Why make up stories for your dolls?, it's just a doll, right?

What Lulu said ^^

In my case it also has to do with me both liking toys A LOT and I like to design and make clothes. With BJD's I can not only "touch" my character I can create clothes for them. Clothes that is not just an idea on paper. (and that didn't explain at all why I give my dolls stories, lol! I think I'm sleeping).

 

Perhaps it's that they *might* not be creative in a storytelling direction (or a doll-based storytelling direction)...? Whether they are creative in other directions (or not) could be regarded as another issue altogether.

I can sew, I make historical (and other costumes), I've written factual pieces and fiction, I've done illo work and sold my own artwork (none of these activities on a professional level I hasten to add), but I show very little ability in the direction of doll-based storytelling, so in that context at least I could be described as not being creative.

Teddy

 

What hobbywhelmed said. Also, for the record, I can make up stories all day long, and did that for a few years in high school when me and my friends wrote fanfics and other fics to amuse ourselves, but as an adult, I found myself enjoying it way less and don't even like fiction that much other than my childhood story books, which are like old friends. I'm perfectly capable of making up stories all day long, but I don't really enjoy spending my time that way, so I don't do it. Does this make me more or less creative in the manner of writing? If I prefer to write nonfiction essays or funny short pieces rather than doll tales now, am I more or less creative than someone who writes doll stories?

More importantly: Who cares? Life is for personal growth and for fun...it's not a contest.

 

It's nice of you to say so, but I'm not claiming that I'm not creative, just saying that in the context of doll-related storytelling, I could be described that way.

My view is that creativity takes different forms and goes in different directions for different people. For some it's very focused in particular directions and doesn't "work" (for want of a better term) in others. I have a friend, for example, who can make any garment you show her a picture of, but couldn't design a garement from scratch if her life depended on it. She's very creative, but it doesn't work, for her, in the area of designing clothes/outfits - but goes into overdrive in the area of how to take those clothes from design to actual garments.

Teddy

 

My dolls start having a story from the moment I see the face and wonder, "who are you?" I'm a writer and I do this with people, places and things all the time. You don't have to do it. But, to me, it's an exercise in writing and makes my doll and other people's a little more special to each of us.

 

Making up stories is one of the things people do, it's one of the tools our mind uses to make sense of the world around us. It's a way of organizing information that makes sense, cuts the amorphous and infinite world around us into finite, manageable chunks and assembles it in an apprehensible order.

Everyone does it to a certain extent, I think, but a lot of people create and follow a conventional concept of 'narrative' that includes things like characters, plots, and storyline.

I think it is erroneous to believe this type of narrative is any more -or less- 'creative' than another; imho, it is just more readily recognized and understood. In fact, as I get older and more 'jaded', I guess, a lot of the 'original characters and story' I see seem to be in infinite reruns of the same old, same old. Of course, it is theorized there are only a handful of core 'stories' that are simply rearranged and re-approached in any narrative, just like there are only really seven hues in the rainbow, I guess.

Even people who never give their dolls characters and names or attempt to conjure relationships or dramas among the dolly-ranks, there is still some kind of 'story' going on, even if the story is how there isn't one!

 

Well! I love to write! And have just recently enrolled into a writing school. I think it's a similar hobby to a lot of people on this site. Most of them probably made up the story with their OCs and decided to make them "real". For me, I didn't have a story for my girl. But once I got her, the story just popped into mah head. And I am now writing it, and hoping to get the other 5 characters for the story.. When I can. Lol.
I think it's fun to write stories for my dolls. Not only 'cause I love to write. I also think it's a good way for others to get to know my dolls, and relate to them. Rather then just having a back story. They all have a story relating to each other. And showing how it all started. It's all just for the fun.

But there is no problem if you don't write stories for their dolls. Some people just don't like to write. Or others see no point in it. And that's okay. ^ u^

 

There's a million and one different ways to be creative with BJDs and that's the main thing I love about them. And I really enjoy seeing all creative aspects of the hobby in the community...costuming, faceup, stories, photography, even hearing about how people come up with names (those are often great stories in and of themselves!) I initially got into BJDs as a doll collector (I was in it for the beauty alone.) But my collection has blossomed over the years into a far more interactive form of collecting.
I have recently downsized my collection to focus more on the ones who have well-defined characters and storylines. Those dolls' needs for creative adventures and all that goes with it (clothing, photography, room display and writing) were basically taking over around here anyway...and I soon realized that I was much happier intensively playing with a few rather than just looking at many. I'm so much happier now focusing my dolly creativity along their complex storylines.

 

I'm sure I'm pretty much the same as quite a lot of doll owners here; as in, the story came first, then the dolls came later

My dolls are all physical manifestations of characters I created on paper, that's all there is to it and the biggest reason why I create stories for my dolls.

 

I love writing and making up stories but it seemed like my dolls jsut all had their own stories already form. I just think its another form for peopel to express themselves.

Just another reason why i like bjds.

 

I've always had characters floating around in my head and it's fun to be able to give them a physical body, pick out clothes for them, ect when they're in BJD form. I'd just sorta felt a natural impulse to integrate my characters into BJDs. xD

 

Funnily enough, I actually decided that my first doll, Gwaewen, WASN'T going to have a backstory, as I felt that if I had one doll of one of my established characters, I'd want more, and given that my last character count topped 80, that would get pretty damned expensive rather quickly!
However, I broke down with Ezekiel; both he and Carisma are existing characters in one of my stories (although, interestingly, only minor characters). In my case, the characters pre-date the dolls, and I rather like being about to see and handle my characters "in the resin", as it were.

 

At first I just intended to buy the doll as a character doll from an anime I liked. After I distanced myself from anime [long story], I was distraught about what I was going to do with her! So, having some roleplaying characters already, I just sat down, looked at her face closely, and created a character that was specifically her. After that, it's been smooth sailing.
The other two aren't characters in roleplays or stories, though, they've just got names and sort of vague backstories. I don't want to...restrict them, too much, if that makes any sense. Ettie, for example, can only wear certain eye colors and certain wig colors because she's got a set appearance defined in her characterization. However, Cotton and Avery can just put on whatever they please, so it's a good mix for me.

I love seeing dolls that don't have characters, though, because people do so many wonderful, creative things with them!

 

My darling resin bunch are..more then just "dolls" to me. They are like companions. With such a human look, it's hard not to think of them as silent little people who have personalities and quirks that shine though in my interactions with them. So I suppose "stories" for them just seemed natural to me, as a writer. ^_^

Unlike a lot of people here though, I usually don't buy a doll to represent a character but rather find a character to represent the doll.

 

I'm with OP--they're just dolls to me. xD

 

Honestly, I make up stories before I get the dolls. I draw them and the drawings have those stories. When I look at sites to just see some dream dolls or whatever, sometimes the stories just match their faces and looks, even though they look nothing like my drawings. When they fit, I immediatly fall for them.

Also, I make up stories and characters cause I have an over active imagination, and I have ntohing better to do than make up characters and so on. xD I feel I have to make them seem like real life people and real characters cause then they're easier to love to me, and they're easier to play with and give attitudes and so on. They all need their own personallities. if I couldn't give them personallities, then I wouldn't buy them and play with them and care for them like I do. I feel I hurt them if I drop them ( ) and hurt them when I don't pay attention to them. I just can't have something so human and real looking and not give it a personallity, story and character.

In a sense, I guess I can't not have a doll without having them BE someone. It's just part of who I buy and why and when. xD

 

I find I usually make the character and background once they arrive to me as i've found the when I premake a storyline it tends to almost totally change when I see them. I find myself doing the character and story as it seems to help me sort of define a style and connection with them. I guess it helps me bond better with them lol

 

I've always been imaginative, even as a very young child, making up stories for my toys to act out and when introduced to writing by my first grade teacher, it was just another way to express the imagination I was blessed with. Though it took a few years for the writing bit to sink in. ^^

I was writing well before I even knew BJDs existed, so for me, creating stories about my dolls once I got them was just a natural step. Of course, some stories are easier than others to write, and some characters hate revealing too much of themselves, or just jerk me around with a thousand and one different storylines before finally settling down on just one.

 

Like many of the other posters my characters existed before my dolls. I have been making up stories for as long as I can remember. Some of my earliest memories are of the long dramas I used to create to help my little brother fall asleep at night. They would continue in installments for months on end, one night at a time. I'm still at it, though I'm an adult now so my stories are more involved, and I can actually write them down. When I saw these dolls for the first time one of my first thoughts was that this would be a way for me to further interact with some of my favorite characters. I understand that for some people these are "just dolls" or just something to collect. But I'm not much for collecting really. The appeal of the dolls for me really is that they are another outlet for my characters. Otherwise, as pretty as they are, I would be unable to justify their expense, or the space they take up in my home.