Advice on Keeping in-Character

[yonkyu]

I feel like an ass and who knows if anyone will help me out.

I could use some advice on keeping in-character of Sam and Dean.

I would love to hear what your thoughts are on the subject. I would love a list or any form really of your in-character Sam and Dean as well as out-of-character Sam and Dean.

The story I'm writing needs to be IN CHARACTER and its completely, OUT of character at the moment. Any advice and suggestions on keep in-character would be appreciated.

Comments

[septembers-coda.livejournal.com]

Ah, characterization is the thing I love best about fanfic, because there's so much source to inform you! Sam and Dean are such mighty characters! But it can be a challenge, especially if you're writing a situation that is very different from something that would happen on Show.

Something that helps me keep the boys in character is thinking about the contrast between them. They're such opposites. So, when I write a line of dialogue, I imagine Dean delivering it on show. How would he say it? How would he look when he said it? If I can't quite picture it, I imagine Sam saying the same line. He would phrase it quite differently, wouldn't he? I contrast that with Dean's delivery, and it helps me tweak it into character.

Keep in mind what the character thinks of himself, too. Sam and Dean are both unreliable narrators, because they don't understand themselves, and at various times, don't understand each other either. You can look at the contrast between what Sam is thinking and what Dean THINKS Sam is thinking. Also, the contrast between how Dean sees the situation, and what the situation actually IS.

For example, Dean's never going to say, in so many words, that he loves his brother and cares more about what he thinks and feels than just about anything else in the world. He's not going to say he never should have thrown the Samulet away. But he'll let Sam see him hang it on the rearview mirror, and give him a look that, somehow, both warns Sam not to comment and says, "Yeah, I love you brother; you knew that, right?"

My two cents. :-)