Young Writers Society

I know perfect characters are considered "Mary-Sues" or clichés. And I know that we all try not to write about them.

But don't you occasionally feel the urge to read about beautiful, brave, witty, perfect people? Don't you ever want to write about them? It's kind of like you can escape into their minds... which -- naturally -- feels good.

I know I get this sometimes (and the literary part of myself hates me for it). What about you guys? Discuss.

~Azila~

I don't, hah. I find people with problems so much more interesting!

Besides, in the real world, no one is perfect. And that is where the problem with perfect characters is most felt because it is untrue to reality, and if our logic of "this could happen"--even in fantasy--is broken, we can't believe anything in the story. In real life, even the beautiful, perfect, rich, amazing, loved person has problems.

And! What would perfect people do? If you don't have a problem and everything is perfect, there is no conflict, and any young, new, or good writer will tell you that every story has a conflict of some kind. Sure, you can have the perfect, beautiful, brave, amazing female role--even though unbelievable--exist and just have her kidnapped by some evil, ugly, weird guy, but that will still make her imperfect. The fact that she couldn't avoid the threats of the real world, and life, and death, etc. make her imperfect.

In other words, hah! ^_^ Not really. I'd love to hear your thoughts on perfect people, though.

Good point, Suz!

Sorry, I'll clarify: I guess what I mean by 'perfect' is that they are how YOU would like to be. So they would do what you would like to think you'd do, in those situations. Of course, this will vary for different people, but I think you get the idea.

Suzie's comment makes a lot of sense.

A lot of characters in books, flawed or not, aren't always representative of "real people". The characters we find most interesting are flawed. Jay Gatsby (*squee*) comes to mind, but the kind of poetic imperfectness found in Gatsby is not always that way in "real life."

What about characters that aren't perfect, but completely evil--they are perfectly bad? I find those equally as annoying, though it depends how they're used. Some criticize Voldemort as an unrealistic villain because he's so completely evil, even as a child, but the role he plays in Harry Potter makes sense. For that matter, a lot of characters in Harry Potter are criticized for being flat. No, the series is not whoa-sophisticated-literature! but it strikes me as more of an epic tale, and it still has a lot of complexity and ties to classical mythology blah blah blah...[/rant]

But anyway, back on the subject of 'perfect' characters. Right now I'm thinking of Abra from East of Eden (yes, I will reference that book in almost every discussion). She's described as strong, confident, kind. As she becomes a teenager she turns out to be loving and not afraid to stand up for herself or for Aron, but she struggles with herself...she's bothered by her father's criminality and her father constantly reminds her--with her name and otherwise--that he had always wanted a boy, and is disappointed she is a girl. She struggles with her feelings about her relationship with Aron while he is writing to her from Stanford. So while Abra is that stereotypical strong-female-character-who-is-nice-and-pretty, she still has issues emotionally.

I used to write perfect characters. But after a while I stopped. It's not like writing someone who has a problem or suffers from an internal condition.

Nowadays pretty much most of my characters are dysfunctional to a degree. Some of them in dark, obvious ways; others not so clear, but through wit and humor, it's easier to see that these characters don't have a all of their life together...

I have no desire to read about or create prefectionists. Humanity is in itself a race of ***holes. Our world is not perfect so why would I want to force that inaccuracy upon some unexpected fool?

LOL, when I write about a perfect character, I write about myself.

Snoink wrote:LOL, when I write about a perfect character, I write about myself.

Nice, Snoink.

I absolutely despise perfect characters, and don't see why anyone would like to write them. Torturing your characters is fun! Give them a million problems!

~JFW1415

I disagree. Outright torture is is just plain vile. Would you personally torture your sibling? For real?

Then why on earth would you decide to attack your characters? After all, they are people too, and believe me, they WILL rebell. I'm getting quite sick of running around the streets hiding, where as my characters are still delighting in hunting me down in hot presuit with nooses. XD

I have always had trouble creating perfect characters, I have tried to do that 'escaping' thing, I know it's not healthy writing, but I wanted to write someone perfect, to, as you said, escape into their mind, but for some reason when I start writing, I give them flaws. It's like a force of habit, which i think is good for my writing.

I guess what I mean by 'perfect' is that they are how YOU would like to be. So they would do what you would like to think you'd do, in those situations.

Like one of those stories where you pick the path and then go to a certain page? That's what it makes me think of!


I don't know. Characters are other people, not me! Sometimes I completely disagree with a character's choice, but if the book is well written, there would be no other choice for them to make because it is obviously the choice they would make. Just like I think it is the wrong choice, for the character (as a "real person") it is the perfect choice for them. And if it isn't a well written book? Then I want to throw it across the room because the writer failed to make the character's reasoning and motivations properly. ^_^

Outright torture is is just plain vile.

Haha, I torture my characters endlessly, Jess! And though yours may try to hunt you down, for the most part, my characters are resigned to their fate. If they weren't, I'd be a bit worried. Torturing them is the best! Why? Because it creates conflict, and that is awesome.

I totally understand the desire to write about perfect characters! It's like you want them to be YOU and by eliminating their flaws, yours are gone too and you can just escape to them whenever you feel like crap and for just a blissful moment, everything will be ok! Totally.

I often imagine stories with the perfect character in there, but when pen goes to paper that character always seems to get bullied by the others, or dies. I'm thinking it's a subconcious dislike of perfect people :p

I can see where you're coming from, Azila, and I've written those characters before... But I'm kind of hypocritical, because like Suzanne I find flawed characters way more interesting to read about. XD They are more realistic and have much more complexity. Though sometimes it seems as though even characters who are depressed, insecure, etc are often kind of romanticized and somehow seem perfect anyway. If that makes sense? Their flaws make them seem more interesting or brilliant (think of the tortured artist cliché, arrogant genius cliché, etc.), so they're imperfect in a perfect way.

Oh my God...I have had this problem TOO many times. I want them to forget their problems and the conflicts and just rip their clothes off in romance. In Action/Adventure, I want so much to write a brainac who gets all the ladies. Et cetera, et cetera. But I'm trying to get better and I am slightly improving.