I'll admit it -- I have a soft spot for devious, gray area characters.
The world isn't black and white (as much as some people try to tell themselves otherwise), and neither are we. Even the most evil person (or character) has some redeeming quality or at least some quality that is less than pitch black, or has a justifiable reason (even if it only exists in their own mind) for what they do. And the most noble or innocent character probably harbors some not-so-innocent thoughts in the shadowy corners of their mind. This is what makes characters real; it makes them jump off of the page -- it makes us as readers care about them. We want the evil ones to get what's coming to them; and when that happens in a book, we have a sense of satisfaction, feel vindicated; in short, we
cared what happened.
The other day I started to read (or tried to read) a thriller. The plot was fresh, sounded really cool, as did the characters -- until I got into it. I waded through the first 40 pages then I had to put it down; I couldn't go any further. I really tried to give this book a chance, but it just wasn't working for me. I even flipped through the rest of the book and read sections in case it got any better. It didn't. Truth is, I put it down because I had no emotional stake in the story -- I didn't care at all what happened to the characters. I wasn't drawn in. I couldn't identify with them.
That being said, giving characters dimension beyond their "type" (good & noble hero) quite simply is what makes a character real. Real people are made up of black, white, and gray. A noble character may want to be good, but might be waging an internal struggle (brought on by a conflict with another character or an event that happened to them) that makes them want to do something that they know is not right. But what is wrong in some circumstances is understandable and perhaps even the right thing to do in another situation. As readers, we respond to characters who we can understand and identify with. People who, like us, struggle with decisions and choices. Get that kind of character on your pages and you'll get readers who care and keep coming back for more.
Coming up tomorrow: I'll be announcing a new contest with a prize that I've never offered before.
7 Comments:
The characters are flat and without any substance. That is one of the main drawbacks I find in lot of novels lately. The grayish characters are always the most interesting ones. And why is that? Because you will find something in them that you recognize and are familiar. That is why Lancelot is a lot more interesting then Arthur. And why we love the villain. We are not all good or bad. We don’t always make the right decisions (at least that’s my wife is telling me :=))
And here I thought when you said you liked gray characters, you were talking about goblins!
So true, Frank -- great comment!
LOL. I do love my goblins.
I think you just put all the light and dark characters in the same load of laundry by accident and now you're trying to cover your mistake.
I can see the PSA now: "Don't let this happen to you: wash your characters responsibly."
I think you're spot on about authors having to put more thought into their gray character's motivation. I was thinking about that just after I saw the movie Inkheart. Dustfinger was far and away the best character, in both the film and book. He's the only one on the good guy team who does any betraying or lying. The fact that he's torn instead of evil makes him rather sweet.
Yeah - not having a bunch of goody-goodies is a problem I'm having in my own work right now. I know they're not all good - I just have to find the right situations to put them in to show that, while still advancing the main plot.
My favorite characters in my favorite books all have questionable or flawed traits but I can't seem to write my own that way. :)
I can relate with this,
Shady characters are always the most interesting, so are the characters that are kind of crazy, you never know what they are going to do next.
If all of your characters are perfect and never do anything different wierd or wrong then they are boring.
Who reallty wants to hang out with all the prissy perfect goodie goodies. theyre boring, you want the people who do things, go crazy ect. your never bored with them
So if you are reading a book with boring perfect characters who never do anything bad then the book will be boring as heck.
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