Emotional about your characters?

I think some genres do well with characters that are, to my taste, fairly flat - hard scifi seems that way to me. And I think other genres are more accepting of unexciting plotlines as long as the characters are strong - I'd say a lot of romance fits into that category.

In general, though, I'd agree that it's best to have all elements well balanced. So whether passion for characters is or is not necessary in order to have strong characters, it's certainly unlikely that passion for characters is all that's needed to have a successful story.

 

I like you even more. I love quiet quite interesting people like Luna. *sharpens my fangs*

@BayView I know you are passionate about what you do. I believe that's every writer. I have a very large imagination and I can't imagine any writer writing without feeling something. Maybe they don't realize it but on some level every writer is writing from some emotion. Whatever it is, maybe that's enough. Some writers have been writing there whole life and have a large skillet to choose from.

I just started writing one month and fifteen days ago, before that I hadn't written anything since creative writing class in high school, my style of writing is the same back then as it is now. Apparently I've Ben told my writing has poetry to it and lots of good imagery. My grammar is crap, my sentence structure is horrendous, and my punctuation is something dogs howl at because it's something offensive to there delicate senses. But there is something there. I'm kind of stuck, writers block. I'm not sure how to break through. My prologue is almost done then I can get to the nitty gritty of world building. Also I'm going to passionately and emotionally slay some of my characters, I know it's going to feel like a serial killer just stepped into my head but I know I, going to LOVE IT. I can't wait.

 

Do you not think there's a spectrum between "not feeling anything" and "passionate"?

I mean... I'm not passionate about my writing, not based on any meaning of "passionate" that I understand. So possibly you "know" I'm passionate in the same way you "know" you're a vampire?

But not being passionate doesn't mean I don't care at all, obviously. I put effort into producing good work. I want to be a successful, professional writer. But writing isn't a top priority of my life, and I don't feel emotional involvement in my characters. You can "know" your way, and I'll "know" mine.

 

I agree with this to a degree, it depends on the goal of the book. But in general if you have a flat or just unlikeable character it could kill a good world. Or if you have a great character whose out of place in that world of Grey tones, then it can also come off wrong.

 

Agreed,

I've always said from the start that everyone has passion for what they're doing, or they wouldn't to be doing it

I don't know either if it's just they're unaware of it somehow or lying to themselves for some reason. They have passion for their material.

I also have one of those large imaginations, and concur with people claiming do not feel anything for their material. Emotion is part of creativity or else you just have flat land

 

I can agree with that @BayView if only you lived close enough we could sit down at Starbucks or a Tea House and let me pick your brains in person. I totally agree 100% on everyone having there own way. I wish i had years worth of experience in writing. Right now all i have is instinct and emotion,

And thank you for acknowledging my "vampire" that means a lot to me because it is part of who i am. *tips her hat @BayView *

 

There we go, was that a hard thing to say. Of course everyone cares about their material and their characters, putting passion aside.

I don't know about that, I think you secretly well up with tears and have a little soft cry, or laugh at times at seeing what you've written.

I think you want to do a little more though. Like writing a story handsome Starbucks barista who meets up a advertisement writer for a big company in New York.

Their eyes meet on that fateful day, and they know they have to be together, however they're both shy at talking with people on an intimate level and completely clumsy when it comes to relationships

 

You certainly need to excel at both characters and plot, but I don’t think that translates to characters being heart and plot being head. You need strategy and craftsmanship for both. And while I need emotion for both, I’m not sure that means others do. I think that the reader’s emotions matter; the writer gets there however they get there.

 

As a somewhat new writer (I've written a lot, but I've only recently become serious about it), I tend to stick to the old adage to "write what you know". Because of this, a lot of my MCs tend to be indirect manifestations of myself in one aspect or another, with tweaks to keep them interesting. In that sense, I care about them in the same way I care about myself, as I see them as being part of me.

At the same time, however, I have a very secure understanding that they're not me. I feel there needs to be a certain level of detachment from your characters in order to do right by the story itself. If I was afraid to hurt or kill off a character because I was too emotionally invested in them, I wouldn't be doing my duties as a writer to present the best story possible to anyone foolish enough to read my work.

Feeling emotion towards your characters is, as I see, a fine scale. Too much emotion for your characters and the story suffers because of your attachment. Too little emotion can cause the character to be drab and flat. This doesn't happen in every scenario, but it's a distinct possibility. Hell, it's a possibility if you care a ton about them too, but it's a bit more rare in my experience.

Anyways, those are just my thoughts on the matter.

 

I agree with most of what you're saying, but I'm just wondering if you have examples of authors who you know weren't emotionally invested in their characters who ended up writing characters you find drab and flat?

 

It's more from pieces I edited for peers in some of my creative writing classes in college. They weren't professionals by any stretch of the imagination, but I could tell whether they were in the class just for easy credits or if they actually cared about the story they were trying to tell.

I suppose, thinking back on it, I was more referencing the entire story being drab rather than just the characters, so my logic is flawed. Whoops!

 

I certainly agree that a lack of effort/interest is unlikely to lead to successful writing!

 

It was like when I took a drawing class in college to fill credits and it ended up being the hardest, most time-consuming class I had that term! People often underestimate the effort needed to be successful in any "art" (I say that loosely because I agree with you in the fact that writers aren't really artists).

 

Absolutely agree, naturally there needs to be a balance when it comes to emotions towards your characters

Caring about your characters should never hinder your story. If you need them to die, go through some horror riffic experience then do so.

If you having tea parties with your characters, might want to call a specialist. LOL!

 

Anyone for cucumber sandwiches?

 

Hell yeah

 

Okay. So: thought experiment. What would it take to convince you that you're wrong? What would you consider proof?

(I'm responding to @John-Wayne, for anyone who currently can't see his content.)

I mean... imagine if someone told you asexuals existed, and asexuals didn't feel sexual desire. And you said: "Nope! Asexuals don't exist. Everyone feels sexual desire." And then a bunch of asexuals popped up and explained yes, they do exist, and no, they do not feel sexual desire. And you responded: "Nope! You're either lying or deluding yourself. You do. Everyone does."

We're caught in a loop, here.

Realistically. What would change your mind?

 

I had a bit of a moment when Roses father is killed in a duel by J. She went though a lot of painful emotions when her father died in her arms. He was willing to sacrifice everything for his daughter and his village. J took it to far and killed Rose’s father after Elric told him to stop.

Rose finds out she was lied to by Elric later in the story.

The antagonist, Jormond is terrifying, he is hungry and mad. He devours an entire village to sate his hunger. I got a image of a dragon attacking an unsuspecting village. Only one person survives the encounter.

 

I don't get very emotional but I do get pretty attached to my characters. And seeing them suffer is not something that I enjoy.

 

I have a list, but I dare not mention it's contents due to
a little fact that it could start a fire.

 

I think we need an agreed upon definition for the word, "passion."

Is it clinging attachment that sets your mind on fire and makes you willing to sacrifice objectively good things for the subject of your desire?

Is it something for which you feel deep motivation because of your beliefs and goals?

Is it something you do out of habit because your identity is wrapped up in it?

 

I'd be interested in this list. The caveat is as BayView mentioned: can you prove that the author wasn't emotionally invested in the characters? Or, at least demonstrate some kind of evidence?

 

I agree that the definition is unclear.

I'd consider passion to be a pretty intense emotion, something that drives and preoccupies and obsesses you.

But then when I say that I care about my characters in the same way that I care about typesetting or cover design (ie. I put some effort into it but don't have a significant emotional involvement) some posters are apparently taking that as evidence that I have passion, so I guess for some people passion = any level of interest whatsoever?

 

The hard part is being able to show actual proof, leading to a definitive answer. Though
it is easy to tell by how the characters are written as to how much the author has invested
into them.
I leave older works off this, since the early 1900's on back things were quite different than
they are from the 70's on up.

 

Merriam-Webster defines passion as:

• "Intense, driving, or overmastering feeling or conviction."
• "Ardent affection."
• "Devotion to some activity, object, or concept."

Maybe we ought to kidnap Bayview, hook her up to a machine, and track her heart rate and hormone levels as she writes.

I've got the duct tape. Anybody got handcuffs?