nimdok-shaped void in my roster.

 

[Kitter Bitters]

Thank you everybody. Appreciate the votes