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Normal character/story?
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I've tried to write about normal people, but it always seems so dull that I choose to look for their best qualities, them exemplify them. I've read a lot of books where the normal person is faced with a great obstacle and discover that they're really extraordinary people, but... I mean that turns into a cliche...
After EvergreenEvergreen WomanEvergreen GirlThere is a trilogy due to be promoted free on Kindle about an unwanted child who through circumstance rather than special qualities rises to the top. The books are in the Evergreen series and are free from the 13-17th January.
Emma wrote: "Just wondering - has there ever been a *normal* character? Just someone average, to whom nothing interesting happens? I mean, all the most famous characters - those in the Hunger Games, Harry Pot..."My debut novel, Cally's Secret, is about normal people, and the trials and tribulations of relationships and life in general. http://www.amazon.com/Callys-Secret-S... Look Inside, you can read the first few chapters for free!
I definitely agree with The Fault in Our Stars. Augustus Waters is one of the most magnificent characters that I've ever read about, and he's a completely normal person. Maybe more insightful, but still normal.
That's true, Jess. He's an awesome guy, but when you really look at him... Normal. Except, you know, the prosthetic leg. :)
♪ Tara ♪ wrote: "That's true, Jess. He's an awesome guy, but when you really look at him... Normal. Except, you know, the prosthetic leg. :)"Yes haha the leg makes him a bit different. But you know what I mean--he's absolutely awesome, but he's just...regular. He didn't leave a huge impact on the world (but he did on Hazel).
Yeah. :) But that's okay. :) We still love him.
Yes! I actually had to write a paper on him in English once.:)
Everyone in my school read that book and I really don't intend on doing so.
Emma wrote: "Everyone in my school read that book and I really don't intend on doing so."I felt the same way about Animal Farm, and of Mice and Men...and I must be one of the few people that have never seen the Sound of Music, and nor do I intend too...EVER!
I waited until the very end to read it. Everyone pressured me to go ahead and do it, so I did. The writing and story were good, so I rated it 5 stars, but honestly, it wasn't that realistic. At least, I don't think.
There really aren't any stories with 'normal' main characters. Think about it: the characters that author's write about are the people that have extraordinary things happen to them. They aren't going to write about the girl with the normal life. They choose special, interesting characters because those characters have stories to tell.
True. I wonder about people who act normal but aren't. (As in deep dark secret or something of the like.) Are there a good deal of books like that?
Emma wrote: "Everyone in my school read that book and I really don't intend on doing so."Aw, you don't? Why not?!
(Whatever your opinion is is totally fine by the way, I'm just curious!!)
It doesn't sound that interesting to me, truthfully. I'm more classic-y.
Emma wrote: "It doesn't sound that interesting to me, truthfully. I'm more classic-y."Understandable. You know what they say--to each his own!
IndeedAs Prince Orlofsky said, chacun à son goût!
I guess normal would be how you look at it. There's a lot of books about average people with nothing special about them as far as having powers or odd abilities or anything that end up in crazy situations, though all the ones I could think of are children's books. Any of the books for older audiences that I could come up with are nonfiction, and even then crazy or amazing things seem to happen to them. So normal characters and normal situations don't seem to work together very well. Something has to be out of the ordinary or there just isn't any story to tell.
Jennifer wrote: "I guess normal would be how you look at it. There's a lot of books about average people with nothing special about them as far as having powers or odd abilities or anything that end up in crazy sit..."Fact is so much crazier than fiction, you only have to look at the current headlines here in France...our president has been bonking an actress behind his live in partners back so the newspapers tell us and now she is in hospital with depression! Have you seen a photo of the French President!
I think it depends on the genre. You will see a lot of normal people in murder/mystery and horror, but less in paranormal or science fiction. Again, it depends on what you call normal. Sherlock Holmes was normal unless you count his wits as 'special'.
G.G. wrote: "I think it depends on the genre. You will see a lot of normal people in murder/mystery and horror, but less in paranormal or science fiction. Again, it depends on what you call normal. Sherlock H..."
The sci-fi I agree with, but paranormal events happen to real people every day of the year somewhere in the world. People like you and I, I know because I seem to be a target for the phenomena called ghosts,or unearthly spirits. I see dead people, I sense their presence, hear the thumping and banging the film people use on films like the Haunting of Hill House and Paranormal activity. And believe me when I say this I really wish they would pick on someone else at times.
I did say LESS, I didn't say you couldn't find any. What I meant was if you read a book in the paranormal genre, you are prone to find a witch, a vampire, or someone who can see and communicate with ghosts. That makes them 'special'. So if you are seeing them, sorry but you don't fit the 'normal' people category, you are special, and I mean that in a good way, even if sometimes you think your gift more as a curse.
G.G. wrote: "I did say LESS, I didn't say you couldn't find any. What I meant was if you read a book in the paranormal genre, you are prone to find a witch, a vampire, or someone who can see and communicate wit..."I am in the process of publishing a paranormal romance GG. I thought if I couldn't stop the invasion I may as well put my experience to good use. There are no vampires, (author makes the sign of the cross using two fingers here) Vampires are so old hat. No witches either, not even a kindly white one.
There are good ghosts, and bad ghosts in my story-the victims of a murder and one of the murderers who was murdered herself in revenge for the murder she committed. There are characters who both see and hear the ghosts and there are others that only hear them, and there are characters who are totally freaked out by the ghostly appearances, which is a totally normal response. Like you say, I'm not normal, mostly I'm okay with being a conduit but even I have limits. I have never lived in a house which didn't have at least one resident ghost.
I watched a ghost float through my bedroom wall and across my kitchen and then disappear through the outer wall and float over the fields. It was Christmas Day, in the early hours of the morning and the ghost was a monk, complete with habit. I finished my orange juice and then got back into bed, snuggled up to my husband and told him we had a ghost and then went back to sleep.
I know most people would have freaked out, but it didn't bother me at all. According to my late father my Great Aunt could communicate with the dead, so I guess its a family thing.
@Sarah Well see! That's how you turn lemon into lemonade! Personally, I'm not freaked out by ghosts. My son and I have seen one in his bedroom, and after we realized what it was, we both went to bed like nothing happened. :P (And he was but a five year old back then)
My dog at the time, a Newfoundland, wouldn't cross in front of that door to go into the other room. I had to drag him and this lasted for a few months, and then he calmed down. Let me tell you that a 150 pound dog leaves marks on a wooden floor when dragged. ;)
G.G. wrote: "@Sarah Well see! That's how you turn lemon into lemonade! Personally, I'm not freaked out by ghosts. My son and I have seen one in his bedroom, and after we realized what it was, we both went to b..."
Lol! I imagine it does. My dog's only little and is scared of his own shadow, the sweeping brush, the mop and the Hoover!
The only time I have been freaked out is when I was dragged down the bed by my ghostly visitor, that was scary. The stuff you see in Paranormal activity, which, incidently, I didn't find scary at all. The dog growling and barking as I put the DVD into my computer left me wondering if I should just put it back into the box and watch The Omen instead!
Nice to meet a fellow believer, GG, most people look at me as if I just grew two heads when I talk about my ghostly visitors!
Emma wrote: "Just wondering - has there ever been a *normal* character? Just someone average, to whom nothing interesting happens? I mean, all the most famous characters - those in the Hunger Games, Harry Pot..."yes but not in genre fiction so much but in literary fiction. I like stuck characters, not ones who go on journeys of self-discovery or redemption. I don't write 'heroes' as I don't believe they tell us much about our own lives.
Marc wrote: "Emma wrote: "Just wondering - has there ever been a *normal* character? Just someone average, to whom nothing interesting happens? I mean, all the most famous characters - those in the Hunger Gam..."Yes, I'm afraid in real life they're in very short supply-heroes that is. No one wants to rescue a damsel in distress these days as my daughter and her friend found out when she got a flat tyre and no one stopped to offer a helping hand. Two pretty girls, well dressed, blonde...what is the world coming to when a girl has to change her own tyre!
Sarah wrote: "Marc wrote: "Emma wrote: "Just wondering - has there ever been a *normal* character? Just someone average, to whom nothing interesting happens? I mean, all the most famous characters - those in t...":-)
I think there are lots of books about "normal" people (if we could really define what would be "normal" in the first place). But there's a lot to be said for a story about a normal person who finds himself/herself in an unusual spot; there has to be conflict and/or some reason to act and change in the story.My day job is as a social worker specializing in family therapy, and one of the things I try to keep in mind when working with families is that the key isn't what's wrong with them but what they've been through. It's a good rule of thumb I use with my fiction as well. What's happened to my normal character to create a story in the first place? Often, the answer leads to the realization that normal people (i.e., people we think are like us) make the best heroes because we can see ourselves being the hero, too.
C.W. wrote: "I think there are lots of books about "normal" people (if we could really define what would be "normal" in the first place). But there's a lot to be said for a story about a normal person who find...""Normal people make the best heroes." I like that. A lot. :D
the concept of hero was originally a literary one (that is not one from real life) - in the form of the classical greek dramas. The word is derived from greek meaning a 'demi-god', that is someone (usually a great warrior) who tries to rise above the mundane or normal world of the ordinary citizen. With greek tragedy, such hubris was taken as a character flaw and these great men could not aspire to being gods and were brought down, usually in death. So the original concept of hero is as far removed from normal or mundane as possible.Nowadays a hero is an almost meaningless concept. It is conveyed on someone by the media, often for political reasons. Soldiers from faraway wars in the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan who return home in a body bag can be dubbed 'hero'. My kids refer to some 20 year old as a 'legend' (modern parlance for 'hero') which shows how the concept has become wholly bankrupt.
Jessica wrote: "C.W. wrote: "I think there are lots of books about "normal" people (if we could really define what would be "normal" in the first place). But there's a lot to be said for a story about a normal pe..."Very true.
Take a young person and put them in some situation where they have power - look what they become! (I intend that it comes out the good way where they're not power hungry tyrants, but rather nice and helpful leaders)
Marc wrote: "the concept of hero was originally a literary one (that is not one from real life) - in the form of the classical greek dramas. The word is derived from greek meaning a 'demi-god', that is someone ..."I agree with everything except for the soldiers returned home in a body bag part..maybe that's just me, because a family member of mine who's very close to me and I consider my brother is away serving and he's my idol and I'm counting the days until he comes home...I don't know, I just feel like all of the men coming home, (god forbid) dead or alive, are heroes. They took the risk to go fight for our country while we all sat here enjoying our lives and not caring about who protects our freedom. I don't know, that's just me :)
Jessica wrote: "Marc wrote: "the concept of hero was originally a literary one (that is not one from real life) - in the form of the classical greek dramas. The word is derived from greek meaning a 'demi-god', tha..."I understand that, but there is also the counter-pull as to what exactly they have been sent far away to fight for other than political decisions which may or may not be the right or just ones. That of course is not the fault of the soldiers.
Marc wrote: "Jessica wrote: "Marc wrote: "the concept of hero was originally a literary one (that is not one from real life) - in the form of the classical greek dramas. The word is derived from greek meaning a..."Yeah, I get that :)
Struggling Writers
Books mentioned in this topic
After Evergreen (other topics)Evergreen Woman (other topics)
Evergreen Girl (other topics)
So are there any "normal" characters or stories? Where the character is nothing special? Just some average person?