Something that I always find come up when people talk about writing good characters is that they have to be relatable to the reader. I am looking into writing something taking place in Japan around 1904 where, at the time, Japan was indoctrinating its population to treat their emperor as a deity and show utmost devotion to him. In the 1904-1905 Russo Japanese War, the Imperial Japanese Army displayed absurd amounts of courage and psychological endurance. This is where I am having second thoughts about the whole thing. I think the historical context and cultural upbringing would influence the character to do or feel things that a reader today would find unrealistic or unrelatable. Could this still work?
Period pieces are hard to write. I would include historical fiction would also require more research. That being said, I have been through the drudgery of writing historical fiction. I found it was easier if I used an actual known character from that time period. Your MC could play off the know character to develop his own personality. Some of the events will have to be morphed into modern understanding. For instance the harsh cruelty at that time in Japan, you may be able to play it down a little and so on ........
When you do research for your historical fiction, do you find certain types of books to read, such as using textbooks vs. other historical fictions to get a good sense of the culture and manners of the time?
Yes I try to find anything from that time period, but the geography also plays a part. My story took place in Spain and France so info from England or Germany was no good. I also used Google word definition it will show the origin of a word and if it was used then. I don't know how that would work for a Japanese background but it is my process. It is easy to slip up as I had two friend leaving each other with a promise to call and keep in touch. One problem.... No phones. I did the same for a cab in the 1800's It will be interesting to see how you pull it off. You might start with James Clavell's Shogun. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0440178002/?tag=writingfor07a-20
Not exactly These people have clearly never heard of Humbert Humbert Patrick Bateman Michael Corleone Alex de Large Tom Ripley Dorian Gray ... Characters need to be interesting, and a fresh way of looking at an unrelatable character is more interesting than a tired way of looking at a relatable character.
I can't relate to most characters, but they can still be enjoyable to read. Until Newt Scamander was fleshed out in the movie, there was never a character I could relate to in any type of entertainment. Relating to a character can help young children and teens, but I think most grnres don't need that. Just keep the character interesting and things will be fine.
I think the idea of relating to a character is usually either a situational thing or a character trait for me. If a character is going through a situation and you can relate to that specific period of time or action that you have experience of you feel a bit more of an attachment or even you know the opposite. We all say 'oh I know what I would do if a bear was standing in front of me', i'm pretty sure 95% of people would be wrong but you still have an idea of what you would do in certain situations. It also comes I think from boundaries or lengths to which you would do something which can relate you to a character. Certain characters always face this, if you were a soldier told that you had to raze a village to the ground because your leader tells you. Some people would be able to do it as their responsibility has been removed and given to the leader, however others would not. I think that's more of a morality thing than about being relatable though. A good source for that is the stanley Milgram experiment though for how far people will go when they're told it is okay to do so. In terms of making a character relatable ,I think showing the struggle that people go through to make a decision is always going to be relatable and will link someone to a character
I think most food characters are relatable on some level. Humbert Humbert is a disgusting, sick, and unreliable person. He’s also educated, witty, and intelligent. The reader can relate to his word play and wit while being horrified by his overall character and his actions.
