Young Writers Society

This is my last resort. My friend and editor (i.e. the only person I can get to read my novel) keeps griping that my main character seems to perfect, invincible, etc. etc. in spite of the fact that I have made her lose on numerous occasions to various antagonists. The matter is driving me to the brink of my sanity; I just don't know what to do to make her seem a little less invincible. I have racked my brain on the matter, and I have a feeling that her feedback will do absolutely nothing to change her opinion. Has anyone else ever had this problem before, and if so, what did you do to fix it? (By the way, thanks for the help in advance!)

Number one, that's only one person's opinion. Show your piece to some other people before totally changing your main character. Get a second opinion, you know? Maybe it's just her, and everyone else will love your main character.

Second, does your character have any flaws? I know that you said they've lost to the antagonist more than once, but do they actually have flaws? Like if the character has the trait of stuborness, they are stubborn to the point of refusing someone's help when they obviously need it, or will never admit that they are wrong. People aren't going to like your character any less if they have flaws. Quite the contrary: the character will seem more life-like.

You might find this useful:
http://limyaael.livejournal.com/129040.html

Hope I helped!

Well, can't say I've had that problem before. But then again, I haven't gotten any serious reader to read it. First thing though, the losing part probobly isn't what your friend is getting. As to how to help, I don't think I can unless I know just who your character is. Maybe post a bit about your main character and the main attributes.

Oh, and one peice of advice I can give now. Make sure there are noticable flaws. If he is beutiful with a face that makes girls fall instantly in love with him, he's the greatest swordsman in the land, he is virtuous and rightious, and so on and so forth, then that would be a problem because he's dull and not all that interesting. Like I said, I can't help you with your character until I know your character.

Give her an Achilles Heel (or so to speak). Maybe a memory that haunts her, but it really depends what genre you're writing. If you're writing fantasy, you can have a field day with different physical flaws, but if its realistic, you might need to give her an emotional flaw.

Think about yourself. What flaws do you have? You can incorporate your own flaws into your main character because you best know your own flaws, so you can relate to them more.

An emotional problem is also good, as was earlier suggested.

I have that problem sometimes too, because I want my characters to have a perfect life. But reality comes into check, and they can't. For example, my main character Fineena O'Malley is very passionate and her main flaw is speaking before she thinks, which often gets her into trouble. She is also very passionate, and whenever she is doing something (like a project) she likes, she dives wholeheartedly into it, almost to the point where she forgets about everyone else around her. Make the flaws believable and your readers (including your friend) will have a much easier time identifying with your character because they know that they have flaws like real humans, and aren't a perfect being.

Good luck!

Sorry I'm just repeating everyone else, but I think a flaw is the key. Losing doesn't necessarily make a person likable and uninvincible in people's minds.

Flaws be lots of things. Maybe this girl is shy. Maybe she's a really bad loser. Maybe she has a dark past that affects her still. Your choice. You've got loads of room to work.

It's not about losing. Whenever I find a perfect character that's losing it just seems like the writer's trying to build sympathy towards them, and usually makes me feel very hostile towards the character.

I have a real hatred for perfect characters. I'll read a book and feel like strangling them, slowly. The thing about perfect characters is that basically they're impossible. Is there anyone you know who is the kindest, friendliest, smartest, prettiest, most confident, funniest person who has perfect fashion sense, stands up for poor unfortuante people who are in trouble, never ever has a bad hair day, has the most perfect sense of humour and are never angsty or bitchy? I sure don't know anyone like that.

It's our flaws that define who we are, not our acheivements.

electricbluemonkey wrote:Give her an Achilles Heel (or so to speak). Maybe a memory that haunts her, but it really depends what genre you're writing. If you're writing fantasy, you can have a field day with different physical flaws, but if its realistic, you might need to give her an emotional flaw.

I agree, my characters each have to have a flaw. My main villain, is extremely vain and struggling with her need for power and her good past. My five most important characters each have a distinct flaw. Wisteria is very dependent on others and she's a pushover, and her best friend, luckily, is very assertive and always has to stand up for her.

I have this problem all of the time. I make the character less perfect by bringing up a past memory or something that sets them off etc. Make them a villain in one of the chapters and in the next explain why they were like that in that scene and everythings rosy again.. lol. Just an idea xxxx

Why do you think your friend says this?

I agree with Cassandra. Show your story to other people. Some people just adore complaining and giving everyone a hard time. It takes practice but once someone has a grasp on critiques they can choose what's contructive and use those comments to their advantage. Besides, you're the writer, so it's your choice on how the story is supposed to function as well as the characters. I can give you a minor example. Most members are aware that I'm a little bit of a history fanatic, and I use "little" lightly, lol. Anyway, my novel is set in the 18th Century, and in that time, many names were unusual such as Thankful or Freelove - Yes they exist, lol. So, in the early stages of writing my novel last year, when readers saw the name, "Welcome," they thought it was weird, especially since the character is a man. With time though, I'm getting the exact opposite with feedback from YWS. Some of the members reflect on Welcome's traits but no one has complained about his name anymore. Yay! So, just remember, you have the choice to keep what you like, not nessassarily the editor's opinion.

Next - I tend to have two characters but I'm not the only one, hehe. What I mean is I might have one char that has flaws up the ying yang but they will have one or two strong strengths. Then there's the latter where a character will have a decent amount of strengths and for those chars, I incorperate acute flaws to flesh out the strengths, thus they are realistic and not a paper-cut out with no heart or brain. Usually though, I personally like having a char with more flaws; they make you work harder in discovering them and locating any strengths lurking inside, and their more fun to write about!

lol Uber Powerful Characters, upc, can be annoying to most readers