Friday Tidbits

Superman and the Saint

So a few weeks ago I talked about the need to spend time on your secondary characters, giving them real life and personality so that they become as relatable as your protagonists. Amusingly, in many of the comments writers said that they had the opposite struggle . . . they found their secondary characters more interesting to write about than their protagonists!

A fellow author this last week told me the same thing. She was talking about how she had made the alternate-hero (the one who doesn't get the girl) more interesting than the hero, and now she needs to go back through and give her hero some flaws.

And that started me thinking.

What makes for an interesting character--be it hero, heroine, villain, or sidekick? A character who needs to grow. A character who has real internal struggles and flaws they have to surmount as they struggle toward their goals.

Yet many writers feel that a Hero needs to be Superman and a Heroine needs to be a saint. Oh, sometimes they'll give them some little cursory flaws . . . your hero might be a little too devotedly passionate about the heroine, your heroine might be a little clumsy (shades of Edward and Bella, my friends?). But neither of these--unless taken to an extreme that effects the story on shattering levels--are really flaws enough to make for interesting characters.

An interesting character is one you as the writer can relate to. And you, my dear writer, are neither Superman nor a saint. Sorry! It's no wonder you find yourself more drawn to your villain or your less-saintly sidekicks.

So start giving those protagonists of yours some real, besetting flaws. Flaws that effect the story on a profound level. Flaws that you relate to, even if you wish you didn't. You'll find yourself much more drawn to your characters, much more eager to see them triumph!

Because suddenly their story has become your story.