Young Writers Society

For some strange reason, I have read many stories where the mysterious characters are alwasy dark and mysterious and wear cloaks because they are obviously so dark and mysterious. And don't forget the cloaks...

But that's not necessarily the truth, and it sounds kind of stupid if you think about it. I've met people who wear dark jackets, and they're more open than many other people. What I want to see is a character who is mysterious, not because of what he wears, but rather who he is. What makes somebody truly mysterious? Someone who doesn't reveal who he is. And how can he keep himself a mystery?

He doesn't TALK about himself.

You probably know mysterious people everywhere that you hardly know about, but who might possibly know more about you. This is because people inherently like talking about themselves and love to have other people listen to them. I know that, when I was waiting in the emergency room, I talked with a man and I learned a lot about him and, in the end, he liked me very much and thought I was a great conversationalist. Did I say a much? Nope! So in a way, I was a mysterious character to him. And he didn't know.

The thing is, most mysterious people are not noticed. Nor do they necessarily have sinster motives. They just are there and know more than they let on, because they don't necessarily say much. And when they do, it's usually important.

So yeah. Mysterious characters are good, but please! They don't all have to be sinister men in cloaks. Please.

...What if they're truly mysterious AND they wear a dark cloak, eh?

*cough*SAPHIRUS*cough*

Yea, I don't know how inconspicuous a guy could look with a black cloak draped over his shoulders.

I'm sure you can rationalise a character wearing a cloak. For example, certain clothes give off a certain message, and a hooded cloak certainly wouldn't scream how much the wearer wanted to talk.

If mysterious characters are always wearing the cliche stuff, Snoink, but some better books

- MC

I have a mysterious character and he doesn't wear a cloak. Actually, he'd look like an idiot if he did. Thogh, he doesn't say much, not even to me. Too mysterious.

I used to wear a black cloak* and I'm one of the least mysterious people you've ever met. Or, I'm probably one of the least mysterious. I'm pretty transparent.

Anyway, I've been thinking about the mysterious people I know (or don't) and I don't think it's that mysterious people don't talk about themselves, ever, it's just that they don't ever explain or elaborate on the subject, or they'll only tell you half the story.

---
*for serious!

If they have to wear a cloak, I make everyone else wear cloaks. That way it doesn't seem so bizarre to only have the mysterious character wear a cloak

BrokenSword wrote:If they have to wear a cloak, I make everyone else wear cloaks. That way it doesn't seem so bizarre to only have the mysterious character wear a cloak

Exactly! I mean, if only one character is wearing a cloak, then it's strange, but if everybody is wearing a cloak, then the cliche-factor goes down a bunch.

I only have my characters wearing cloaks when it is rain or in the middle of winter.

I always find it strange in some books when it is the middle of summer and the mysterious man is skulking about in a cloak. just strange to me.

Mum's always telling me to be a good conversationalist and ask questions. But talking about myself is too fun.

BUt the mysterious character MUST have a cloak! ANd he (and it MUST be a he) MUST sweep it around and walk away quickly (most often when the other person isn't looking) when he finishes a mysterious conversation in which he's learnt all he needs to know and the other person just starts asking his own questions! THE COSMIC FORCES DEMAND IT!!!

Yeah, I'm having trouble with a somewhat mysterious character. And no, he doesn't wear a cloak, or at least not when he doesn't have to. The problem is, he's my main character in a first person story, and he's a mystery to everyone else. He's turning out to be harder to right than I thought since, well, he's not all that interesting until you really get to know him. Which takes time. And readers aren't a patient bunch. That story keeps getting put on hold because of such dilemas, but I am making progress.

The dark cloak is VERY cliche, and at this point it just sounds a little corny. If the only reason they're wearing it is to be mysterious, that's just stupid, but if there's a logical reason they're wearing it (i.e. it's raining) that's fine. The "mysterious character" only really needs to leave a sense of "who was that?" in the reader, perhaps the affected character as well. As far as I can recall, the only mysterious characters I ever use are the one's who's motives you're never quite sure of, who's goals seem their own. It's a great ploy to draw the readers attention, as well the real story rears it's head, they'll be surprised, yet know it was there all along. Their figuring power was elsewhere.

And to your description Snoink, I'm somewhat of a mysterious person, though I certainly don't view myself as such. I'm just not very social. Then again, that "know's more than they're letting on" part that Meep mentioned is very important for the mysterious part.

I have a character who is initially mysterious...he wears a cloak, but it's kind of a joke. I feel exactly the same way about cloaks being cliche, so I intentionally had him wear one as a "disguise". Obviously it's a poor disguise if it makes you stick out like a sore thumb, so he gets reamed for it. And from that point on he is no longer mysterious at all.

Basically any opportunity I have to attack annoying cliches in my stories, I take. Just not to the extent where the entire plot is attacking cliches, because that's just pointless.

I LOVE cloaks (I own a black one that I wear occasionally), but when I tried to put them in my story, no one would wear them. Seriously, I begged Émon for a month. He refused. Then I begged Feron-Shious, and then Jaist. In the end, the only one who actually wanted to wear a cloak was my stable boy. I told him no.

(We writers are weird, aren't we?)

I've got a mysterious character, well, maybe he's more like a two-faced character. And no, he doesn't wear a cloak. My MC (main character) does though, but only in freezing weather . Plus I find my guy characters just don't wear cloaks, they think it's to girly .

Shafter, we writers may be weird to the outside world, but we are geniuses in our own, eh?

How many stories have I read with tall, mysterious strangers who keep all these dark secrets and do strange things without explaining anything? That is like asking how many ants you could step on in a year.

To me, a mysterious character is not one with dark hair, or scars slashing across his face, (There are thousands of those!) it's not one who only talks in hoarse whispers, and it's NOT one that wears a black cape!

No offense, of course, to the wonderful people who find that interesting. I am not arguing with your tastes at all. I am saying, though, that to me, a mysterious character is one who WILL talk about himself, but not truthfully. One who smiles, but grinds his teeth behind it. One who dresses nicely, who speaks in a friendly manner, pretends to be your friend... you know, all that. And without using a cape for a crutch. His ACTIONS ought to tip us off, not his cape. Try giving him a floppy hat!:)

Just one girl's opinion!

All the best,

Goldie

What if the logical reason behind why the mysterious person is wearing a cloak is because they are famous, and don't want to be discovered? Would that do? I hope so... Then again, the majority of people in my books would wear cloaks, in the winter at least. It's when they're hooded for no apparent reason that they become really mysterious...