Can you teach your characters?

[Five_Inch_Heels]

Can you help them not make the same mistake in life you did? Can you make them better people that you are?

And if you try, can you make it believable?

I'm not talking about trying to make them a doctor or scientist where you have to do a bunch of research into a trade or profession. Just to make them treat people better, or to listen to others better.

 

[THBGato]

Yeah, sure? I think all my characters are "better" than me in some ways (and I did make two of them Doctors, and another a Scientist working on cancer research). Though, as has been discussed on other threads, sometimes people who are too perfect aren't very relatable.

 

[THBGato]

By the way, given your love of heels, you really might enjoy this story by Bi_Cathy.

 

[ChuckWolf]

For my erotic stories, most of the male characters are a little wide-eyed/clueless or not as smart as they think they are and the female characters are usually the opposite, aggressively horny and very comfortable using their positions of power for their own ends.

My non-erotic works, I guess?

 

[AshCardiff]

A good story, I think, will generally have characters growing or experiencing something that changes them.

 

[lovecraft68]

For my erotic stories, most of the male characters are a little wide-eyed/clueless or not as smart as they think they are and the female characters are usually the opposite, aggressively horny and very comfortable using their positions of power for their own ends.

Mine are generally the same. I like the woman with more experience and being the instigator.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

My characters tend to be decent people as I write about them, but often refer to past times when they weren't so good at coping or dealing with people, or looking after themselves. Talking about how they make or made decisions can be a way to show the reader their internal development. I have one character who's featured in stories at ages 20, 38 to 40 with various anecdotes about his 20s and 30s, and then a jump to 48, so the circumstances are quite different as well as his character.

 

[Kelliezgirl]

I try to make my characters flawed people who are trying to be better, or people who are still trying to figure it all out. I think that makes them relatable.
as THBGato pointed out, perfect characters aren't interesting or relatable.

 

[TheRedChamber]

Better? No. Inexplicably more successful with women? Sure.

There is a theory that says when writing a screenplay one of the first things you should do is have your main character 'save a kitten' so that the audience will like them. I'm not so sure, but it often helps to establish that your MC is 'nice enough to be worth liking' early on*.

For what it's worth, while I've never saved a kitten, I have saved a goose and am still a hero in my wife's eyes. We together also tried but failed to save a sick street dog once (which if I were a Lit character would be the hidden depths I reveal to the love interest halfway through the story).

Most of my characters are fairly uncomplicatedly nice. Maybe I'm not cynical enough but I don't think you need to work hard to make that believable.

(*unless your going for dark and brooding anti-hero of course).

 

[Rob_Royale]

Just to make them treat people better, or to listen to others better.

Constantly. I'd call my characters a bunch of Mary Sue's for sure.

 

[oneagainst]

It's like herding cats, honestly. The more you try....

Though it's led to a new direction, where the characters get their own say in how their story unfolds. I've been playing around with the 4th wall and asking the question: what if your character was aware that they were a character in a story, and they had the power to rewrite it? Turns out they get up to all sorts of stuff: A Place For Us All To Belong

 

[Writer61]

Better? No. Inexplicably more successful with women? Sure.

Sounds about right to me.

 

[Writer61]

Can you help them not make the same mistake in life you did? Can you make them better people that you are?

I suppose that you can, but it probably depends on why you want to do that.

I write for my own pleasure not to work out any angst. If some of my characters are better, or worse, people than me it is a coincidence.

 

[SookieHaze7]

Can you help them not make the same mistake in life you did? Can you make them better people that you are?

And if you try, can you make it believable?

I'm not talking about trying to make them a doctor or scientist where you have to do a bunch of research into a trade or profession. Just to make them treat people better, or to listen to others better.

I'd say you can. Lot's of authors enjoy using their writing to explore other possible paths their lives might've taken if they'd made different decisions. There's nothing wrong with that, and I'm told it can be cathartic.

It's funny, but I have the opposite problem. I was trained to make decisions in real time as soon as I learn the relevant facts, and I've found that 99 times out of a 100, I end up happy with my initial gut reaction . I still write characters who fret over decisions, but that's so alien to me that I never know if it works until others read it. For me, it's like writing about a place I've never been, but that can be fun too.

I find it difficult to write characters who struggle with decisions because I tend to make them quickly, usually so fast that slower decision makers believe I didn't think the issue through. It's not that I'm smarter than other people. I just tend to get to the solution faster and have to wait for everyone else to catch up as they go through their equally legitimate process. I don't really look back and wish I'd done things differently since I can't change it, but I do use those experiences to make better decisions in the future.

I also have a hard time writing characters who are morally challenged or who can't predict what I see as the obvious consequences for their actions. I do it because people who always do the right thing make for boring characters, but I never know if it works until others read it. IRL, I think most people who struggle with morality are just trying to rationalize what they know is bad behavior or want to avoid the consequences of their actions.

 

[MillieDynamite]

I can't even teach myself anymore; how can I teach my headstrong, willful characters a thing?

 

[SimonDoom]

I write short stories, not novels, so I'm not too concerned about teaching my characters much over the course of the story. I think of my protagonists as being decent and sympathetic, but not unusually virtuous, people. They're good enough, usually, for readers to relate to.

The typical character arc in my stories is a character who moves toward acceptance of an erotic kink, whatever the kink is--BDSM, exhibitionism, incest, etc. I find that journey interesting and erotic, and that's what I typically write about. I'm not typically interested in depicting them traveling other character/story arcs because it's not essential to what I want to do in the story.

 

[Cagivagurl]

An opinion.... Nothing more than that.
Assuming you think you know what makes people better is a simplistic approach...
What is better?
Are your characters going to show the signs of being the sort of person we as individuals aspire to be.
Show sympathy, be empathetic, feel love, feel guilt and shame when boundaries are crossed.

If so, who sets the boundaries? Society... The characters, the writers?

If you have an agenda within your story you are trying to sell, then I can see the need for leaning a story in a certain direction.

If it is simply a story, and it covers a characters move through life. What I look for in those instances is emotional growth. A circumstance made the character ask themselves a question. Why did they respond or act in a certain way. What was the emotional driver... Love, hate, guilt, shame, joy pride, envy...
If the writer is able to express in the words of their story how all of those things were connected. Then I believe it works as a story...

Not all characters have to become Mother Theresa. We are not all the same. We all choose different paths.

Cagivagurl

 

[MillieDynamite]

I must have missed the post you're responding to! In our own stories, I believe no one knows better than the author what makes their character better or worse.

An opinion.... Nothing more than that.
Assuming you think you know what makes people better is a simplistic approach...
What is better?
Are your characters going to show the signs of being the sort of person we as individuals aspire to be.
Show sympathy, be empathetic, feel love, feel guilt and shame when boundaries are crossed.

If so, who sets the boundaries? Society... The characters, the writers?

If you have an agenda within your story you are trying to sell, then I can see the need for leaning a story in a certain direction.

If it is simply a story, and it covers a characters move through life. What I look for in those instances is emotional growth. A circumstance made the character ask themselves a question. Why did they respond or act in a certain way. What was the emotional driver... Love, hate, guilt, shame, joy pride, envy...
If the writer is able to express in the words of their story how all of those things were connected. Then I believe it works as a story...

Not all characters have to become Mother Theresa. We are not all the same. We all choose different paths.

Cagivagurl