Creative Reviews discussion

I'm not sure If I'm putting this in the right place (hence the title) but one thing that has always put me off of many different YA books is the sheer stupidity of the characters.

How many times have your read a book and instantly known who the killer/enemy/villain was hundreds of pages before the protagonist found out?

Obviously, if you are writing a young character, then they are going to get things wrong and make mistakes but some seem to be devoid of all common sense. So, what's the best way to write them?

My question and request for advice is how smart should you make you character? Bella Swan or Sherlock Holmes? Or inbetween?

Haha it's funny I was reading that and I was thinking Bella Swan. To answer your question I think between a Bella and a Sherlock, just so that the character is more realistic in addition to realtiable to the readers.

Sammy wrote: "I'm not sure If I'm putting this in the right place (hence the title) but one thing that has always put me off of many different YA books is the sheer stupidity of the characters."

It's not just you, but also me and all my YA-reading friends here on Goodreads. I am an adult now, but I was not a few years ago. I started reading YA when I was a teen and even at that age I thought most YA protagonists were so gosh dang TSTL. I know teens do stupid things, I've done some myself, but come on! I'm not expecting every YA protagonist to be a role model, but I am expecting them to have some goddamn common sense. I'm willing to put up 1-2 stupid mistakes, but not 10-20. Last thing a reader want to think about a YA protagonist is how they survived this far for so long.

Sometime I wonder if some the YA authors really do think teens are *that* stupid.

I'm not an author but rather a reviewer, and I can say I freaking hate reading about a character that is freaking perfect. There need to be REAL flaws not this stupid Bella Swan "kinda clumsy" stuff. REAL people REAL flaws. Even if the character has cat ears and breathes out frozen chimichangas, you can still make the character more real by giving them an actual personality.

Teens are definitely stupid. Believe me. They're stupid, but they are stupid in certain ways. Like, when I was 16 I was living on my own and working, but I was still stupid. I hate seeing a young character who is either acting like a jaded 40 year old or acts like a helpless toddler. If you aren't sure how a teen acts, spend a day volunteering at a youth center or use a character you can actually relate to.

It's not just in YA (and I could name a couple YA authors that do a good job and it is NOT a genre I read often lol).

There are some well known characters who constantly act silly. It's a big turn off UNLESS there is a reason that the character makes a bad choice(s). Sometimes, those character flaws lead to poor choices that are perfectly logical...and that's cool.

Splitter

I love flawed characters. People that make mistakes because of their age and inexperience are great, but how does the most irristable man on earth fall in love with the most dim-witted woman to ever live. I see this pattern repeated over and over in novels which is why I can't stand Twilight, Hush, Hush, Fallen or anything like it.

They are supposidly perfect and yet if I ever met them in real life, I'd be obligated to slap them. There is nothing desirable about them, yet they are the focus of the entire book. Why?

P.S. I probably sound like I'm jealous or gay but I'm neither. I am, however, incredibly interested in reader responses. Please let me know what you think.

You should read this review, titled "How To Write Popular YA Supernatural Literature AND Defile Your Spirit!" My favorite part:

"It is VERY important that your hero be perfect in almost every regard. Unlike the female protagonist who can disregard her appearance, he must not only be more attractive than a GQ model without any of the effort put into his appearance, but he must also be thoughtful, intelligent and mysterious.

In no way is he to reflect almost every teenage boy to have ever existed and he must have no desire to find a partner for himself who is in anyway comparable in looks, kindness, intelligence or perfection."

Actually, you know what? Every part of that review is my favorite. =D

Awesome review. My kind of thinking. :)

Sammy wrote: " but how does the most irristable man on earth fall in love with the most dim-witted woman to eve..."

I think it speaks to the insecurity of some women/girls, along with a desire to be loved despite their flaws. "If that idiot can get the perfect man, maybe I can too!"

A lot of romantic comedies fail for me in this way, like Sleepless in Seattle. What made Melanie Griffith's character the perfect mate? She was sneaking around behind her fiancé's back, chasing after another man because her fiancé had the great flaw of sniffling and sneezing a lot due to allergies!

I don't like when the killer is so obvious, or in some cases its obvious but then they devert your attention to make you think its not and then it ends up being who you thought anyways.
I also don't like when the main character whos hunting for the killer finds out that they themselves are the killer..like wth is that crap?
If only killers in books had choices like in Scooby Doo, they give you choices but then again its always the person you least suspect.