The Mighty Pen Writing Club discussion

What makes a character memorable? How do you bring your characters to life? What qualities in a character do you look for when you read?

A good character has to be one that readers can relate to. They can be as unique as you please, but in the end there has to be at least one thing about them that a reader can pick up on and identify with. :)
Also, a good hero/heroine or villain has to undergo some gradual change/personal growth. xD And it can't be unrealistically abrupt, but must be smooth and gradual. Nobody changes overnight. If the main character has nothing wrong with him/her and no reason to change, the reader doesn't really get invested in them. And again, that's because they can't relate to the character. Nobody's perfect. :)

Jillian -always aspiring- wrote: "Characters are memorable if you can see them existing in real life. If they're TOO fantastical or unrealistic (*cough* Edward in Twilight *cough*), then your readers just won't latch onto them the..."

Hmmm, I actually know quite a few boys like Edward. Not that they're vampires, but that's actually what I liked about him - like, there was finally a boy who *resembled* the type of guy I'd want.

Of course, the TWILIGHT series was the first series I read that seriously got me back into the YA genre, so I can think of several guys I'd prefer over Edward, but I thought he was pretty realistic enough.

No no it doesnt sound like you're bashing it at all! I love the Twilight series too, but it's not perfect and there are things about it that I would have done differently :D but I like that Stephenie chose to portray Edward as (with flaws) but gentlemanly and "good."

I wish I could REMEMBER my dreams, haha! I can just picture her waking up, still kind of sleepy, grabbing for a pen, going "girl and boy in forest! girl and boy in forest!" :D

Jillian -always aspiring- wrote: "Characters are memorable if you can see them existing in real life. If they're TOO fantastical or unrealistic (*cough* Edward in Twilight *cough*), then your readers just won't latch onto them the..."

I thought Edward was pretty awesome...untill he started sparkling.

For me, characters have to have depth and personality.
*Something* has to make them stand out.
Weather its an odd name or an attitude.

THe main character of my book is called Rubarb Stabcar.He is a stylish, wise detective with attitude.

Definitely

Booklover23 wrote: "Jillian -always aspiring- wrote: "Characters are memorable if you can see them existing in real life. If they're TOO fantastical or unrealistic (*cough* Edward in Twilight *cough*), then your read..."

Okay, I think I've said it before, Booklover, but I MUST read this story you're writing. It sounds fantastic. :)

haha thank you very much :)

After im done editing, i'll send a few chapters to you, if you want?

2 Booklover 23
So the man has wears sun cream with glitter. so what? In the house of night you get vampires mixed with ancient greek goddesses, mixed with fallen angels, mixed with cherokee legends (yeah, I've read all the books so far). People tend to overdo things. ( no kidding!!!!!)
:D

For some reason, I always have trouble with this. My characters seem too bland unless I'm focus-focus-focused on my writing, which is hard with school and stuff ((thank God it's finally over)).

But I love the mentally strong characters. The tough characters that don't give up, sly, clever, reckless, all that stuff. Idk, I guess I'm just used to the heroic type of character.

My thing with the my main characters is that they might be considered a little bland.

Here's my observation: especially in YA, authors really seem to love giving us screwed up, angsty, oddball characters. Why? Probably to be "interesting." But how many readers are really like that? As someone who's done student teaching and is a youth intern, I have come to the opinion that most teens are actually pretty normal. Yeah, everybody's got something,but if a character is too screwy, that makes them actually hard to relate to. So yeah, my two MC girls might be considered bland in their lives - they get along with their family, they make good grades in school, they're going to college, they have jobs, etc. but then the ever-action packed PLOT swoops down and takes over. I like the idea of "every kid" being the hero. So I don't like making my characters too troubled or too extreme, because that could loose me the "normal" crowd.

My main characters are all adults.
I dunno if that would work in a YA market audience, since all YA books are about kid/teen MCs

Come to think of it, just one out of 10-20 plot ideas involves a child as a MC...

My characters usually age throughout but they start off teens. Probably because thats easiest to relate to.
I dont like the super messed up characters either because they come off as stupid kids who couldve had a good life but just make the wrong choices so its usually all their fault

Haha very good way to put it

lol I agree.


My main characters are adults, because its more interesting to write. Not necesarily relate too, but thats why I write. For a change.
To be diferent from reality for a while.
If im writing about teens like me, its not too much of an escape.

If I write about Australia, its not too much of an escape.

Thats why pretty much all my stories are adults in europe.
(London mostly-so many stories of mine are set in London. Past, present, or future.)

I like a character (Hero) that can make me think about him after reading his book. If he can do that, then he's a good character.

I also like when the hero makes me want to read. Some books are hard to pull away from.

Booklover23 wrote: "lol I agree.


My main characters are adults, because its more interesting to write. Not necesarily relate too, but thats why I write. For a change.
To be diferent from reality for a while.
If i..."

One of my stories takes place in Australia :P It's an escape for me!

Well actually, it's a high fantasy, but the geography is like an exact mirror of Australia, only smaller :D
Specifically, the main setting corresponds to Snowy River Nat'l Park - my favorite place in Australia!

Ive never been to Snowy River National Park. Its in Victoria, right?

Not one of my stories is set in Australia.

Im gonna get out my list of plots/titles now-and see where most stories are set...
(including short stories)

ENGLAND (past, present, future, city,country, coast): 8
USA (Past/present/future): 3
IRELAND: 1

...wow. What a range or variety i have :)

hahaha everyone loves ENGLAND!

I had a story set in England, and then I on-purpose moved it to Wales, just to be different :P

Good idea, Jess!
Mine are:
USA:
1 - California
1 - Florida
1 - Texas-Colorado-Utah
WALES
2 HIGH FANTASY
1 - terrain based on Australia
1 - terrain based on a little bit of everything :P

Oops, I forgot to that list:

I dont know if it counts though.

Half of RUBARB STABCAR 2 (my main story) is set in Romania.
And a little bit in Italy. And of course, london.


My one story set in America, is a story about the Salem Witch Trials, in Massachusetts.

And thank you Amber and Jordan :)

I cured my writers block the other night, so im writing again :D

Since its a mystery/urban fantasy/action/horror book, im up to the bit when the detective is just starting to work out what is going on. After that, they need to gather a few more clues, then go after then villains of the story.
THen there is the car chase scene through the streets of London, and a fight in Trafalgar square.

So yeah, i write all that, then the ending (which im quite fond of)

I might be able to send you a few chapters :)

...Eh. Most of my characters are young adults (about 19). I usually write from a female perspective but I have an open mind if some idea ever comes up for a guy....

ooh, they sound like some interesting characters, Amber.

Mine vary between a 12 year old boy who is living with witches, to a thirty-something, wise-cracking detective, an abusive husband, a witch narrating from the grave and many more :)

I had terrible writers block for a few years, but now I'm slowly making progress. It seems like the best way to cure it is to write every day - write and not worry about editing or how the draft sounds or anything. I'm averaging about 3,000 words a day, which is good for me, because I've got other stuff going on, but I try and push myself to write when I can :]

I believe that a writer should just write and not worry about editing, until after they finish their story.

Omg i totally know what you're talking about! Like ill have this great opening scene but once i get it down its just like...what now?

Ooh, i know Amber! I always get first chapters flowing well-then the words dry up.

I average about 1000 words a day, which im happy with.
I dont edit during writing. At all.

And Amelia, your totally right. Write every day. If i go a few days with to writing-the words no longer come to me.
Even if its just 50 words, it still helps.

A weird, distracting thought just occurred to me while I was writing a few minutes ago (I'm SO easily distracted)

my two MCs are teens, but maybe they shouldn't be...?

I'm kind of worried because, compared to a lot of the teens I read about in popular YA fiction now, both of my characters aren't very "angsty" and over-the-top emotional. Then it occurred to me that maybe I should rewrite the story and make them adolescents instead, because publishers might not find them "edgy" enough... once again I'm preoccupied with the publishing aspect of it! But seriously...this is one of the most basic of characterizations that I'm second-guessing. Any advice?

Hahaha thank you, Jillian! Yeah, one of my MCs in particular is one of those "grit your teeth and grin it" girls :D I try and model my characters on how people actually act...or at least, how I know certain people to act :P

Thank you for your advice! I do want to write an MG story one day, but I don't think it will be this one!

Jillian -always aspiring- wrote: "Amelia, my advice is this: don't think about "publishing requirements". Write the story the way you want to write it. There are plenty of agents and publishers out there, so you have to be optim..."

I agree. Besides, at the end of a book, if the characters were just angsty then they're not memorable. They're so much better when there's more to them, and they're not all the same.

I don't mind angst just so long as there is an actual understandable reason the character is angst-ridden.

For example, I don't like Bella Swan in Twilight because there is no clear reason as to why she's so incredibly pissy. Sure, her mother is irresponsible but she doesn't have to go around hating the world because of it. Also, I think Charlie is a good father who loves his daughter, but the way Bella tells it you'd think he was an alcoholic monster. She treats him like crap, and not for any actual reason besides the fact that he's just trying to be the father he never really got the chance to be and not through any fault of his own.

Anyway, my point is, I don't relate well to Bella in Twilight because she has no good reason to be so blasted angry. Give her a chemically imbalanced pill-popping mom, or give her a workaholic, womanizing father who doesn't even care about her, wishes she hadn't moved in with him or whatever, and then maybe I'll understand why she's so incredibly angry at the world and maybe not want to punch her in her cardboard cut-out face (seriously, she's so incredibly one-dimensional in Twilight. I could write an entire essay about that. Wait I think I just did. Sort of).

The few stories I'm (sort of) working on have MCs who are pretty normal by today's standards. No angry-for-no-real-reason teens. None of this special-for-no-reason-whatsoever protagonists either.

Hmmm. You know, I never really thought of Bella as the "angry" sort. When I think of an angry, bitchy girl in YA fiction, I think Katsa from Graceling.

But yeah, Bella is pretty pissy. And annoying. And boring.I mean, she micromanages everything.

I woke up
I went downstairs
I had a bowl of cereal
I walked to my ugly-ass truck
:S

Geez

lol
I fell in love with a boy who sparkles. Hottie.

*gag*

oh, I totally agree about Katsa. I dunno, I didn't find her annoy so much as not driving the story, you know what I mean? Her actions rarely drove the plot, but I think the reason for that was so it was easier to put yourself in. I guess what I mean is that her character wasn't very well defined so you could make yourself the her.
Oops, *her* is Bella, not Katsa.

I love characters that make me frustrated, but also in love :D

And he says I smell good.

Friend of mine believes the best moment in Twilight saga was when Bella was trying to unite two mangnets and couldn't.
She is SO shallow. Also, what's with the "I can smell blood and I block vampiric powers" thing???

Alkyoni wrote: "And he says I smell good.

Friend of mine believes the best moment in Twilight saga was when Bella was trying to unite two mangnets and couldn't.
She is SO shallow. Also, what's with the "I can sme..."

First of all, I can smell blood. I always thought everyone could. It doesn't make me sick, but I can smell it. I also have a friend who can smell a tootsie roll from the other end of a bus. (She's super allergic and the smell makes her nauseous.) So it does't really take much to to believe the smell of blood can make someone sick.

Second, Bella blocking the vampiric powers that attack the mind makes perfect sense. Alice could see the future before she was turned, that's why she was in the asylum in the first place. Jasper was already charismatic before changing (that's how he got so far up in the army so fast). So Bella already blocking powers makes perfect sense and fits with the world.

Finally, Bella's not that shallow. The whole reason she was in Forks was so that her mom could be with Phil. That's not selfish (or shallow) at all. If you read Midnight Sun, you see the whole reason Edward's initially attracted to her is because she's selfless.

I just don't get why it's soooo cool to bash Twilight. Lately everyone I know who liked it suddenly hates it.

They are good book. Dont get me wrong, but lately I have turned off of them.
I havnt re-read them. I may even remove them from my 'favorites' because of the films.
The films completely murdered those books-and it'll never be the same.

Films and books are totally different. Besides, you can still like them and have a terrible movie. Just look at Ella Enchanted... ;)

Jess wrote: "Alkyoni wrote: "And he says I smell good.

Friend of mine believes the best moment in Twilight saga was when Bella was trying to unite two mangnets and couldn't.
She is SO shallow. Also, what's wit..."

Bravo, soul sister :P

Now, I don't think Bella is shallow, but I think she's kinda whiny. That could totally be because the series (except for that one section in BD) is told from her point of view, so it could be that I just got tired of her perspective. But in the series, she was my least favorite character, if that makes sense (since the series is pretty much about her, haha!)

But yeah I like the TWILIGHT series. For what it is (a mostly paranormal romance) it's well-written and interesting. and Stephenie Meyer just seems like such a doll :]

That's a bit true, but I wouldn't say she always is whiny. But yeah, especially towards the end of the series.
I LOVE Stephenie Meyer! Since I go to her old college, I always hope she'll drop by for a signing sometime...

She probably isn't, if I read the books again I bet I'd feel differently. I guess first persons get kind of old for me, haha :D
Except Percy Jackson. He was always cool!

Jess wrote: "Alkyoni wrote: "And he says I smell good.

Friend of mine believes the best moment in Twilight saga was when Bella was trying to unite two mangnets and couldn't.
She is SO shallow. Also, what's wit..."

hmm, I get what you mean. (Wow, you can smell blood? Your nose must be very sensitive to smells).
Point taken, you are right about the powers. Also, about the shallow thing, maybe I didn't write down things correctly, I apologise. Shalow is not the word (I had it in mind as something else, bleh, and so I tried the dictionery). I find her an annoying character at points mostly because she doesn't fight (especially at New Moon when I realise why she was depressed after Edward left but she really had to try harder). Also, she doesn't always know when to back down. But then again amelia is perhaps right. I don't like her much because seeing something from 1 person's view only can get tiring (I also agree with the Percy Jackson series).
Finally, I never said that I hated Twilight. I was actually addicted once but I now find some points overdone (you get what I mean?). Too much. (Compared to other books I have recently started reading). but then again, the books may look way romantic because in today's world guys don't tend to be that romantic?? (Though that's something else entirelly).

I can smell blood, too, but maybe it's because I've worked for a vet before and that's a common smell there... :] I hate the smell of it, too! It's all iron-smelling, yuck!

I have a good nose as well. I can smell things that other people can't smell. I can smell blood as well.

What the-?
Am I the only one with a useless nose in this club???

hahahaha I'd rather not be able to smell blood :S