GIVE THEM FLAWS: Writerly

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Nuthin turns me off quicker than the W.E.B.Griffin character who's all braun & brains, war hero, and ethnic chief of detectives at 21, who dates Miss America and lives on a boat.

So I like to add flaws to my characters that are common: The candlelight accentuated the stretchmarks on her stomach. He pulled the wallet out of his pants upsidedown and the contents spilledout ass over teacup onto the asphalt. He was a barmaids idea of a gentleman. In his mind he was an angry bull, to everyone else he was a yappy dog who danced about in his indignation. He followed Daphne across the room, fingers in the crack of his ass working his shorts free.

 

[lance gt]

Nuthin turns me off quicker than the W.E.B.Griffin character who's all braun & brains, war hero, and ethnic chief of detectives at 21, who dates Miss America and lives on a boat.

So I like to add flaws to my characters that are common: The candlelight accentuated the stretchmarks on her stomach. He pulled the wallet out of his pants upsidedown and the contents spilledout ass over teacup onto the asphalt. He was a barmaids idea of a gentleman. In his mind he was an angry bull, to everyone else he was a yappy dog who danced about in his indignation. He followed Daphne across the room, fingers in the crack of his ass working his shorts free.

I give all my characters 'faults' or personal traits, as I like to think of them. To make them realistic, they have to be human and err, lose their temper and scream and yell, fart, burp, have runny noses and sniffle, all the normal things people do.

Perfection personified in a character just makes it a super hero comic book to me. Flaws are what make a reader relate more to your character, because they have the same ones.



I love Ester BTW "Don't you mess with me, fool"

 

[jomar]

Depends on what you're shooting for or what interests you. As you note, plenty of authors have had great success with "perfect" heroes.

 

[oggbashan]

...

Perfection personified in a character just makes it a super hero comic book to me. Flaws are what make a reader relate more to your character, because they have the same ones.

Super heroes tend to have flaws too e.g. Superman's vulnerability to Kryptonite.

 

[mcguinness]

Super heroes tend to have flaws too e.g. Superman's vulnerability to Kryptonite.

That's an external weakness, not a character flaw. That's like saying "my main character has a flaw, he can die if run over by a garbage truck."

 

[lance gt]

Whether it's a flaw, or a weakness, it's still a trait of the character that readers relate to. The comments I've received have said,' You're characters are so real, I feel like it's a real event and not a story.' I know I hit it out of the park when I get those.

I'm sure there are many who enjoy the 'perfect' hero/heroine, but there is a distinct lack of realism in it.

 

[lovecraft68]

I believe in "faulty" characters. Mine are abused children with various issues stemming from that.

I do however, go with the "alpha" appearance. They're both beautiful, but I use that physical beauty to heighten how broken they are underneath.

At one point I have the male lead say;

"I'm like an Easter Egg that someone saved on their mantel. It's pretty on the outside, but you don't want to be around if it cracks open."

 

[jomar]

...
I'm sure there are many who enjoy the 'perfect' hero/heroine, but there is a distinct lack of realism in it.

Of course, that's the point. Those readers want something other than true realism. Clive Cussler comes to mind as having dashing over the top heroes and save the world romps.

Parker's Jesse Stone is a great series with an alcoholic police chief with a conflicted relationship with his ex-wife.

It's all good stuff.

 

[Cruel2BKind]

Of course, that's the point. Those readers want something other than true realism. Clive Cussler comes to mind as having dashing over the top heroes and save the world romps.

Parker's Jesse Stone is a great series with an alcoholic police chief with a conflicted relationship with his ex-wife.

It's all good stuff.

Every male character James Cameron has written.

Despite how much you loved or hated Titanic, Aliens, Avatar, and The terminator franchise, Everybody admits that as a writer, James Cameron ROCKS at writing believably strong female characters.

Not 'resident evil' type characters where she's just strong and bitchy and breaks the laws of physics on the regular basis, but strong females who have flaws and fears.

His male characters on the other hand, come off as flat and perfect. See 'Jack' and 'Jake' as textbook examples of this.

 

[jomar]

Every male character James Cameron has written.

Despite how much you loved or hated Titanic, Aliens, Avatar, and The terminator franchise, Everybody admits that as a writer, James Cameron ROCKS at writing believably strong female characters.

Not 'resident evil' type characters where she's just strong and bitchy and breaks the laws of physics on the regular basis, but strong females who have flaws and fears.

His male characters on the other hand, come off as flat and perfect. See 'Jack' and 'Jake' as textbook examples of this.

Maybe, I haven't paid all that much attention. But wasn't Jake a bit tormented/angry about his paraplegia? And Jack desperate and soulful? And what about Bud Brigman...he had some issues.

But say your contention is true. Hard to imagine a control freak like Cameron is doing it by accident. So an interesting question is not only "Why?" but "What is he saying/telling us by doing so?"

 

[lance gt]

Maybe, I haven't paid all that much attention. But wasn't Jake a bit tormented/angry about his paraplegia? And Jack desperate and soulful? And what about Bud Brigman...he had some issues.

But say your contention is true. Hard to imagine a control freak like Cameron is doing it by accident. So an interesting question is not only "Why?" but "What is he saying/telling us by doing so?"

He found his own formula that works. It's his trademark, his signature. Like a musician plays guitar, or a singer hits notes, they are distinct in their delivery. I can pick out a Hans Zimmer score in seconds, he like certain notes and passages. Cameron and others, have found their uniqueness in style.

 

[Cruel2BKind]

Maybe, I haven't paid all that much attention. But wasn't Jake a bit tormented/angry about his paraplegia? And Jack desperate and soulful? And what about Bud Brigman...he had some issues.

But say your contention is true. Hard to imagine a control freak like Cameron is doing it by accident. So an interesting question is not only "Why?" but "What is he saying/telling us by doing so?"

Well, it's not that he does a bad job. It's just the case that he is so GOOD at writing female characters that his male characters come off as flat in comparison.

My most standards, Jack and Jake are well-written and three dimensional. It's just comparing them to Rose, and Ripley, and Sarah Connor makes them seem like paper cutouts in comparison.