My Method for Keeping In-Character

[Disgustedorite]

Disclaimer, I have not roleplayed seriously since...I want to say 2017 or so? Though I have attempted to write stuff on and off, and writing is basically just roleplay except you play all the characters. Something I had a lot of trouble with early on was staying in-character, and I developed my own method for dealing with it over time. I've decided to share it.

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For a less experienced roleplayer or writer, keeping character can be a struggle. Unless your character is a self-insert, in which case it's not really a problem, it may be challenging to come up with how they would actually respond to a given situation, as your own reaction comes more naturally. Meanwhile, it can also sometimes be difficult to play a villain without defaulting to a strawman of ideals you dislike even if they don't make sense for the setting or their villain backstory. Sometimes, self vs strawman can creep its way into an argument between two characters and create an out-of-character mess.

What I do is let the natural reaction play out in my head, or even write it down. Getting it all out of your system can help clear the natural reaction from your mind and give yourself time to think. Then I ask myself questions, such as "Okay, but what would this character actually do?" or, if necessary, something more specific like "But this character isn't a hothead, would they react with the same level of anger that I would?" and start over. It's kinda slow, but it shouldn't be a problem on a forum-based roleplay where there's less need for rapid-fire response.

Now, this method depends on both knowing your character's personality and having enough self-awareness to recognize your natural reaction. I won't go deep into the construction of a realistic character (I believe there are already guides for that), but I will say that I don't recommend starting from nothing and roleplaying it out; having some idea of where you want to go with the character first will help prevent you from just making a hoard of self-inserts and strawmen, especially if you aren't very experienced.

If my method of keeping character seems puzzling, I suggest reading up on various self-reflection techniques and theory of mind, which are incredibly useful skills for separating yourself and your character. In the case of writing a villain, remembering that the worst monsters in history were people who lived and laughed and loved like you do is also vital to keeping your villains interesting and in-character, as is understanding where exactly their "evil" ideals and behavior come from (a villain who does what they do because of what their parents/upbringing taught them and a villain who does that they do because of a traumatic event in their childhood will behave very differently, even if they have the same end goal!).

I hope someone finds this helpful, feel free to comment or add your own thoughts (as long as they are relevant).