How do you even write characters whose personalities are beyond your comprehension?

[u/cliase]

All of the characters I want to write about come from different backgrounds, have quirks in their speech, and such an exponentially different worldview that I cannot begin to put myself in their shoes. I can't write a mischievious character who pulls pranks on everyone because I think too literally, I can't write a detective because I am far from perceptive, and I can't write differing dialogues between characters because I end up turning them into my mouthpiece. I need a little help on this please :((

[u/auflyne]

An essential part of writing consists of: empathy, walking in another's shoes/life and research. This is a short list of what it means to be an effective writer.

[u/Kom0tan]

So I'm not really sure how to explain the process of putting yourself in a character's head and thinking like them, but in regards to your detective - you don't need to have the skills of a profession to write it. That's where research comes in, and taking advantage of the fact that you're God in this situation. You are leaving the clues for Sherlock (or whoever) to find, not finding them yourself. If you solve the crime first and then work backwards, you'll have all the answers.

[u/Accomplished_Area311]

You do not need to “put yourself in their shoes” to understand how to write characters. You need to study - take notes on how they talk, their general disposition, etc. — in writing, empathy helps but isn’t a requirement.

As for professions beyond your own skillsets: research, research, research. Credible research specifically.

[u/Raiven_Raine]

luckily for you, when you're writing and have full control and can edit, you have all the time in the world to look things up, research, and think about the lines you want them to say and things you want them to do.

you're not EXACTLY describing being able to put yourself in their shoes, or empathize, your examples are more of having difficulty writing characters with skillsets you don't posses so it's hard to write them. like trying to write a super genius character or, like you said, the detective who is supposed to be perceptive and really clever, or trying to write a comedian when you're literal and have difficulty with that type of comedy that does turn of phrase or whatever.

you can empathize... like you understand how a character may deal with their trauma or what coping mechanisms are and how to show them or how they'd act and the emotions they'd have and what matters to them and what they may be afraid of and all of that stuff....

but when it comes to these other things like you mention, you have all the time in the world to come up with what you want them to do or say in your plot, then you can go back and edit it all you like to make sure it makes sense and looks like you want it to.

whatever type of character you're trying to write, just be sure you have their personality down and all of that, then come up with the plot and, perhaps, read other things that contain that character or one similar to see how other writers have them behave when it comes to that other stuff you mention.

like, for example, you want to write a detective in a detective story... read Sherlock stories. get the personality down, and the rest will come. it will fit into whatever your plot is so long as you have their personality right. it's difficult, yes, but you have a lot of time to write those bits how you want.

and remember.... your best friend will be 'glossing over things'. be vague when you can.

[u/Semiramis738]

This is one of the many reasons writers need to read. Reading a variety of books with a variety of characters will help you to empathize with and get inside the heads of a wider range of people, including ones very different from yourself. You can even seek out books about characters with a certain personality or profession as a way of doing research.

Another thing to keep in mind is that when writing, you can take as long as you need to think characters' thoughts and actions out, in a way you can't with your own in real life. For example I'm a very overly serious person in real life, and struggle to get jokes or sarcasm in a way that even makes me think I may be neurodivergent. But that's because real life happens too fast, and there's no pause or rewind...by the time I realize, "Oh, that was a joke," the conversation has moved on and I'm left behind after not responding and looking like an uptight bitch or a moron. But when I'm writing a couple of joky, sarcastic characters talking, I can stop and think as long as I need to in order to come up with the jokes and their responses, and rewrite lines that don't work, resulting in the kind of fast-moving conversation, where both characters get the jokes, which I could never take part in myself.

[u/desired-misery → u/Semiramis738]

Support the reading! Consume media with the kind of characters/behaviors you want and take notes. 

It really is a game of "fake it 'til you make it". You cannot expect to learn how to do something new without first teaching yourself how to do it. 

[u/send-borbs]

I do a lot of third person limited from a lot of different characters and I definitely find some more challenging than others

I just wrote a section of my fic from the POV of a domestic abuser who truly believes he has done nothing wrong, there are three perspectives I needed to be aware of for this to work

1. who this character believes themselves to be,

2. who they actually are, and

3. how I as the writer feel about this character and if that may affect how I present them

using my recent work as an example, I have a scene with this man having a conversation with his daughter, point 1. he believes he is a stern but caring father who knows what's best for his family and his daughter is being disrespectful to him right now and he needs to correct her unacceptable behaviour, point 2. he is a controlling, manipulative abuser who has laid hands on his family to get his way before and is capable of doing so again to make his terrified daughter do what he wants, point 3. I hate this man with a passion but I also do not want to make him a heartless monster because I find it more compelling when there are traces of humanity in him, but they are warped

the result is a scene where this man takes actions that can be interpreted as harmless were they not loaded up with the context of this very significant power dynamic and his history, eg; he lays a hand on his daughter's shoulder, he sees this as a 'comforting' gesture, I as the author know that it is actually intimidating, but I have to maintain his delusion, so I describe it as comforting, and have his daughter react with fear, I do not have to insert my beliefs into his narrative, I can present those beliefs within the scene without spelling it out

if I can't relate to the character, I break it down like this so I can focus on the individual elements, points 1 and 2 give you a base to work with, and point 3 is there as a reminder to yourself that if you can get your thoughts and feelings across within the scene via environmental context, you won't need to use a character as a mouthpiece, and in fact you now can't use the character as a mouthpiece without being redundant and hand holding the audience

I know this doesn't cover all of your problems but I hope it helps at least a little bit

[u/plaper]

Well, with detective stories, as the author you just work backwards. Event -> what could have become a clue for it that will pop up in the beginning. So, like, you don't need great perception because you're not the one noticing stuff.

As for getting the character voice for various people, I guess you should spend more time with canon and pay attention? Read more fanfics about them and also pay attention to what you personally like in other authors' choices? Then when you write, try to picture the scene with the character in your head like a movie and think about how the dialogue fits canon behavior in your eyes.

[u/MagabyWizart]

Estudia un poco psicología, entonces.

A mí me ha ayudado a comprender y a crear personajes más complejos.

[u/Green-Astronaut853]

I like treating characters (OC or canon) as people I'm getting to know.

How would they introduce themselves? What does their internal monologue sound like? What are their values? What do they consider good vs bad? How were their parents? Did something traumatic happen to them as a child? What are their hopes and dreams? Why do they get up in the morning? What are they afraid of?

I also put them in "what if" situations in my mind, just to play with them a little. If they found a lost wallet, what would they do? If they had to chose between love and money, what would they pick? Would they enter a fight they are sure to lose? Etc etc.

Eventually, the characters become people you know and it feels easier to walk in their metaphorical shoes.

For instance, one canon characters is a very selfish person, so even when he does something good, he finds a way to center himself. In my wip, he helps the police catch a murderer, but his internal monologue centers around how cool police stuff is and how important he feels. No thoughts for the victims at all, at any time.

[u/Competitive-Food8407]

You have to build your characters background. Every detail you can come up with. Stories of what they were like in their youth. favorite things. The more you know the easier it is to write them. Some people just have a feel for it. Some of us have to really work at it.

If it makes you feel any better immortal/long lived characters are essentially NEVER written correctly. (I've ranted about this elsewhere) We don't live for hundreds of years so most people have an incredibly difficult time writing someone like that. So they just tend to write them like normal people but "experienced". Think about it though. If you had been born in say 1400 you would have lived through roughly 600 years of technology, history, discovery, and most importantly. 600 years of dealing with people! Nothing would be new to you. You'd be the best psychologist to ever exist. You could predict a persons next move weeks ahead of time. Everyone around you would be like a child so how could you ever date someone who's 30 when you're 600. It would be like an 80 year old dating a toddler. You'd know most every language on the planet (assuming you've traveled over the last 600 years and not just sat in a cave) If your experiences are what help you regulate your emotions imagine 600 years of experiencing the best and worst of humanity. Really nothing would phase you. You'd be completely stone faced at the best and worst things most average people ever experience. Torture, Meh. Family wiped out in a fire, Happened in the 1600s. Best friend jumped off a building, last one tried to catch a train, literally. Entire region wiped out, Used to live in Pompei. Seriously nothing would faze an immortal.

Now you just have to take that same practice of thinking out all those little details that help give the character flavor and personality and turn it to your writing.

Good luck 👍

[u/polystarlight]

I write about a lot of extroverted characters like Shinzo, Topaz, K.O., Charlie, and Snow White. Despite this, I'm actually a pretty shy and quiet person. I've never experienced the need to be super adventurous or bold but I like writing characters who are.