Writing Smart Characters
One question I see floating around for authors is 'How do you write characters who are smarter than you?', and since one of my characters is a doctor of physics and very much smarter than I will ever be, I thought I would throw in a few of my own answers.
The easiest one is: take your time. You have months, maybe years in which to write a novel, you don't have to think the way your character does in 'real time', as it were. Just like the rest of the story, what takes a reader seconds or minutes to read can take... a lot longer... to think up and write down.
Do your research. You don't have to know everything they know, just enough to fill in the story. In the Ashes books, Victoria understands general and special relativity, a good chunk of quantum mechanics, atomic structure, and has the periodic table memorized (just to start). I... don't. But I don't need to! I need to know enough to draw on and so that she can throw out examples here and there. It's also important to know enough to not egregiously break the rules. In Victoria's case, that's physics. She can't do anything, she still has to conform to natural laws. She can bend them, though. But she can't do that if I don't know what they are.
Write to your strengths and interests. This is something that applies to writing historical fiction in general, as well. Choose a strength/area of education for your character that you're already interested in. This will make research more enjoyable, and give you a sturdier base from which to start from. You'll learn things you want know, and that enthusiasm will infect your characters, as well. Victoria gets really excited about really esoteric stuff, but that's part of the charm of her character, and it feels authentic. Her enthusiasm is enhanced by my enthusiasm, because I think that stuff is neat, too.
The last method I'll go into is: work backwards. Start at the end, then figure out what the character needs to know to get there. Don't stick her in a box with no air holes and then figure out how to get her out. (Unless that works for you! Some people need the pressure to solve problems, and that's fine, too. This is just one way.) Remember, you have the solutions to the problems they face, because you're the one who made up the problem!
These are just of the few ways that I've used along the way, there are many more. I hope you find them useful, because the world needs more smart characters!
The easiest one is: take your time. You have months, maybe years in which to write a novel, you don't have to think the way your character does in 'real time', as it were. Just like the rest of the story, what takes a reader seconds or minutes to read can take... a lot longer... to think up and write down.
Do your research. You don't have to know everything they know, just enough to fill in the story. In the Ashes books, Victoria understands general and special relativity, a good chunk of quantum mechanics, atomic structure, and has the periodic table memorized (just to start). I... don't. But I don't need to! I need to know enough to draw on and so that she can throw out examples here and there. It's also important to know enough to not egregiously break the rules. In Victoria's case, that's physics. She can't do anything, she still has to conform to natural laws. She can bend them, though. But she can't do that if I don't know what they are.
Write to your strengths and interests. This is something that applies to writing historical fiction in general, as well. Choose a strength/area of education for your character that you're already interested in. This will make research more enjoyable, and give you a sturdier base from which to start from. You'll learn things you want know, and that enthusiasm will infect your characters, as well. Victoria gets really excited about really esoteric stuff, but that's part of the charm of her character, and it feels authentic. Her enthusiasm is enhanced by my enthusiasm, because I think that stuff is neat, too.
The last method I'll go into is: work backwards. Start at the end, then figure out what the character needs to know to get there. Don't stick her in a box with no air holes and then figure out how to get her out. (Unless that works for you! Some people need the pressure to solve problems, and that's fine, too. This is just one way.) Remember, you have the solutions to the problems they face, because you're the one who made up the problem!
These are just of the few ways that I've used along the way, there are many more. I hope you find them useful, because the world needs more smart characters!
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