my characters don't drink alcohol and it's on purpose

I'm not most people/writers for that matter

what makes me different from most is my main protagonists are a reflection of who I am-

none of my characters smoke or drink or do drugs, heck, they don't eat meat, the don't have loveless/meaningless sex, they have strong spiritual beliefs, they're Queer/LGBTQ+, etc

they're actually good people that wanna be better than they were yesterday, like me-

I'm curious to see if there's any other outsiders out there like myself and my characters

 

*I write for myself and others like myself,
the misfits, the outsiders, the rebels, the "alien"

 

Kinda, I have a start to a Sci-fi novel where nobody smokes. Which is a first
for me, considering the easy ways to spot one of my stories includes:
Smoking
Drinking
Bomber Jacket/Trench Coat
Coffee (in excess).

Though I've written elements you mention through out different stories,
but not all in the same one.
Been trying to write different things, since I got bored writing the Grim
Sci-fi War scene.
Latest novel has a main character exploring her sexuality, and is dating
a female alien. There is a part where they are gifted a huge neon orange
flower with it's pedal tips dipped in dark chocolate.
Mainly I just write whatever comes to me, and that I enjoy writing. Only
real rule I set myself is to not be afraid of using contractions outside of
dialogue.
Overthinking isn't part of the equation, it's more about creating a fun
read to share with others.

I'm sure you'll find your audience.

 

I don't make all my characters like myself. You want to create a character web, so they contrast and compliment each other in interesting ways. Two of the characters in the current WIP don't do drugs or smoke and only drink occasionally, but one does all the above in excess and has an older brother who's a heroin junkie. And I'm considering having one of the more clean-cut ones start to move into that same lifestyle. Having characters that illustrate different viewpoints on an issue allows for some good scenes.

 

My characters aren't 100% copies of me, they do have their own unique traits/etc
I just think it's important to show people that there are people out there that don't have to conform to every stupid human thing

 

ok?

 

My goal is to show members of the audience watching that "hey, look, these guys don't smoke or drink like you, nothing's wrong with you"

People need to be reminded especially teenagers that hey, guess what, you're not like everyone else around you? You're awesome and not alone, keep being you.

alcoholism is shoved down our throats by tv and movies,

We need people to see that not destroying yourself is normal.

 

The strongest anti-drug movie ever (in my and some others' opinion) featured a decline in addiction and eventual bad ends. It is easier to learn from a character's downfall than from the lack thereof. That's the point of a tragedy.

To me, your characters come off as author avatars / mary sues. Main issue with those is whether you will be able to handle criticisim of the characters or not.

 

I was going to make a comment, but I decided I had better not, because I'll get myself in trouble.

 

Yes. Watch Train Spotting and you will never feel inclined to try drugs.

 

My characters don't do drugs because I don't do drugs and I don't think I could write realistically about the experience. I don't have plans of making it a big moral thing though, it's just a fact of my life and thence theirs. There are plenty of stories where drugs/alcohol/smoking just aren't a thing. Actually in movies, smoking stands out to me as something that's pretty unnecessary unless it is, if that makes sense. According to Prof. Google, only about 14 percent of American adults smoke anymore. In the past, giving someone a tobacco habit might have been a good way to round out a character, but now it feels like it's put into films (films depicting the current or future, of course) simply because the screenwriters/cinematographers learned to use lighting, puffing, and grinding out a cigarette as the way to put beats into a scene. Sheep jumping over a cancer stick that's no longer there.

Not to say smoking should be removed from art, but it should be the answer to a question. Like Escape from LA, where Snake finding the smokes is a symbol of him being a throwback to a tougher generation, or The Fifth Element where they needed the character to have a match at the end of the movie.

 

Experimentation is normal. Especially as teens. Some just experiment more or less than others.
I had my first experience getting drunk in college with teammates. It sucked. Never did it again (in college... Got drunk on new years after college and was reminded of how much it sucked and never did it again after that).
One thing i never did was drugs, partly because i played sports and NCAA could fine you of you test positive on a pee test. Other part of me just had zero interest in it.
My brother, on the other hand, experimented with everything.
No one is destroying their lives.

My characters are "normal" in the sense that they try new things. They arent a reflection of ME and MY choices, but that doesnt mean they are bad and destructive.
Granted, i dont write about drugs in my stories, not because i have an agenda or something, but because i have no experience with it to write about it accurately. But i do have characters that have gotten drink or scenes in a bar/tavern and parties.


Im not against reading books with characters that drink and do drugs or have premarital sex and whatever. Reading about it as a kid didnt make me suddenly want to go out and so it and it certainly didnt make me feel abnormal and out of place for not wanting to do it.
Idk... "destroying yourself" is a big stretch in my opinion...

 

An axiom of art is that to make people notice something in your piece you need to show them the opposite as well. We notice things because of contrast. Example, they say if you want a painting to look dark you need to include some light somewhere in it or that overall darkness just becomes the default and people don't notice that it's dark. In the same way that your eyes adjust when you're in a semi-dark room, people's expectations adjust to whatever is presented as normal in a movie or a story.

So if nobody is drinking or getting high then that never becomes an issue or a theme of the story. If you want the story to be about that, or you want it to be a theme, you need to show characters who do and characters who don't.

 

I won't be so strict with positive, main characters. They will not take drugs, will not discriminate against others because of their gender, wealth and ethnic identity, and will never harm innocent people. But they also have their own shortcomings, such as mild drinking, gluttony and irritability. After all, the reality is too chaotic, and there are too few people who are good at self-control, but at least one should be firm and correct in important moral issues.

 

I don't take drugs, and that includes dope, because I've been around people who do and have seen its effects. On the other hand, I like a tipple but I've seen how messed up people can get when drunk. I know about pubs but almost nothing about the drug world, hence I don't write much about the latter. I've met great drunks and people who take dope and met horrible people who take neither.

p.s. Your characters are not unusual if they live in communities where they think and act the same. The media does it, then is shocked when the public don't vote for who it thinks we should or give the correct anwer in a referendum. In my humble opinion, stories should reflect real life, not how we think it should be.

 

Point taken. But I was taking more about the types, although when I think of it, we make our MCs more butch, handomer, prettier or sexier than normal. And/or give them some quirk to make them stand out from the herd.

 

And they usually don't shit much at all!

 

So, how realistic do you want horror to get?

Jim shivered in his boots, sweating profusely holding
his breath. The hollow darkness filled with a thunderous
roar from an unknown creature. Stifling a whimper, as his
pants quickly filled with the last thing he'd eaten.
To make matters worse is that he heard something moving
on heavy feet in his general direction. He chose to sprint
in the opposite direction, in a hot sweaty shitty stew and
stench...

 

Say ten Hail Marys and report to human resources for reprogramming!