Young Writers Society

(Sorry, all my posts here at the moment seem to be about annoying things in storybooks. Oh well. xD)

Having 'flawless characters' isn't just a phenomenon that is specific to storybooks, but it is something that crops up quite a lot. I don't think that this is because people on storybooks are any worse at writing or creating characters, but it might be because when you only have one character to work with, you want to make them the best character you possibly can.

I know that I hate creating a character that I wouldn't particularly write, because I dislike writing in the POV of a character who annoys me. Unless, of course, I get to write a villain, which is great fun. However, having flaws does not make your character any less wonderful. It makes them human. Even fantasy characters can be a bit big-headed sometimes, no?

It's just not realistic to have a character with a beautiful face and a perfect body, who has an IQ of 150, speaks 7 languages, holds the world record for the high jump and 500m and, to top it off, is insanely popular.

And anyway, characters with flaws are much more interesting. It means that they rub off on other people's characters, which makes everything so much more fun to write. Also, if your character has weaknesses, that means that you don't just do everything yourself, which gives other people more to do.

However, a word of warning. One of the most annoying things is when people create characters whose flaw is something like 'they're just too nice' or 'amazingly brave'. Give them real flaws, like vanity, intolerance, dishonesty or grudge-holding.

So basically, make your character human. They don't have to be beautiful, or the most intelligent person in the world. The majority of people are normal, but that doesn't make them any less interesting. Having character flaws will challenge your writing and make the whole experience much more fun.

I agree with you completely Aqua!

It annoys me when I'm looking around storybooks and all I see are, like, superhumans! What you said is completely true, characters don't have to be flawless to be interesting. In fact, I think that they are more interesting if they have flaws. I mean, come on. Who wants to read about someone who's completely perfect?

I am currently involved in my first storybook. My character has his flaws. He's pretty dumb, he's poor, he's a bit of a man slag, and he can't admit to himself that he's gay. But on the other hand, he's funny, he's creative and he's pretty nice. A character needs to have good things about them, they just need bad things as well so the good things can be balanced out. It's way more interesting than writing about someone who's rich, beautiful, talented, super nice e.t.c!

*cough* Read this, Stephenie Meyer! *cough*

Huh? What?

Mr.Knightley wrote:*cough* Read this, Stephenie Meyer! *cough*

Huh? What?

*pats* Yes, I could have used her as an example, but so many people do. It gets dreary. We need to victimise someone else, I guess.

Yeah, we probably should...*fails*

I think it's always good to consider the good things you've said about the character, and think about the negative extremes of them.
ie. If your character is super-laid-back and chilled, maybe they are also really lazy and insensitive?

There is honestly nothing more annoying than a super-pretty character, who is really friendly, but doesn't have many friends. And is introverted.
SURELY IF THEY ARE FRIENDLY, THEY WOULD HAVE FRIENDS??????!
Also, the paradox of friendly AND introverted irritates me. Friendly=sociable.
Use 'kind' instead if they are nice.

*frustration*
On a roll now...

The opposite irritates me too - Bad people who are bad just because they hate life and people.
Erm, what? They honestly just think, 'I'm going to be evil'?
No. 'Bad' people who believe they are doing right are way more scary and hard to beat. Give them some kind of motivation, people.
Not just 'they are power-hungry, and want to take over the kingdom because they are oh-so-evil and that's what evil people do'. Maybe there were flaws with the previous ruler/regime? Or they're trying to free what they see as a repressed part of society?
Something. Please.
Okey-dokey, rant over. I fell really de-stressed now.