Creating an OC?

This is probably a lot different for me. I know in advance what the original character is supposed to look like. Which often leads to frustration when my hands can't replicate the image in front of my inner vision. Their personality exists outside of matter long before I take their physical form.

 

For me, BJD character creation isn't a fixed matter. Sometimes the doll comes first, then the character. Other times it's vice versa. Or the doll and character don't mesh well, so I need to change the character to fit the BJD.

The important part is having fun with yourself and your dolls.

 

For me, I have to have a character already before getting a doll. I've learned the hard (ad expensive!) way that getting a doll with the plan to customize it without having a character already just results in the doll sitting there untouched. It means i generally spend more time looking for sculpts to suit how I picture the character, and I have fewer dolls in general (exceptions are fullsets, which are their own characters that are either licensed or created by the company. I tend to leave those as they come really, since the set is what I liked about them, or I already liked the licensed character).
It might help you to think about what specific aspects of the sculpt drew you to her and try to think about why. What kind of personality did you see in her sculpt, i.e. if she's got a sweeter expression or faceup, how could that inform her styling, and the kind of person she might be based on those things? You might try something like that and find it doesn't work after all, which can also be an interesting point to develop a character around the difference in how they might be perceived and how they really are!

 

One of my dolls was an impulse purchase because I immediately knew what character to give her. I had the exact hair and outfit in mind, so all the pieces came together pretty quickly. For one of my other dolls, I loved the sculpt and bought it, but I’m struggling to give him a character because I want his story to perfectly fit him. I have two different characters of mine in mind, but one is too old for that sculpt and the other has a much different personality, so I’m a bit stuck for him right now… If anyone else has struggled with this type of problem, what finally solved it? I’m curious.

 

I had something similar happen with my first doll, except the other way around. I had an idea about her character, but when the doll arrived I realized she was a bit too mature for the story fragments I had in my head. So I placed the existing story in her past, kept the character and simply let her live in a slightly later stage of her life. It worked out well.
Could the doll you have represent the first character, but at an earlier point in his life?
If not, then perhaps letting the doll develop a character of it's own is the better choice and save your existing characters for future dolls.

 

{sigh!} I now have two impulse-bought heads (they are SMILEY sculpss - my Kryptonite) and I'll have no idea what their characters will be until they're face-uped, have bodes, and I can start trying eyes, wigs and clothing styles on them... even then it may take a while for their personalities ad character backgrounds to become known to me.

One of them I got with a vague idea of her being a sister to an existing doll (heads from same company, new one vaguely based on existi ng sculpt) but the existing doll is already integrated into a family in my collection, so that won't fly. The other was a complete and utter "I can't reist that smile" purchase.

And in addition to that I already have two dolls who haven't even told me their names yet, let alone their characters and backgr ounds. One of them hasn't even come down on the side of a particular gender, so is probably going to be gender-fluid (or possibly that will just remain unknown), the other one came w ith a faceup but it's not really to my taste, so name and charcter may come easier once he (I think) has been away to @Jay for a new faceup.

Such is often my lot when it comes to doll characters

Teddy

 

Sometimes it's hard for me to recall how I came up with some of my characters, as it's been years since they've been in my head.

So I'll use my newer OC, Hikaru (SD65 Diez). When I saw someone selling him, I was pretty drawn to him. But I had no character to attach to the doll. So, while at work, I started to think about who he could be and how he could fit within my stories. I have my more fantasy-like story, so I decided to place him there. I have my one boy, Tsubasa (Delf Breakaway), and I decided to make Hikaru his younger adoptive brother. Then it became backstory, and it kept going from there until I started to flesh out Hikaru's character more, as well as his hair and eyes.

But then it snowballed into three more characters being made to go along with the story. One, I swear, he popped up and just made himself before I even knew it. It's been fun creating more characters and stories. I felt like I had lost that spark for a while, too.

 

Vince's character DEFINITELY happened once I had him-- so many of the ideas I started with, I threw out, and he became himself through my interacting with him. Every time I tried a wig or outfit on him, took pictures of him with certain props or in new places, it felt like I was kind of figuring out and solidifying who he is.

Jack started as my D&D rogue-- and HE started as me taking one of the characters from my favorite dumb movie and asking 'what would he be in the world of Dungeons and Dragons?', only to evolve a life of his own once I actually started playing him.

Most of my dolls fall into one camp or the other-- a character I really wanted to shell, or a doll that I thought was so cute I came up with a character around them. In the cases where the doll comes first, they often wind up named after a character from something I like and then I take some time to develop who they really are.

 

I find making OCs for my dolls to be a delicate collaborative dance between myself and the doll. Suspend your disbelief with me for a moment!

Most of my doll characters develop once they've arrived in my house, as I put them together and play with them. I wait for things to feel "right," whether that's aesthetics or names or personality traits, and the speed at which a character develops from these things is inversely proportional to how invested I am in getting them to work. If I try to force a doll to fit a pre-existing character and it doesn't work, it impedes my ability to bond with the doll and usually results in the doll being sold. Aiyu took me a few years to parse out fully, and even now, I'm still learning about and developing her.

That said, if it's a doll I've been interested in rather intensely for a significant length of time, they often arrive home to certain character traits and features already established. Finer details can still change (and I commit to absolutely nothing without trial and error first), but the foundation of the character is often settled. Khadija asserted herself as a character when I started developing my broader narrative in earnest, so I selected a doll that I expected would settle nicely onto that foundation. Her actual doll form surprises me and adds new dimension to her, though!