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message 51:
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★ Jess
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Jun 25, 2010 06:02PM
blood smells fowl!
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i see (learnt a new word yay ^^)
As a reader, I like strong male characters who actually act like men. Give them to me dark and cunning, with oceans of depth and unpredictable natures. Male or female, what makes a character memorable for me are their distinct personalities and odd habits. We all have them, and I expect they should, too.
Bringing them to life. Good question! 95% of the males I've ever created were much like what I prefer to read above. I always try to get inside their head, male or female, and breathe believable life into their bones.
Glad to be a part of the thread, btw!
I haven't seen or read Twilight, so I can't add anything there. :D
Danielle
Alkyoni wrote: "Jess wrote: "Alkyoni wrote: "And he says I smell good.Friend of mine believes the best moment in Twilight saga was when Bella was trying to unite two mangnets and couldn't.
She is SO shallow. Als..."
Haha, not really sensitive to smells in general, just the iron in the blood. Gross. I would make a really good vegetarian vampire... ;)
I actually think being depressed when Edward left makes perfect sense (not only did she lose her boyfriend, but ALL the Cullens, who were her best friends. She went from most trusted human to a memory in about a week. ouch.) The thing that irratates me more is in Eclipse with Bella wanting to sleep with Edward. See, I get why it was written that way (the whole series IS about temptation, after all) I'm just a little worried for her priorities if Victoria's hunting her and that's all she can think about.
Oh, and I didn't think you hated Twilight. That was just a "general frustration" type comment.
Do all of you get tired of reading first person? I dunno, both tense of the story and perspective (as long as both are well done) never bothered me.
I think a lot of authors get teenage girls wrong entirely. Like, I don't appreciate emotional basket-cases who whine all the time, honestly. :/ Not that some aren't like that, but if that's your main character it just gets annoying. (No, I'm not saying all authors do this, but I've seen it happen quite a few times)I think a main character has to be stronger than that, someone who feels very deep emotions but doesn't wallow in them. Perhaps someone who doesn't know herself that well, because we all have to admit we really don't know ourselves very well. xD
When I'm reading a book, I ought to feel like the main character really is the most important person in the story, and that there's a reason that the author chose this character to be the focal point, ya know?
Yeah, I was talking to a friend of mine yesterday who's also writing a story. We got to talking about this. It's such a blessing to have a friend who loves this kind of stuff. :)
Hope wrote: "When I'm reading a book, I ought to feel like the main character really is the most important person in the story, and that there's a reason that the author chose this character to be the focal point, ya know?"I agree. When I write, I think "What trait does this character have that helps them be the hero?" They have to have something that no one else does, so what they do becomes extraordinary.
Exactly! It's not so much that they themselves are extraordinary, I usually like it when they're just ordinary, but what they do (whether willingly or unwillingly) makes them special, and will make an amazing story. :)
@ Jess
I love 1st person (though, like you said, as long as it is well written I enjoy 3rd person as well). But the hero/heroine must have something that captivates my attention and makes me want to know him/her (the character, that is) more. Bella was kinda whiny at moments and she wasn't the character who captivated me. On the other hand, I love Percy Jackson as a 1st person character because he's smart, witty and much more like a teenager. I find my self screaming at the book "Me too!" or "I tottaly agree", etc, when he says something. (Though I don't have n Olympian God as a parent and my life isn't threatened almost every living minute). I suppose that what is required for a good 1st person book is that the MC who narrates has a fresh "mind" (does it make sense??) and when to say what...
I love 1st person (though, like you said, as long as it is well written I enjoy 3rd person as well). But the hero/heroine must have something that captivates my attention and makes me want to know him/her (the character, that is) more. Bella was kinda whiny at moments and she wasn't the character who captivated me. On the other hand, I love Percy Jackson as a 1st person character because he's smart, witty and much more like a teenager. I find my self screaming at the book "Me too!" or "I tottaly agree", etc, when he says something. (Though I don't have n Olympian God as a parent and my life isn't threatened almost every living minute). I suppose that what is required for a good 1st person book is that the MC who narrates has a fresh "mind" (does it make sense??) and when to say what...
Yeah, like the voice has to stand out like that person's actually talking to you, not just talking to anyone. That's why Percy and Bella were written for different audiences. (That's not to say I don't love both, I totally do). In general I prefer Percy's voice. You feel like you know the character better when you hear all the snarky comments they don't dare say out loud.@ Hope
I agree, although they can be extraordinary, but what's heroic isn't the bullet-impervious skin, it's the willingness of the superhero to sacrifice himself. In the end, the thing that saves the day is them, not the powers. I'm (hopefully) writing a story like this right now. Hopefully what comes across is that even with her powers, what makes Cass (my MC) a hero is her loyalty to her friends and her tenacity. Magic is a skill, not the answer to every problem.
Alkyoni wrote: "@ JessI love 1st person (though, like you said, as long as it is well written I enjoy 3rd person as well). But the hero/heroine must have something that captivates my attention and makes me want ..."
What makes Percy special to me is that he
1) acts/reminds me more of how teenagers ACTUALLY are
and
2) does NOT act/remind me of how teens are PORTRAYED to be
You know, Hollywood/television/other books would have you think that all teen boys are into drinking, sex, and bad language. As a girl with two teen brothers, I know that's not true. But it's the stereotype that's leading it, you know? Percy acts way more like the normal teen boys that I know. They're funny, but they also are capable of deep, genuine emotions.
And you know, Rick Riordan is a parent and a former teacher. I definitely think that's why his characters are more "with it" than ones by other authors who 1) have no children and 2) don't interact with teens on a regular basis
Amelia, you summed that up very well. (Even though i havent read it!) I hate it when teenage boys are portrayed like that. sex. drinking. sex. bad language. alcohol. sex.
My best friend is a boy, and thats definitely not true.
And Riordan being a parent and teacher would hugely help I imagine.
I guess thats why I liked The Knife of Never Letting Go so much. The MC, Todd, is just so likable. He refuses to think of women as 'objects' and 'sex', he restrains from swearing, and he has got really deep emotions.
Patrick Ness created Todd very, very well.
I started a list on my profile awhile ago (then deleted it--don't know why) of My Kind of Boys in Fiction :DOnes I'd fall in love with, ones I'd wanna hang out with, ones that are not stereotypes:
From what I can remember, they are:
1. Percy Jackson
2. Thomas Ward from the Wardstone Chronicles
3. Tamwyn from the Great Tree of Avalon series
4. Taran from the Chronicles of Prydain series
5. Dodge from the Looking Glass Wars
6. Geric and Razo from the Books of Bayern
7. Peer from the Troll Trilogy
8. Sonny from Wondrous Strange
9. Edward Cullen (you all laugh, but he was a good boy!)
10. Touchstone from Sabriel
11. Faramir, Pippin, Legolas, Merry...okay, pretty much everyone from LOTR
:D
And I guess Todd from Chaos Walking should go on the list too! And I haven't read the series yet, but my roommate says Peeta would belong there, too :D
Yeah, Edward was a good guy. Minus the sparkling. And the Robert Pattinson aspect. I havent read any of those other books. Not even Percy Jackson (though i have The Lightning Thief on my bookshelf right now)
But ive seen the movies of LOTR XD I like Aragorn :)
And you should definitely read CHAOS WALKING and HUNGER GAMES. Both are ah-maz-ing!
Though, in my opinion, CHAOS WALKING is better. Just.
Haha, I love your list!!!!!! Hmmmmm, I LOVE Dane, from Academy 7, Richard from The Corinthian, and for sure Otani from Love*Com (Lovely*Complex), Volume 2. haha, wow those are all way different!Oh, and Edward and Jacob for sooo long topped my list.
Okay, im gonna whip up a list from the top of my head. MY LIST-IN ORDER
-Todd Hewitt, The Knife of Never Letting Go
-Peeta Mallark, The Hunger Games
-Jack Salmon, The Lovely Bones
-Jacob Black, Breaking Dawn
-Dustfinger, Inkheart
Yes-that is Jack Salmon, screw the 30 year age difference.
Oh! and also Milo, Quincy, Logan, Maksim and Patton go on my list.Who are they? Well, they're my awesome AWESOME boys from my WIPs :D And they all go on the list too :D
oooh, from your works? Then I guess I could add Rubarb and Sylvester to that list :)
:DIt felt good typing my characters' names in "public" like that! It felt like it made them more real :D
That's as much sharing as I've ever done before!
I forgot to say, i like those names :) Especially Patton :) and Maksim!
Thanks! Patton's the name of my MC in my dystopian. He's named after George Patton :P
Maksim is my "fairy prince" name :D
I like Rubarb! It's a name you don't hear much :D
Maksim the Fairy Prince. Nice. I *love* the ring to that :)
Thank you :) I have no idea how i came up with Rubarb. Hes nicknamed Barb, which i dont like too much.
Amelia (Imagination in Focus) wrote: "A friend in my writing group came up with this exercise, and I just spent like 3 hours doing it for most of my characters. It looks like this:
BASIC INFORMATION
Full name:
Age:
Physical descript..."
Of course! I have a similar character sketch I got out of a book, but adapted it a little, if you want it. It's pretty long, but helped me soooo much.
Booklover23 wrote: "Maksim the Fairy Prince. Nice. I *love* the ring to that :)
Thank you :) I have no idea how i came up with Rubarb. Hes nicknamed Barb, which i dont like too much."
A friend in my writing group came up with this exercise, and I just spent like 3 hours doing it for most of my characters.
It looks like this:
BASIC INFORMATION
Full name:
Age:
Physical description:
Family:
Title/occupation:
DEEPER
Characteristics: more of an emotions evaluation
Personality info: (special quirks, habits, fun/unique facts)
Flaws/Weaknesses:
What You Want Them to Accomplish: this is pretty basic, but it's what you want for the character[s:] over the course of the story
I did this for most of my MCs last night. Jess, could I send you a copy sometime in the future for you to look over?
yes, definitely! Id *LOVE* to see it, Amelia :)
oh, and thats a good idea :) Ive done something like that for my characters, but i'll re-do them when i get home from school.
Amelia (Imagination in Focus) wrote: "Booklover23 wrote: "Maksim the Fairy Prince. Nice. I *love* the ring to that :)
Thank you :) I have no idea how i came up with Rubarb. Hes nicknamed Barb, which i dont like too much."
A friend ..."
Hmm, that was really weird, now my post is before yours. Did you delete your previous post? But like I said before, I'd love to read it! Did you want the longer character sketch?
ooh, i see she wasnt talking to me. oops
*blushes*
Confusing when my names is Jess also.
haha, we'll have to wait to see which one of us Amelia was talking to. haha, I didn't know your name was Jess too.
Sorry girls! This was my mistake. I was talking to Adelaide Jess, just because she's taken a look at some of my ideas before.I'm so sorry for the confusion!
My all time fav character would have to be Lestat!!! Solely beacoz he’s outrageous over the top intense ... everything I am not! I believe Anne Rice said that he is her alter ego, the embodiment of her genderless soul...
I get bored with characters that I can relate to because I don’t feel like I’m learning anything I like to see what the other perspective is... I love to read what I have not/will not go through...
When I write characters they have to shock ME! If they don’t do what I cannot what’s the point...
:S I’ve officially confused myself :/
huh.Well, I can't stand characters I can't relate to. I actually prefer characters to be like me, even in a small way.
I mean, they don't have to be actual copies of me, but I can't relate to characters that are too different from me
Whilst that is true for me as well, i do *love* characters unlike myself. That way its interesting and unpredictable to read about them.
Charecters I can relate to are like comfort foods to me, I've read many books like that but those charecters don't 'change' me! so they don't stay with me thats all!
I am so stuck on characters right now. Their realism and their speech. I don't want it to sound plain or corny. I just read The Maze Runner by James Dashner, and it had an amazing plot that kept me reading throughout the night. However, the characters felt bland, and just because of their lack of personality I didn't like the book as much and gave it only three stars instead of five.I have been feeling so insecure about my characters! Wow! I was wondering how everyone comes up with their characters' personalities and makes them realistic. The best I can come up with is basing the characters off of real people, but even that can go haywire sometimes. Any suggestions?
By the way, I do write Character Profiles.
that, is a truly marvelous idea. Something like that i did, was i wrote a bit from their past. Just anything that happened a few years back.
It helps me get in touch with them more. I feel like i know them more.
That is a fine idea. This will help me quite a lot, thank you :)
Hi Hannah, Why not pick one characteristic that encompasses your characters and use that as opposed the vastly different dialogue, or whatever? This can be where you do use traits from real people. For example, your best friend might be a hair flicker, so you borrow that trait for a character; another might lick their lips a lot, or have a twitch or even a specific turn of phrase. Of course you won't add these traits into every page, but here and there will make them feel real.Jenny:)
Booklover23 wrote: "that, is a truly marvelous idea. Something like that i did, was i wrote a bit from their past. Just anything that happened a few years back.
It helps me get in touch with them more. I feel like ..."
That's what I've been doing right now and it makes such a big difference, even changing a bit of the story. I think knowing the character's backstory--whether it's in the actual story or not--and writing it from their POV makes a character so much more full. I love it!!! hahaha
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Books mentioned in this topic
The Knife of Never Letting Go (other topics)Breaking Dawn (other topics)
The Lovely Bones (other topics)
The Hunger Games (other topics)
Inkheart (other topics)
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