How does your OC feel about shoulder pads?

Is your OC good at math?

What’s the dumbest thing your OC has said?

How much education does your OC have?

What are the highest and lowest places your OC has been?

What’s a non insulting word your OC finds insulting?

How does your OC react when they see miniature versions of animals?

Does your OC like documentaries?

What’s your OC’s favorite part of history?

What kind of smiley face does your OC use?

What’s your OC’s favorite kind of sandwich?

What’s the biggest sacrifice your OC is willing to make for somebody else?

Your OC is told they have a week to do something; how long do they wait before doing it?

Which OC is always in danger?

Has your OC ever run away?

Rank your OCs from most likely to least likely to get away with murder.

How elegant is your OC?

Characterization: Kind vs Nice

I often see ‘nice’ characters described as ‘kind’ and it annoys me, so let’s talk about it!

‘Nice’ is a generic, default term that you can use to describe most people. Most people are pleasant to others, don’t delight in causing pain or suffering, and are happy to do a simple task for another person. Because of this, when writing characters, ‘nice’ is arguably the default. It is a conscious choice to have a character that acts in a mean or rude way.

For example, if someone says, “Hey, can you hand me that paper?” most people grab the paper and hand it over. If your character won’t, then that is something that makes them stand out as a bad or unlikable person.

Kindness, on the other hand, is a far rarer trait. Kind people are the advanced version of nice. Kind people actively sacrifice things for the sake of others and enjoy doing it. For example, if a kind person hears that a friend is moving, then they will offer to help without being asked. A kind person is always looking to make sure others feel included. A kind person loves to share or take care of others. They take nice and make it an active trait instead of a passive one.

Why this matters is that you often hear the word ‘kind’ applied to ‘nice’ characters. Characters that are never shown to be kinder than the average person. If one of a character’s defining traits is ‘kind’ then you need to make them kind, not just nice. For an example of this, let’s talk about Cinderella. Specifically the live-action Disney version from 2015.

In this film, Cinderella has this mantra that she repeats over and over again: “have courage, be kind” and it drives me batty because she’s never shown to kind! She’s just an averagely nice person. Let’s give a specific example here and talk about how you show that a character is kind in a meaningful way.

In the movie, there is a scene where a beggar woman asks Cinderella for some milk. Cinderella then gives the woman a little milk from a full bucket. This is framed as a way to show how kind Cinderella is and it sort of works. She was upset at the time when this happened and sharing the milk was a nice thing to do. However, this is not the kind of scene that makes you appreciate just how special this character is because the cost of being kind is so minimal. Sharing the milk is something that a lot of people would do as long as they felt safe and had food available to share. Not sharing the milk would arguably put Cinderella in the same situation that The Beast was in when he got cursed in Beauty and the Beast. He was asked for a low effort showing of kindness and the fact that he wouldn’t even do this simple thing proved that he was a terrible person.

So how do you make this scene an act of kindness instead of basic human decency?

Well, there are a few ways!

1. In the scene, Cinderella has a full bucket of milk to share from and there’s no implication that she’s limited on how much food she can have. A way to make this scene feel like a real act of kindness is to have her share something that she only has a little of. Continuing with our Disney theme, think of the scene in Aladdin where he steals a loaf of bread and then gives it to some hungry children even though that was supposed to be his lunch. That is a noticeable act of kindness whereas sharing food when you have excess of it really isn’t.

2. The beggar woman only shows up in this scene. If you change that and have her be a reoccurring character instead, then you can establish that Cinderella’s stepmother has forbidden Cinderella to give the beggar woman food. This makes the scene an act of defiance where Cinderella is risking punishment to do what is right and help another person.

3. Have the beggar woman ask for food when there isn’t anything available to eat, meaning that Cinderella has to cook for her or go out to the garden and pick something. This once again elevates the act from a simple thing that’s easy to do with minimal personal cost to something that requires real time and effort.

Now, do keep in mind, kind doesn’t have to mean pushover. It can, but you it doesn’t have to. You can be kind and have standards, too. That’s actually a good thing to keep in mind when writing kind characters as it often makes for a relatable character arc. You can start with a character that’s a little too giving and have them learn how to value themselves while still being true to their kind nature. You can also just have a badass character who’s a delight to everyone, but don’t cross them or you will regret it. Kind people are also allowed to dislike others. They don’t have to be everyone’s friend. and they don’t even have to be outgoing!

Anyway, that’s it for this one! Write your characters however you want, just don’t go telling me that a person is ‘kind’ for simple acts of basic human decency.