Young Writers Society

Im writing a science fiction story set in a time after the world's civilization has collapsed. Government is non existent and people live under gang rule. Most of what I have right now is the world, I have some plot, and some character ideas, but I have a very important question.

Which would you rather read about?

The idealistic hero who is a paradox of good. The man/girl who always believes in the good of the world, Or...

The realistic man. The man tempered by the world he lives in and worsened for it. A brutal person willing to kill to get what he needs to survive.

Or something in between.

You can always balance both idealism with realism. He lives in a savage world, and he does what he has to in order to survive. But does he always need to kill someone? Is there no chance that he could just steal or trick people into giving him things? I'm sure if you take time to think about it there are many ways the man could be an idealist who does his best to get by without being too cruel. But then again, how many men are there like that that actually exist?

Either way you choose to go about this, just remember that a healthy balance between both realism and idealism is the best way to go.

There are fans of both the hero and the antihero; but what people really, truly remark on is when a character journeys from the domain of one and into that of the other.

So yes, a mixture would be my advice.

What really matters is you give the character a good amount of "flesh" as I call it. With their own quirks, phobias, loves and hates, each character can end up as a mix. How the mix happens is mostly dependent on the story and what your character likes. Face it, really. The characters are in control of the story; we just write what happens.

I'd like something in between,something I would love to hate. Someone that was as human as I am, with feelings of irritatin, anger, rage but still has some emotional side that does some amazing things for the world he or she lives in.

Pudin

I would rather read about the realistic man. If your characters are perfect, there is no character development during the story. With the realistic man, you could easily add a lot of character to the story.

I'd rather read something in between the two. Make the characters see the good in the world without being so 'Everything is rainbows and pretty colors' about it. And vice versa. Although the second one excites me more.