(This is actually a re-post from two days ago. Some of you saw it before it magically disappeared for some reason. There was only one comment, and I will copy it from my email and repost - sorry about that AliceELoste)
My hubby's friend is a runner and on his blog he does something every once in a while called 'Things runners say that I just don't understand.' I love it and decided to do my own version here. I chose this first one after being at the library yesterday and sitting in on one of their writing classes. Basically, it ended up being 45 minutes of aspiring authors going on and on about why their main characters were so awesome, and why they wish they were real people, etc, etc. It was about as bad as listening to a bunch of people fight over whose grandma makes the best apple pie--everyone thinks their grandmas is best, and nothing anyone can say will change that, so why bother trying?
So, my first installment of 'Things writers say that I just don't understand' is...
Writer: "I absolutely love my main character!"
My reply: Well... I should hope so. Not only is this a person completely of your own imagination thus can be anything you want them to be, but he/she is also the person you have chosen to tell the story you are working so hard to write. Show me a writer who doesn't like their main character, and I'll show you a writer who is writing a story they shouldn't be writing.
Reposted Comment from AliceELoste:
ReplyDeleteLove this idea, might have to take it!
I agree about the MC thing. Also it seems like some people try way too hard to make their MC's special and they end up being too quirky and just unrelateable and annoying. MCs should be interesting, but they also have to be real.
PS: My grandma's apple pie really IS the best! LOL!
This is sort of funny because I didn't like the main character of my first book, and it ended up falling through. It's not that I didn't like her, but I didn't feel any sort of connection to her, and I realized that if I didn't they my readers wouldn't either. I scrapped that project and am currently querying for my second that have a great main character. Lesson learned the hard way, but I'm glad I learned it!
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with Alice, I think that a lot of characters are overdeveloped these days. I know writers think they are making the characters more interesting and real, but for me it often makes the LESS real.
I absolutely agree, there is a lot of over development going on these days. If the character's quirks are relevant to the story then fine, but some of the time it's quirky for quirky's sake, and that's irritating. Yes, you have to make character's seem like real people, but there is a line. After all, we are all a little boring every now and again. :)
ReplyDelete