it's been 12 years, i think it's time to give this an update

[omaewokorosu]

In 2013 I wrote this Tumblr post on how I more or less write Heero as a character. I was asked about this post recently, tracked it down in my Tumblr archive, and it...still kind of holds up?

I feel like it could be better though.

So, Karu, how do you write Heero and write him so well? Is there a secret behind it?
Heero is...not an easy character to write or write about, and I have written both fanfiction and meta of this character for the better part of 12 years now. He is wild and incredibly intense and plain old messy.

When I was asked this 12 years ago, I wrote, "[I flail] at the keyboard and [watch] words appear." Which isn't true, because it's more like word vomit. If I had to explain my writing process for Gundam Wing in terms of percentages, it would be something like:

25% initial writing
10% editing (grammar, spelling, syntax, etc)
65% figuring Heero out

When I mentioned to one of my friends that my wife and I have a similar process to writing Heero, my wife (who overheard) told me via Discord:
oh god writing Heero is a pain in the ass. internal monologue in mine he's a rambling mess with trains [of thought] going everywhere. Then when he speaks out loud we have to pick like 3 fucking words he responds to the question with.

That is to say, Heero is a major pain in the ass to write. Heero as a character doesn't really talk all that much in series, especially for a main protagonist role. He is very taciturn, preferring to sit or stand (leaning against something optional) and listen to those around him do all of the talking, and if you're lucky, he might have a couple of things to say. Most of Heero's communication is non-verbal, where his facial expressions and body language (posture, stance, what his hands are doing, are his arms crossed, etc) do 90 percent of the talking. Heero, in terms of how I personally see him as a character, doesn’t say anything unless he has something to say, whether that's a point to make, something to add to the conversation, or something else that serves a purpose. Heero is that guy who, when asked a question, has a non-stop inner monologue going about it where he has a discussion with himself, mulls over all of the different options or possibilities, the pros and the cons – whatever it might be – and in the end he might only have a one word response to give as his answer.

So writing Heero's dialogue? A pain in the ass. My wife and I are constantly reading and re-reading and re-re-reading (etc) dialogue for him before rewriting half of it. A lot of rewording. A lot of deleting. A lot of swapping out words. A lot of deleting words. Heero doesn't mince words, he gets to the point of what he wants to say the moment the first word drops from his mouth. Not only that, he speaks plainly – Heero doesn't speak to try and impress anyone. They either like the things he says or hates them; they either like how he says things or they hate it.

That's Heero as a character, really. You either love him or you hate him. There is no in-between.

His body language can confusing and you really have to know Heero as a character to get it down. Heero does a lot of standing. He does a lot of leaning against things. He never stands with his feet together. His body language practically screams, "I don't care and why should I?" He's always got his arms folded or crossed like he's preparing to push someone away with his forearms if they get too close – he closes himself off on purpose and acts the way he does so he comes off as unapproachable. Would you want to talk to someone who looks like they don't give a fuck if a colony gets dropped on Australia? No, he's probably an asshole. Don't interact with him, don't approach him. 

You have to peel back the layers of the proverbial onion. There is so much more to Heero than what you see upon first meeting him. I should know! I've written two psychoanalyses on him and I'm always discovering new things :)

I can’t tell you how to write Heero in a definitive "this is the be all, end all" way. This is how I write him. I can't tell you how you should or shouldn't write him. How you see him and how I see him are two different viewpoints, though we all have common ground/understanding of what makes Heero's actions in fanfiction "in character" or "out of character". My wife and I write Heero similarly, but there are just as many differences between them as there are similarities.

My secret is called "hyperfixation" ^_^