Wednesday, May 8, 2013

WHAT A CHARACTER!!


What a Character!!

Can your characters please all readers?
 

  
            Long before I became an author, I was a reader. Have been since I got my first library card at age 8. Now I write books too, but still make time to read. I read 1-2 books a week. Suspense is my genre of choice, and as a suspense reader, I’ve become weary of female protagonists who are all beautiful, have perfect bodies, and either bright green or orchid eyes and male protagonists who are all tall, handsome, athletic, and have every woman they meet willing to drop their panties for them. Sound familiar?
            So when I wrote my second suspense novel, Relative Malice, I created a female detective who wasn’t drop-dead gorgeous, had weight issues, doubts about her femininity, and didn’t even have a boyfriend! Shocking, right?  When the reviews began coming in, I smugly sat back and collected their praise for this character. Then I got this one:
AND, why oh why do these self-published authors always portray female law enforcement officers as being so masculine! Even the name, Kendall so all the men can call her Kenny, is masculine. I've known and worked with many females in law enforcement and while, yes, some of them are gay, many of them are not! They wear make up, they're married, they have children. Oy, and every darn one of these chicks jog! Can you say cliche?
 I wanted to develop a character we could all identify with. Kendall is not gay, and during the course of the book, evolves into a woman comfortable with her femininity and male attention.
            I share this with you to illustrate the impossibility of drafting a character everyone will adore. A lot of advice is given to writers to find their “target audience.” In my case, the majority of my readers loved Kendall. 
            John Locke advises independent authors they only need to satisfy their target audience. And he’s right! I have to keep reminding myself of that and not waste time whining about the inevitable handful of one and two-star reviews.
            What I’ve learned about character creation:
1.     Characters need to have individuality. If you must have a beautiful protagonist, give her a foible or two that we can identify with. Perfection is boring.
2.     If your main character is gorgeous, either male or female, be sure not everyone he or she meets wants to hop in bed with them. At least have a few exceptions to their charms.
3.     Readers like variety when it comes to characters. Mix it up! In my first novel, all of my main characters were good looking. When my writer’s group pointed that out to me, I toned their looks down a bit.
4.     This is probably fodder for an entire book, but try to watch your characters' dialogue to be sure they don’t all sound alike. This isn’t easy, but can be as simple as a small difference in the usage of slang, swear words or cliché’s.

Dear readers,
What do you love in a character? Perfection or reality? One of my favorite characters is an FBI agent, Will Trent, Karin Slaughter’s damaged hero, who suffers from a severe case of dyslexia and manages to live with it and still maintain his career. I think the characters we love the most are the ones with imperfections.  I know I do.
The doggie with the big smile is a Staffordhire Terrier, a very loving, happy breed. This one happens to look a lot like my dog, who is half Staffie and half lab. I've never seen her smile quite that big!
Have a great week everyone, and enjoy the spring weather,
Marla

19 comments:

  1. From a fictional standpoint, I love them both.

    When it comes to flawed characters, I love exploring their vulnerabilities, scratching their scars, showing their pain, explaining why they chose a certain path. I have discovered that often enough, flawed characters have enormous depth and intensity.

    ''Perfect'' characters are in actuality two-faced hypocrites, hiding serious flaws of their own.

    I like them too, because they give me the chance to bring to the surface what they hide and explain their behavior.

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    1. You hit it exactly right, Mary! I love those kinds of characters too. I think it's fun (and challenging) to create a character that is unique.
      I like to think I"m getting better at it with each book. The one I'm working on now has a character very complex! So complex, it's rather slow going!
      Also, just had to buy a new computer and you know what a pain that is for a writer.
      Better days ahead. The sun is shining today, I'll take that as a positive.
      Have a nice weekend,
      Marla

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  2. Hi Marla, Writer Dave Here.
    In my first novel my main protagonist had a quirk of kicking stones along the path.
    In my second novel, which I am writing now, the protagonist had club feet as a child which left him with a limp.
    I think imperfection in characters is more interesting in stories.

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    Replies
    1. Stone kicking. That is certainly a new one. Yes, I couldn't agree more--imperfection makes a character a lot more memorable to the reader and keeps him reading to find out what happens to that person next.
      Thanks for visiting!
      Marla

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  3. I love imperfections! To me, they are the mainstay of a book. Give me that quirk, that scar, that foible that will endear me to the character.

    I don't read much, but occasionally I grab something and when I hit those perfect characters, I tend to loose interest. I'm not perfect so I don't want to read about someone who is...ya know?

    Thanks for the great post Marla! I hope my first book, Wolf's Paradox, can hold up. *shakes head* Poor Kathy...ROFL She's my heroine and boy is she imperfect! *winks*

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    1. I'm with you, Margaret. I prefer characters I can identify with. Kathy sounds like a winner!
      Interesting title on your book. Paranormal? Did you self-publish?
      Glad you enjoyed the post. Have a wonderful Mother's Day!
      Marla

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  4. Another thought-provoking blog, Marla. I especially love you only have to appeal to your target market. If you try to be all things to all readers, you will please none of them. Happy Monday.

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    1. Hi Donnell,
      So good to hear from you! Were you part of the Daphne this year? I never did get around to entering it last year and was too busy to be a judge. Maybe in 2014?
      Learning you can't please everyone is a tough lesson of authors. Not sure why, and no matter how seasoned we are, those bad reviews still smart! Have to keep working on that.
      Have a great week,
      Marla

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  5. Replies
    1. Hi Michael,
      Glad you liked this post. Characters can make or break a novel. I'm trying to get better at their development with each novel!
      Thanks for stopping in,
      Marla

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    2. Hi Tanya,
      I couldn't agree more. Flawed characters are my favorite too. Surprisingly, not all readers agree. I had a couple negative reviews for Relative Malice, that my character spent too much time dwelling on her problems. Luckily, the majority disagreed!
      Thanks for visiting, and have a great week,
      Marla

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  6. Flaws create conflict. Perfect characters would not get into "messes" that keep the readers turning the pages.

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    1. Hi Tanya,
      I couldn't agree more. Flawed characters are my favorite too. Surprisingly, not all readers agree. I had a couple negative reviews for Relative Malice, that my character spent too much time dwelling on her problems. Luckily, the majority disagreed!
      Thanks for visiting, and have a great week,
      Marla

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  7. Replies
    1. Hi Jessie,
      Once more, thanks for the FB plug! Sometimes it's hard to explain just why a particular character appeals to you. And I think characters that appear perfect in the beginning of a story, and later have to struggle with their lives, are compelling, too.
      Yes, I loved this doggie in the pic! What a smile. Reminds me of my dog so much.
      Have a great week, Jessie,
      Marla

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  8. My characters often have a bad habit, a vice or addiction which gives their personality a harshness, but it's real. Sometimes they get over it and sometimes they carry on in spite of it. We all have a thing or two we depend on unnecessarily, and it makes me feel better about myself when I meet a character in a book who is struggling with a hang up but still capable of carrying the story and impressing me. Well written!

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    1. Thanks, Miriam!
      I'm with you. I prefer my characters flawed, it's so much easier to identify with them, isn't it?
      I once read a book where the female detective was struggling with diabetes. It made for many
      interesting twists during the story.
      Have a nice week,
      Marla

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  9. By the way, I appreciate the advice on dialogue; I may have to pay more attention to that. And I love your hat! Very Clockwork Orange.

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    1. It's really hard to make character's dialogue different from one another. I think we have a tendency to have all of them speak like we do! Challenging.
      I added the hat in my photo to give me an aura of mystery, since I write suspense. Not sure it serves that purpose! :)
      Nice to meet you, Miriam!

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