Creating an OC?

Creating a character is as creative as you want it to be! The important part is having fun! I have some original characters that I draw and write about all the time, I have some that I just have a vibe for and a sense of their style for the doll and nothing else!
When I’m creating character maps, I sometimes like to create characters that are coworkers, family, or friends. Sometimes I just have the doll first and I figure out the rest later.
I think going with the flow and having fun is entirely where to start. Let your imagination run wild and throw ideas at the wall. I will say not all ideas stick, and that’s okay! Even published authors retcon things all the time.

Remember creativity is a muscle, the more you work it, the easier it’ll be to use! If you have any specific questions about my creative process I’m happy to tell you my experience!

 

It doesn't have to all be doen at once.

Nearly all of mine are OCs some of them came oretty much fully formed but most of them came slowly as "I got to know" the doll. Some of them di dn't even let me know their name for months, some ot=f them didn't fill out theur backgrou nd u ntil they started interacting with other dolls in the "family" The more clothes I get together for them, the more their signature styles and colour pr eferences emerge, and more backgroun d about them gets filled in

For example, most of my SD sized dolls are the children and teens of a large Victorian family of siblins, half-siblings and cousins. Nesta was the "fashionista" of the family, aleays mor einterested in fashion and pretty dresses than the rest, but she didn't come into her own as the snarky older-syswter type character until Hannah, the tomboy joined the family and gave Nesta someone to direct her distain at. At this point another of the dolls, Cressida also came into her own and rather than just being "Nesta's Best Friend" she slid quietly into the role of the peacemaker between Nesta and Hannah.

Another example - Meri, the skinniest of the SD kids, didn't have much character background until I realized that her head and body (she's a hybrid) had discoloured in different ways. I got rid of the yellowing and greening but it left her head a much paler colour than her body and the only way I could get them to match was to dye both of them a tan shade, and send the head off for a new face-up. So, Meri became the sickly child who had to go away to a sanatorium in the mountains for a rest-cure with plenty of fresh air and sunlight, which is why she came back so tanned compared to the rest of the family.

Teddy

 

I think dolls have a personality of their own from many factors, even when they're blank they're not a blank canvas, so it's better to have an archetype and let it dvelop rather than force things. I've got two dolls who need styling, they're twins and I want some contrast in their personality (one girly, one tomboyish). I've made sketches and plans but I'm aware that things may not go as intended so I keep my ideas a bit loose.
I wanted to style another doll a bit like a vampire, I was thinking black gothic dresses and that kind of stuff, and I had taken ideas for her personality from an existing character of mine who's an actual vampire, but when she came home I immedately saw that she wouldn't work at all for that and she developed into something else entirely. I think getting a doll's own character to come out is really fun.

 

I'm much like Teddy on this.
I don't do any formal process, no character sheets, no mind maps, no mood boards. I just "get to know" the doll as I go along.

I sit with it and just jet it "tell" me who it is. Sitting with an object that looks so much like a human, it's almost impossible not to start thinking about who they are.
Often I have a general idea, like a main personality trait or two, or a relation to another character, even before I buy the doll. Once I have the doll I let it evolve from there.
If I'm stuck I go into cinderella mode and just try everything I've got to see what sticks. If possible I meet up with other doll owners and talk them into allowing me to try through their stash of wigs and eyes as well. Nothing beats seeing in real life how different a doll can look with different wigs and eyes.
Once I have a vague idea of who they are, that's all I need. It's a place to start and it always snowballs from there. Sometimes it goes slow, sometimes it comes all at once, but it always comes eventually. I don't force it, I just allow it the time it takes to develop.

With all that said, it doesn't always go the way I planned.
Many years ago I ordered an JID Boris with the idea of making him an easygoing, outdoorsy, surfer dude -kind of guy. It wasn't a bad plan, it was vague enough that I had plenty of wiggle room...
And then the boy arrived. I took a photo to share and the moment I got it up on the screen, I realized he was nothing of what I had planned. He is vain as a peacock, listens mostly to black metal, dreams of owning a motorcycle but will never be able to afford the license. And an entire backstory turned up within days.

And sometimes it's another doll that triggers the development.
I have a maskcat joy that I bought mostly because I wanted an on topic doll the same size as some of my off topic ones. She is super pretty and I love her a lot, but she never got much of a personality of her own. She just existed as a mannequin and model. She did get a name, but nothing else for the longest time.
Fast forward to a few months ago when I got two more dolls her size and as they are slowly developing, my Joy is being pulled into their back story and is now firmly a part of their world. I will still use her as a mannequin when needed, but now her own character is developing as well.

If I had to give one advice it would be: Don't over think it.

 

For BJDs specifically (because I develop characters in other media - RP, writing, art - in different ways)... I create the OC from the doll, the doll sculpt is the start and end of my inspiration. It begins when I fall in love with the doll photos, I also start thinking of how the doll is going to fit into my story world. (I have an existing story setting for my doll collection, it's their own story world/lore and it doesn't overlap with my other characters/worlds in RP and writing.) I do a little bit of character planning before the doll comes home - I usually daydream, write and draw my vision of the character, sometimes make a moodboard. I plan enough beforehand to buy wig and some clothes for their arrival, so when the doll arrives I can dress them up and start to see the OC.

The bulk of my OC development happens when the doll is home and dressed up. My favourite part of the hobby is posing my dolls and taking photos, because this is the main way I "discover" the character and continue to flesh out the OC, not to mention the relationships this doll character has with the other doll characters. I have a similar view to @\lutke: I think the doll sculpt has its own personality already: it's in their face, their body physique, and (most importantly) the way their body poses, the strengths and limits of the joint engineering. So character development is like a collaboration between me and the doll as I dress them, pose them and take pics, and every time I play with the doll I discover a little more about the OC. I love this sort of emergent, generative creativity.

If you find it difficult to create an OC from scratch, I think a "collaborative" approach can help when your doll arrives! Try different clothes and colour schemes on the doll to see what clicks with them, pose their bodies to find out what personality their "body language" suggests, put them in different backdrops/settings to see what mood fits them. When you have more dolls, you can pose them together to see if they get along or not, even if they're related.

I also agree with what others have said: have fun with it, go at your own pace! There's no need to create an OC for your doll, but if you want to explore this process, definitely come in with a sense of discovery, curiosity and fun. Try different ways of character dev, go as deep (or not) as you want to. I'm sure you'll find something that jives with you and your dolls ^^

 

The others have already given you some good advice.

Personally, we can say I go by chance when creating my characters. I wait to see what the doll inspires me to do, and at the same time I try to do a project/character on it that's close to my heart. I have no shortage of projects, I must say. I assemble the custo and the doll character piece by piece, like puzzle pieces coming together.
Sometimes the result is very far from the initial idea, haha. Which doesn't bother me as long as I like it.
Also, I'm more interested in the visual rendering of the doll than in the depth of its character. I've always been terrible at writing stories, so that explains it.
In the end, there are plenty of ways to go about creating an original character. You just need to let you the time to discover your own way to do it.

 

I began this hobby initially with the thought of having only a single doll, one that could be anything and everything, with a vast wardrobe of many styles. And like most people, that lasted about 5 minutes. Before I knew it, that one doll had developed a strong definitive personality and was demanding companions to interact with, all with their own fashion styles and personalities. What happened to me was I’d somehow reverted to thinking of bjds much in the same way I’d thought of dolls as a child, with an imagination that seemed endless. I’d be daydreaming for a few innocent moments at some point during my busy day and there they’d be…roaming through my thoughts, telling me their story and demanding a physical form in resin. Any attempts to just tell these stories through art or writing turned out to be far too limiting for them…they wanted instead to live exclusively within the fluidity of my imagination, with resin forms and full wardrobes, free to interact with whatever other characters they came in touch with. After nearly 20 years of collecting wonderful resin bjd forms for these OCs, I still love each and every bjd I have. What an amazing journey it’s been!

 

I don't really create OCs - but I do see my dolls develop characteristics, looks or "preferences" over time. I think playing/interacting with your doll(s) is also a totally valid way of creating a character or telling stories, especially when things like writing or making DnD character sheets feel too intimidating. The most fun way is always the best way in a hobby imo.

 

Not much experience here, I only have 2 dolls and 1 floating head.

First I fell in love with Iplehouse Eric but wanted him on a Granado 70Adagio body. Hellbent on that. The character story in my head was that of a ballet dancer turned photo model (because that’s what I would be using the doll for) and travelling along with the photographer (i.e. me, and travelling is what my husband and I currently do a lot). Couldn’t get Eric separately, had to buy a whole doll from Iplehouse. Went the customise my doll path, chose HID woman body + Scarlet head (Eric didn’t go with that body and HID W at 65 cm is not too small next to 70cm). Scarlet, Eric, close enough for me. Both have that smile I fell for. So now it’s a hybrid Granado+Iplehouse. I would say this guy turned out pretty much how I visualised him: happy go lucky, loyal, appreciation of art, baroque era prince somewhat confused about this modern world. Actually based him on a dear friend. I don’t even know his name yet, he needs his own name, not friend’ s name.

Used the extra body for the guy’s lady friend. First thought was she could be somewhat like the singer Barbra Streisand, especially in that song Hello, Dolly. Why not, him - dancer, her - singer. Looked at different heads, Dollclans Vezeto looked good, strong features, no nonsense, at the same time both tender and potentially cruel. Male sculpt, but again who cares. Started the face up, didn’t follow too close with Barbra’ s colour scheme, got everything a shade darker, just a tad bit. And suddenly a different face emerged. Even if she dresses modern casual (because that’s the easiest to sew fast) she is the soul of an ancient Latvian goddess Mary of the Snakes (Čūsku Māra) who is the link between this world and the other one. Didn’t expect her but recognised and I’m happy she came to me.

And the last one, the head is a Pygmalion Ha, white, a total opposite to Vezeto, maybe more in vibe with Scarlet. I like him very much, have some ideas, will see how he turns out. I don’t even know what body I want for him.

And as a dot on an “i” I want a dragon. But not one of those slender flying snake types, an old and wise, with a bit of beer belly, padded feet, slender fingers. Haven’t seen anything even remotely like that. Now thinking the same soul could live in a body of a cat. So maybe I get a cat for them, black, posable.

 

Everyone's been giving good advice.

"I can 100% see this person doing...". What is his or her story? And, now that I'm bringing that up, they don't all need a story. Some just move you and you develop feelings for a piece of art.

I don't have a story for my favorite. I guess that makes him flexible. I think I might have a name for him now; it only took a year to find one.
I have another one that is a movie star.
I have a girl that was originally supposed to be a drab dressed traveler, but after seeing her with a warm pair of eyes and some cute pants, she's now more like a fashionista.
I have a girl that feels like a failure at this point. She doesn't feel like her promo photos, or the character I created while I was waiting for her. She wants to be something really dark, but I don't know what to give to her.

And, some characters come together faster than others. You can ask something as random as "Does this character mind their posture, when seated?" and that will trigger things. Some questions are about what they think vs what they do.

Spoiler: Talking about a sculpt I don't even own yet

With one character (that I have not bought yet), I wondered if he's very willing to please a certain person or people. But, he also feels a bit supernatural. So, his eyes might be a funny color. It eventually developed into that he IS studious and very talented. He's lonely and tries to drink in life while with others. (edit because it might be more helpful if this was more direct.) He has spent his life locked up, trying to learn things. So, then you think about "sense of humor", how he laughs (DOES he laugh?), and how strong his social skills are when relating to others. And, you come up with some poses to reflect that. Is he to himself? Does he hang off of other people? Does he watch others intensely or is he pre-occupied with his own plans?

I wished I owned him, so I could pose him, now.

 

I usually start with whatever styling idea or inspiration I had when I first saw them and decided I had to buy them, that would just be a whim I guess.
I also like to use my doll's birthdays sometimes figure out a personality for the doll. I consider my doll's birthdays the day that I received them using their zodiac signs just to give me some ideas
and I'm also one who tries to incorporate experiences with my dolls into their backstories. Like my doll whose posing was totally unstable, I decided she has a chronic illness, and when I helped her with sueding and wiring, I imagined it's like her medical treatments (I hope this doesn'st offend anyone I have chronic pain so imagining her this way made me feel closer with her) There's also my doll who arrived very floppy and liked to flip her wig off, of course I fixed this for her too, but I now picture her as being dramatic And another, whose faceup didn't look quite as I expected from the artist, I wanted to look haughty but instead she looked pouty, so I decided she uses her cute pouts to get away with being a total brat
Sometimes, if it's not something I totally made up I will look to their name for ideas too. You never know, exactly where an idea will blossom.
None of these really means anything besides how I decide to imagine and style them but it's fun anyway. Also, you can always change it if it's not working for one reason or another, it's not as if you'll hurt their feelings

 

I have 13 BJDs and this is the breakdown:

6 of them have no character. May have had a character attempted at some point but nothing stuck. None of them are likely to get a character at this point and don't match well with any other doll. They are merely dolls and honestly I don't play with them much.

3 dolls had characters before they existed as dolls. 2 were created when I was in 7th grade and hadn't discovered dolls yet. The two original boys were very vague originally, but in the last few years ended up much better developed and growing supporting characters around them. I would do anything for one of these boys! Even buy him a second doll shell... The last of the three was created as a supporting character with his particular sculpt in mind and I was lucky enough to obtain his doll form last year. I didn't think that would happen for at least a few more years.

4 had characters created for the doll. I took a concept for each of them and expanded on it. Cheby's is "how many unattractive traits can I give a very attractive man?" I decided Rio was an angel when I ordered him as a teen, so I'm still going off that idea. Hina was never meant to have a character but after posing her with another doll, my mind came up with a scenario in which this could happen. I was honestly considering putting her on a big baby body but that will never happen now. Grassy has a vaguely defined character. He's a child though and I have little interest in thinking up children, so not much effort will be put into him.

The funnest part of dolls to me is having characters, posing them together, and thinking up scenarios and relationships. I really think the key is to have multiple that fit together well. The doll clothes I make are being produced to fit the character. If that isn't there, the doll doesn't get much made for it.

This influences my buying now too. Since I don't enjoy writing children, ALL mini and tiny sized dolls are out. I don't want them no matter how cute they are. I will just ignore them. I highly value them looking at least decent together so future sculpts can no longer have a huge scale or stylization difference either. I have a developed character for another doll I'd like to buy someday and 2 more vague characters, but this has stopped me from wanting every doll.

 

That makes sense.

I literally have no more space for dolls and despite rehoming seix of the list of nine I made who I didn't do anyt hing with, I'm still acquiring dolls (although, I am managing to restrict myself to only buying on rare occasions).

The same thing happened to me, My planned super-slick fashionista/secret-agent turned out to be a laid-back hippy, I knew it from the moment i opened the box. It's one of the things that put me off trying to decide on a character before having the doll in hand.

Teddy

 

Congrats on your doll! I hope you enjoy her very much ^w^
BJDs are specialists in turning around any idea you had for their character. This has happened me multiple times already even though I only buy dolls with a character in mind that's mostly defined. At least twice I have had a character planned and then the doll comes home and you try that wig, eyes and outfit you had bought for them and... puff, it doesn't look right in any way and you need to scrap your whole plan and come up with something new. In the end, I think it's better to be flexible and not to obsess about characters too much, even if you have a lot of experience creating them for other media.
Nowadays, if I find a doll I'm interested in and considering to buy, I prefer to only plan a little in advance (name and general aesthetics...) and then spend my time discovering the rest when the doll finally arrives home by interacting with it (posing, photographing, etc).

 

One of my OCs was initially born from simply putting together things I liked (a specific pair of eyes, a wig colour, a particular head, etc.) She emerged from that and is now, funnily enough, a d&d character but she started purely as a collection of BJD things I saw, liked, and wanted an excuse to buy! She’s also what brought me back into the hobby after a 13 year absence. I saw a couple of photos I had taken of her way back and decided I really wanted to recreate that look. The original version never got fleshed out as a character, that’s only come about with the second version.
But anyways, that would be my advice: buy the stuff you like but don’t have any pre-existing doll to get it for. You might just find yourself ending up with a beloved OC.

 

Characters come to me slowly as I customize hair and clothing. I can feel which fabrics she likes or doesn’t like and get a sense for her style and personality.

 

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 sculpts - 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!

 

I made OCs out of the dolls themselves, actually. The faces, body language from the full set photos, and the eyes all registered in my head as a character who was waiting for a story and a name.

 

My first BJD, Laika, started out incredibly different from how she is now, because I got her when I wasn't really able to afford getting her a whole wardrobe or even a body immediately. I had a vision of her being a sort of "skater girl" type with pink hair but when I actually got her she seemed more sweet and mischievous for that. Eventually I figured she would be an android because I didn't want to get a faceup for her because I like her sculpt as-is. I had this ongoing story/"excuse" for my dolls for a while that basically had the OCs as doll-like vessels or homunculus-type creatures, and additional dolls I got became part of the story of my "household" so to speak. I never really had anything super conclusive other than my two minis being siblings at first. I felt a little bad that they weren't "written" in a more serious way, I was just going off vibes of the dolls themselves, and while that is a perfectly reasonable way to go about it, I wanted to get better at writing actual stories and was admittedly kind of jealous of people that had more coherent characters and backstories for their dolls.

Then a couple things happened: I got Laika her yellow wig so she could cosplay as Bill Cipher, but then really loved how it looked on her in general. I also started posing her and Halogen together and realized that the story I wanted to tell with them was about "space lesbians" rather than the initial concept of sister and brother, and this was around the time I realized I saw Halogen as a female character (possibly trans, haven't decided for certain since I worry I wouldn't write that well). With that, I came up with a setting for them to exist in... and then the OC story stopped being directly based on their doll forms, getting out of control and elaborate basically while I compiled an OC playlist for their story and listened to it a lot, choreographed AMVs in my head, etc. etc.... (this will get on topic don't worry!) and even Laika-the-doll seemed different from Laika-the-OC and I wasn't sure if I wanted to completely separate the concepts (or even just have doll!Laika cosplay as cOREverse!Laika but also be her own character in person).

But then the story I was writing in my head for the characters became one I wanted to portray with the dolls more, so I started being interested in that pair as BJDs again (I had been focusing on other dolls in the meantime) and now I want to bring Laika and Halogen to their full potential as OC dolls, meaning a possible faceup for Halogen and more outfits since I kinda neglected her look for a while. I'm theming Laika more scifi based off of synthwave and other themes and might paint some white circuitboard tattoos on her if I ever get the gumption to try something of that nature. Before I was keeping Halogen even though I didn't do much with her because she belonged to the story and I wanted her around as a reference, but now I want to do more with her doll form again as I develop the story and Halogen-the-OC. So they complement each other at the very least.

So basically, I ended up basing OCs off my dolls and then basing the dolls off the OCs as I developed them, it doesn't have to be one way or the other. If you want to write your characters in a different direction than what you do with your dolls, that can happen individually or both "versions" can influence the other. It can be confusing but fun too! And if you take a break from a doll because they don't inspire you, or if you end up just liking their look without a character, that's perfectly fine- though there is no way they are guaranteed to stay that way, because...

Well, dolls that haven't had much development can have inspiration based on completely different things! I was content to have my KDF Maska be a comfort doll without much of a character until I won a Muhan's Doll Puppy head and realized that when I make that into their own character, Leo (the Maska) can be their classmate! So I'm getting inspired about the older doll and am developing their character when I never thought it would go much further than their kinda emo-ish appearance from early on. New dolls can definitely influence older ones!

And of course, if you never make OCs but just want to enjoy the dolls as pretty things to dress up, I get that too. I see a lot of people expressing feeling like they "have" to have an OC for their doll or else they are somehow doing things wrong in the hobby, and I definitely felt that way at first as mentioned. In my case I decided I like having characters for dolls, but other people might find it too much of a hassle and that's reasonable too.

Regarding acquiring new dolls, I'm trying to limit myself to the projects I have already, if I see new dolls and get inspired it's usually because they look like they would work well as a fandom character I would love to shell (I have. quite a few planned blorbo dolls and am excited lol) but also I see nice aesthetics, and if I were still looking to shop for non fandom based dolls, I would probably let them inspire me based on their design rather than the other way around. Puppy was one of those, I actually didn't plan to get them (my thoughts were on the line of, if I was willing to buy a doll on a whim I absolutely would, but I had plenty of dolls I needed to work on to justify it), but then I was lucky enough to win them in a raffle I wasn't expecting to have any shot at, and so they are here and I am so happy with them! Unfortunately Puppy and Leo must be on a backburner as I work on more current projects, but they are there and waiting so...

...for what it's worth, if you feel you can justify waiting around with an unstyled doll, time is also a thing that can lead to inspiration. I know the feeling of worrying about keeping something expensive that doesn't inspire, and it's perfectly reasonable to sell a doll that doesn't "click" as a character, but if you really like the sculpt/design or styling etc., it might be worth just giving them some time to win you over! Or a different wig/eyes, as others have suggested. Or just holding them in your arms and posing them and getting a sense of their personality "quirks" that way. And if you have an impression of their personality already, you might end up interpreting things like them shifting around, kicking their legs etc. based on that preconceived idea, and that can help you develop that as well, it's kind of recursive like that.

(sorry for the long post/ramble-)

 

I do write and come up with fandom OCs, but so far that's been a totally separate process from giving my dolls characters.

With my dolls, the sculpt comes first. There are many lovely, cool, fascinating sculpts out there, and I am happy to sit and admire the lot, but a smaller subsection engage that "Oooh, who are you?" feeling. I'm not particularly picky about aesthetic matches among my crew - Ara and Suha are siblings, and the former takes a 7-8 wig and 14mm eyes while the latter would probably fit a 5-6 wig and uses 10mm eyes. They just need to find a spot in my brain to make themselves at home. For my MSDs, they fit together into a sci-fantasy sort of universe. The SDs (and DearSDs) so far are one-offs, but they're a much smaller population. I generally like to have an idea of who they would be, even if the details are vague. Could be something like, "Oh, you're the foster sister living with Suha and Ara's family to learn about being a Space Princess," or "Ohh, you're an Escaped Lab Experiment (tm) and need TLC and space to learn what it means to be a person."

Second is styling. Does the character the sculpt is giving me provide opportunities to try something new, or further enjoy some favorites? New hair styles, eyes that maybe I wouldn't give my other characters, a fashion sense I either don't have already but want to explore or one I really like. Ara got some extra freedom thanks to being the first, so he's pretty out there with purple hair and sparkly silver eyes. Most of the others are more down to earth! Except Violet, one of the DearSDs, who is specifically for fun colorful things, and Thalassus who has a fantasy skin tone.

The rest sorts itself out as I play with the doll and get to know them. Different companies' posing influences the details - my Black Cherry Dolls gals both have a refined, if somewhat shy air. Ara is a bit slouchy and casual. Megu, who is probably the loosest character of them all, with just a vague sense of personality and age, no backstory or anything, is polite but a bit... skeptical, reserved, if that makes sense.

Overall, it's all a discovery process!