not so dumb after all
My answer to a Redditor who asked, how do I write a character who’s uninformed, but not stupid?
Don't think of it as "how can I show this guy isn't stupid?" so much as "how can I show this guy is SMART?".
What would a smart character do when he discovers he's been making a mistake?
He'd never make that mistake again. In fact, he might even stop another character from making that same mistake. Or better still, stop another character from making a mistake which is similar but not exactly the same thing— an action that makes readers, too, go "ah!".
What does a smart character do when he learns a piece of information that, despite being old stuff to other characters, is new to him?
A smart character doesn't just add a bit of lore to his mind stash and leave it at that. He uses that information later in the story, in an insightful way, so as to surprise and delight readers.
When a smart character comes to some new realization about his circumstances, he doesn't simply make an observation about it. He generalizes this information and applies it to another situation. "Ah! It seems that in this world XYZ applies. Well then— doesn't that mean ABC?". And this thought answers some question that's been nagging at readers.
See what I mean? The uninformed, but smart, character isn't just not-stupid. He (or she, obviously, but yours is a he) is a vehicle by which the readers themselves feel as though they are uninformed but smart, and learning quickly how to negotiate your storyworld.
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Alicia wrote: "I read somewhere it's hard/impossible to write a character smarter than you are.I think it may be just as difficult to write one significantly less intelligent without degenerating into stereotyp..."
On the subject of writing stupid characters. I have to tell you, one of the things I found most fun to do was to write a character who's appeared in my last two books and is... dim. Really, REALLY dim. He's a villain so it's fine for me to say that.
How do I do it? Well, I have to confess that once, a long time ago when I was in college, a bunch of us crazy kids got hold of those [edit: it’s laughing gas] cartridges known as "whippits" and had a test run of low-oxygen mode and its attendant time dilations. Weird feelings for sure, the kind of thing the young don't know any better than to do, but no harm done. OR WAS THERE??
Because the next day, lo and behold, as I'm sitting with my posse doing our usual stuff, suddenly I'm like: something's different here. I... I... just can't... can't something... but what IS it?? !
There was a void in my brain. Like a big, fluffy, harmless cloud of a blind spot. When I tried to think.... ah, that's what I just couldn't. It just wouldn't.
My thoughts eventually did manage to creep around behind the blind spot, and I understood that it was there because of the night's revels, and that it *would* slowly go away. But not before I had this thought, which has remained with me forever after: "wow. This must be how stupid people feel ALL THE TIME."
I write that character from those memories. I've been to the mountainbottom and it's really dumb there.
I have the distinction of NEVER having tried drugs in college, because I was aiming for a PhD in physics at some point, and I knew it would be hard enough without messing with my brain. But I DO remember going to a party, and those who were smoking pot were all talking rubbish, but were acting as if they thought they and the others were the wittiest people on the planet.It confirmed I didn't want to try things like that - because it didn't bother them afterward that they had, and all they remembered was having fun. I remembered what they SAID. Lit., they sounded stupid is exactly how I would have described it.
Not very exciting, not me, but it did help, a lot, when I came down with ME 34 years ago, NOT to feel I'd done something to deserve it somehow (by coincidence, I caught whatever it was AT a meeting of the Am. Physical Soc. - where I was giving a paper).
I wish I still had that brain, but I'm glad I didn't do anything deliberately to damage it. It's been bad enough without thinking I'd contributed to that.
It still works part of the time, for much shorter periods, and that's what I write with.
BTW - your profile said UW - did you go to Madison? That's where I went to grad school.
Me too! Madison for grad school, Carnegie-Mellon undergrad. How extremely ironic (and lucky for my brain) that I got the party kicks out of the way before I reached Madtown. When were you there? Were you ever at the Mifflin St. Block Party?
1972-1977, went back to defend thesis in 1978. Went to UNAM (National Autonomous U. of Mexico) and finished undergrad at Seattle U.No parties - I'm not good with crowds - STEM type.
But I remember gyros on State St. And skating on the lakes. And sailing on Lake Mendota. I married my sailing instructor.
What did you go to grad school for?
You might enjoy the TV show:From wikipedia:
Battleground
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 13 (list of episodes)
Battleground is a mockumentary comedy-drama television series created by J. D. Walsh streamed on Hulu. The show follows a group of political campaign staffers working to elect a dark horse candidate to the U.S. Senate in the battleground state of Wisconsin.
Spouse and I liked it - was just like going back.
Alicia wrote: "1972-1977, went back to defend thesis in 1978. Went to UNAM (National Autonomous U. of Mexico) and finished undergrad at Seattle U.No parties - I'm not good with crowds - STEM type.
But I rememb..."
MFA, printmaking. Ah yes, the lake, it's so great. I didn't know how to sail then (and I think it would be pushing it a bit to say I know now...) but I did drink many a paper cup of dark stout sitting on the terrace at the Union. And State Street, always so vibrant with great restaurants from around the world!
thanks for the suggestion of Battleground. We just got through watching "Veep" and if it's anything similar, that's gonna hit the craving spot nicely.
Didn't watch Veep - I looked it up and will try it. Thanks. We need a comedy, and it has lots of seasons. We're picky - and I wasn't a Seinfeld fan - but wikipedia's entry made it sound possible. Comedy is a tough gig. It's so personal. But that's your bailiwick, isn't it?Easy to dismiss things, hard to learn to love them sometimes. But I will give it a try. We try.
Yep, laughter is my default setting. It comes in a lot of flavors! Veep is some really, really sharp writing... the first few episodes are always a little thin compared to how they become but by the time they're listing insults during a Congressional hearing... it's delicious. But as I understand it, it's based on a UK show, The Thick of It (which I haven't seen). Anyway, Julia Louis-Dreyfus really shows she's got what it takes to earn those Emmys. Great stuff
I think it may be just as difficult to write one significantly less intelligent without degenerating into stereotypes.
But that still leave a lot of room for the characters an author can create realistically.
Interesting topic - and if I think about it, I have definitely written a range of IQs and street smarts in characters, but nowhere near as wide a range as exist.