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  1. Joseph F

    Joseph F New Member

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    No salt and no pepper

    Discussion in 'Character Development' started by Joseph F, Jun 3, 2020.

    Anyone have a problem with a main character who doesn't do things? I mean that the character feels inert even after coming up with character motivations, backstory, and so forth and the character just sits there in the scene and just doesn't come alive. It does nothing. Like a dolt or a pair of goggles (see below for clarification).

    I feel like this is one of the most frustrating things that can happen. You have all these neat pieces of a person that should combine into a character that comes off as compelling and instead you get a character that is kind of boring even when they shouldn't be, even when all the elements are there for what should be at the least an interesting character. Instead nothing. No salt, no pepper. Just boring egg whites.

    [​IMG]
     
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  2. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Are you saying the character is passive, or just bland? Maybe both?

    A story is conflict, and the characters are agents of that conflict. My standard model is an internal combustion engine, with each character being a piston. They all need to be actively engaged in order to force the driveshaft around and around—especially the protagonist and antagonist. And for that they require explosive fuel. That's conflict.

    Don't think too much about character traits or other things until you've got a good solid conflict crafted, with well-drawn protag and antag locked in combat for whatever the goal is. It might be the restoration of peace in the protags life, or something he feels he needs to achieve no matter what the cost. Once you've got this squared away you can start to work on the other layers of characterization.

    What is it about the 2 of them that makes them bristle on sight of each other? Maybe one is all about honesty and integrity and the other is a lying manipulating son of a bitch? Though that could easily make for a dull protagonist. Probably best to make him a little on the grayscale, or even an anti-hero. That's where characters start to get really interesting.
     
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  3. Steve Rivers

    Steve Rivers Contributor Contributor

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    Dovetailing Xoic's post, I think the part about productivity in this might be worth a watch.
     
  4. Cephus

    Cephus Contributor Contributor

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    Characters don't just act on their own. You have to give them something to do. You have to give them something to react to. You can't plop a character down in the middle of a blank page and expect them to dance. Ultimately, *YOU* are in control, not the character. Make them do something.
     
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  5. Joseph F

    Joseph F New Member

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    I suspect that I'm trying to write the wrong type of character. I think I've been trying to make the same kind of character work for a long time. But I don't think this kind of character I've been trying to write works for my style or what I'm trying to get at in terms of story and effect. Trying to write characters that are more, I suppose you can say, every-man or that lack a certain theatricality. I'm not sure where I picked up that bad habit but I think it's one I ought to work on breaking. Not that there's anything wrong with every-man characters but I think I write better when my characters are of a certain type with a certain type of edge.
     
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  6. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    I've got a very similar problem. Most of the characters I write tend to be do-gooders, a little too honest and pleasant—a bit like myself actually, or maybe more of an idealized version of myself. Probably a self-insertion of sorts. I definitely need to just write up a bunch of practice stuff with some edgier types.
     
  7. Friedrich Kugelschreiber

    Friedrich Kugelschreiber marshmallow Contributor

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    Holden Caulfield fanfic would be good practice.
     
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  8. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    Never read it (Blasphemy!!! :supershock:) Catcher in the Rye? My strongest association with it is it was the book Mel Gibson had multiple multiple copies of in the one movie where he was obsessed with Julia Roberts. Conspiracy Theory, Bing informs me.
     
  9. Friedrich Kugelschreiber

    Friedrich Kugelschreiber marshmallow Contributor

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    Yeah. It's pretty good and I really like it, but at the same time Holden is kind of an edgelord.
     
  10. Iain Aschendale

    Iain Aschendale Lying, dog-faced pony Marine Supporter Contributor

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    I've found (in my limited experience as a writer) that "write what you know" can lead to self-insertion and a pretty bland character. Not because (I hope) I'm bland, but because my actions and motivations are so obvious to me that I can't see them from the outside. When I try to write like a suburban mommy or a daredevil climber or whatever it forces me out of my comfort zone and makes me show (or tell, either way) what that person feels and why they feel it.

    Hmmm, writing prompt coming on.
     
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  11. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    In my case anyway, I think it's largely because I want to present myself in a 'good light' in several regards. And I think I end up creating too nice of a character, in the sense that Kevin Sorbo's Hercules was too nice compared to all earlier versions. Bland, dull, and pretty much a forced vehicle for PC ethics in the ancient world. Meanwhile, his little buddy Iolas was much more rowdy and lusty, sort of the way Herc should have been (though really still too cleaned up). The best thing that show ever did was birth Xena—the dark avenger come to rectify all the do-goody-ness of the main characters. They finally got the dynamic right with Xena being a recovering evil-holic trying to make up for her past misdeeds but always unable to, and her sweet, innocent little sidekick trying to reign her in and serving as her conscience, which she all too seldom listened to.
     
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  12. jannert

    jannert Retired Mod Supporter Contributor

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    I suspect if you've got a static character, you actually have a static situation. You've got to make things go VERY wrong for your character. This will force them to react (or act...hopefully both) or they will simply be subsumed. Which can also be an option, by the way. I'd say go with the character you've got, even if it's wish-fulfillment, but start putting them through hell. And don't let them get OUT of hell too easily.

    Play the what-if game. They're sitting peacefully in their dream home, doing whatever they love to do most, and ...and WHAT? Make something happen that totally disturbs that peace. Something gigantic ...like a car crashes through the front of the house, killing the daughter. Or something more insidious ...they get a phone call from a friend, who sounds very distressed ...then the call gets cut off with a scream. Or they turn on the TV to discover that the leader of their country has just been assassinated and the group that did it is enroute to their own city, armed and dangerous. Or they get a visit from a friend, who beats around the bush, then confesses they're having a torrid affair with your character's spouse.

    Do something to your dull character to boot them out of their comfort zone. Make them either need to react or die. Give them a dilemma they can't actually solve. (The son whom they love is arrested for murder ...which it turns out he DID commit.)
     
  13. Joseph F

    Joseph F New Member

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    Hmmm. My next problem then, if I just kick my character's ass with some horrible problem, is how to tie it to the character and not have it come out of nowhere? The problem or the event should have something to do with the character and tie into his or her flaw. In short, I keep feeling like the main character has to be active and, in a sense, bring the trouble on him or herself. That and how do I not be too obvious? Do I just have the forces of my antagonist or the antagonist him or herself bust down my main character's front door and start wrecking shop? Or should it be more insidious and build to my main character being booted out of his or her comfortable little world? Maybe I should heed TARS's advice: "This is no time for caution." I know everyone applauds subtlety and I understand that not every situation calls for a sledgehammer and that sometimes a scalpel is what's needed but I feel like I've become too dependent on the scalpel and need to start kicking up some dust.

    Maybe what are boring characters need is some kind of boot camp in how to be more bad-ass and less sad-ass
     
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  14. Xoic

    Xoic Prognosticator of Arcana Ridiculosum Contributor Blogerator

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    The inciting incident can either come out of left field—the protagonist getting broadsided completely by some dastardly plot of the baddie—or it can be related to a flaw of his own. There are probably a few other options too. I think which way you choose determines much about what kind of story it will be. If it's more about the MC's own issues, you might to go with some catastrophe brought on by him. Then your plot would (might) be more about interior conflict and take place largely in the head of the protag. I think if you want it to be about external conflict, MC against nemesis, it's fine to broadside him out of nowhere. That's when he becomes suddenly and forcibly aware of the antagonist and has to change his life to do something about it.
     
  15. TheOtherPromise

    TheOtherPromise Senior Member

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    From what I can tell the best conflicts are the ones that have a particular impact on the character. Or in other words the best characters are the ones most impacted by the conflict.

    So one way you could think about it is either egg first or chicken first (conflict or character). If you've already got your character developed create a conflict that hits them where it hurts. One that forces them to act if they wish to preserve what they care about/obtain what they want. If you've already developed a conflict, what kind of character would be most impacted by it and would go try and confront the conflict.

    Since character and conflict are, for the most part, the two pillars that hold up a story, you can't always judge them separately. Your character might seem bland, but if they had the correct kind of conflict they could really excel. And vice versa.
     
  16. Cephus

    Cephus Contributor Contributor

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    You really need to read up on character arcs and story plotting. It really sounds like you have a character who has no direct link to your story. You can't just have a character and just have a story and expect them to magically interact. The main character is an integral part of the story and the story is an integral part of the main character. If they're not, then you have a fundamental structural problem. There needs to be something that the character needs that will launch them into the story, an inciting incident. If the character has no reason to be involved, it's not a bland character, it's a character that has no reason to exist at all.
     
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