I don’t always make the right decisions. It’s probably closer to fifty-fifty. I know that if I had a chance to change my past, (without unraveling time or anything) I’d take it. I’m trying to give my characters some things that they’d want to go back and change. Evil, aren't I?
I never want to make the wrong choice, so it’s hard for me to make my characters choose poorly. Real life however, is full of nothing but bad decisions. Just because a writer has time to think about a decision doesn't mean the character does. It’s easy to make the right choice when you can see what is coming, but decisions made in the moment aren't always the right ones.
The hard part about creating a realistic character is they have to make bad choices sometimes, because people don’t always act wisely. We don’t always listen to reason and act logically. There is no such thing as a perfect person. We all make mistakes, so to have a character never error makes them less real, and flat. So, no matter how smart, clever, and talented my characters are, I still want them to mess up occasionally.
I’m far from perfect, so I tend to want my characters to be all that I’m not, but it’s fun to create a rash character for a change. Their recklessness can create all kinds of story enriching problems and a flawed character always has room to grow.
What is the worst thing you've done to one of your characters?
Yes, definitely. It's good have your characters make bad choices, as long as you're careful not to have them come off as an idiot. Like when the girl in the horror film hears a noise in the basement and goes to investigate alone, even though there's a serial killer on the loose.
ReplyDeleteAnother good tactic is to put your characters in a situations where neither choice is good. Then they're forced to make a bad decision.
Good point, if a character is too stupid then I find myself yelling at them. "I saw that coming, why didn't you?"
ReplyDeleteTrue, sometimes there are no good choices. It's how a character acts in a lose-lose situation that's important.
I love an imperfect character. I love writing about people who have made bad decisions but who aren't bad people because of those decisions. They're still worthy of love and redemption.
ReplyDeleteThat said, it's a fine line. As a writer, I find I can live with worse decisions on my character's part than readers (critique partners, etc) sometimes can live with. I think that's because I know my characters and know they're not bad to the core. But readers only know what you show them. So I try to show many redeeming qualities if I'm going to have a character do a naughty thing:-)
Nice post, Molly!
Thanks Jessi. :)
ReplyDeleteI like imperfect characters too, the feel more real to me. It is harder to make them likable if they make too many mistakes or sometimes aren't that nice of a person, but I think giving them a sense of humor or showing them secretly doing nice things can make up for it.
Yes, especially there is one character I wrote who did some very stupid things because he was grief stricken and didn't know how to handle his grief. I really felt sorry for the guy, especially after I reread what I wrote. But it all worked out in the end because he made a good decision to seek out someone who could help him. Its just that things didn't work out exactly like he thought they would which is what the story turned on.
ReplyDeleteI think a story is better when it is unpredictable. If I can see what is coming I won't want to read it as badly. Then there are writers like George RR Martin, every time a character makes a plan I know things are going to go horribly wrong and nothing is going to happen the way they figured.
ReplyDeletehaha good to hear that your characters aren't perfect either. We all react differently to grief, certainly a good reason not to be thinking clearly.