baconnarwhal3:

probablyacerpgideas:

agwitow:

midnight-mod:

Giving a character strange, highly specific quirks is one of the best ways to humanize them and make them feel more real. So I figured I’d share some real, actual Character Quirks™ from real life people that could serve as inspiration or as writing prompts for people’s characters. Let me know if you use one!

• Always has a kazoo on them, and if ever a situation calls for it, will simply produce a kazoo. Often unclear where they were keeping it.
• Can mimic any accent perfectly after hearing a small sample of it once. The one exception? The accent of the region they’re from.
• Has strange and very long chunks of text memorized perfectly, from 40 digits of pi to several Shakespeare monologues to poems to favorite passages from books. Often forgets their own name or the words for everyday objects.
• Has never once lost a game of Jenga, ever.
• When stressed, participates in conversations largely through strange and loud vocalizations instead of words. Somehow, everyone still knows what they mean.
• Their idea of treating themselves is buying lapel flowers, silk pocket squares, and ties.
• Once biked 30 miles to the Mississippi River just so they could sit on the bank and play the harmonica. Could only play for about 3 minutes before having to immediately turn around and bike the 30 mile return trip to get home before dark.
• When they get nervous they just drop and start doing push ups. Doesn’t matter where they are.
• Ordered 13 boxes of garlic triscuits off of Amazon.
• Whenever they hear the song “Dancing Queen” they start stripping. It started as a joke but it has become involuntary and has lead to some uncomfortable situations.
• Every time they tell a bad joke, they stand up and take a lap around the room yelling “AND THE CROWD GOES WILD”
• Primary mode of transportation is a razor scooter that is much, much too small for them.
• Has an “off button” on their back. A spot where, if pressed, all of their muscles give out and they collapse to the ground. Their identical twin has it, too.
• If no emoji exists to capture their feelings about something, they will draw a new emoji on the nearest scrap of paper and text a picture of that.
• Has developed an intricate burp rating scale with specific and standardized rules and uses it to rate every burp they hear on a scale of 1-10.

Feel free to reblog and add some Real Life Character Quirks you’ve come across in your life!

(omg! I Have an “off button” too! Mine is on my neck and marked by a freckle!)

• Has social anxiety, so they just sit quietly and smile enigmatically. Everyone thinks they’re super smart and mysterious–which only ups the social anxiety
• Is super lazy, but also super fidgety. Has to always be doing something with their hands (and if there isn’t anything, they tend to chew nails/lip)
• A habitual exaggerator; never outright lies, and isn’t actually ~dramatic~, but…embellishes things (much to the annoyance of everyone who knows the actual story because this version isn’t quite right, but it’s also much more entertaining than the unvarnished truth)
• Collects flamboyant Hawaiian shirts and wants to someday have one that’s so neon it glows
• Hates pigs with a burning, fiery passion…will add bacon to anything and everything “so there’s one less pig in the world”
• Has “magical hair”–every time you see them, it’s a different colour. Yes, even when you saw them earlier that day (it’s because there are so many layers of colour that different ambient light makes certain layers more prominent)
• Perpetually, unnaturally happy. At all times. Even when mad
• Doesn’t keep a physical ledger, but has a ledger of everything they’ve ever done for friends, and everything friends have ever done for them. Strives to have everyone’s “account” at 0
• If you make it on the “friend” list, they’ll bend over backwards for you. For everyone else…well, they wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire
• Happy go lucky, flamboyant, and gregarious, but also incredibly, at the drop of a hat, violent (like a rabid badger)
• Has watched so many medical dramas they can diagnose most things quicker (and more accurately) than actual doctors (at least, medi-clinic ones). Referred to as “the TV doctor” by the group

Choose a trait and make a character based off of it

I’ll throw in a few:

• Constantly says MOVE as a way of asking people to shift their position and then doesn’t believe they say it.

• Overuses the word crap constantly in ways that it’s not meant to be used.

• Everytime they’re out in nature will grab a random stick, bring it home, and leave it on someone else’s stuff.

• Resolves to do incredibly stupid things to prove a point (such as wearing neon pink Nike heals to an aunt’s wedding)

• Despises peanuts in anything sweet.

• Sleepes with 5 pillows under their head.