common character elements
Jan. 19th, 2008 10:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aithneI was musing about this today, after seeing several writers posting on the subject on my friends list. So I ponder, how do you tell a character is written by me?
Here's what I came up with.
1. The protagonist has something they feel duty-bound to/responsible for. This probably says quite a bit about me, because it's one of the things that is pretty much invariable. I should try to write an irresponsible character one of these days.
2. Everyone has a profession. Usually, they're pretty good at their jobs. Exception here is Imryne, who was supposed to be a house mage but has pretty much failed at being good enough to be one. Until she becomes a representative, she mostly contents herself with watching house politics and raising her children with Tarithra and Ilfryn.
3. They might not be good people. Often, they could be antagonists if the story was written from another viewpoint. Livia from Every Sacred Thing, for instance, was not a nice lady. Ayame from Shadows and Silk was an assassin and pretty much the definition of not a good person, at least to start with. Palil from Tiamat's Kittens was good at what she did, but in contrast with her bondmate she was not a naturally good person. And, well, there's Martin from Sleepless Streets. Martin is probably the least good person I've ever written. Pater Riverbend wants to be good so desperately, spends so much time atoning for what he considers his mistakes, but even in the end he's a guy living with the fact that when the chips are down, he is always going to make the wrong decision, and the selfish decision. That's just who he is.
4. They have tempers, but they usually keep them buttoned up. And they're usually very polite. Exceptions include Odile from Black Angel Crossroads and Sabina from Hunter's Shadow (which is what Storm and I are working on now). Sabina is fun precisely because her temper burns hot and fast, and she is totally unafraid of letting it show and going after the person who's pissed her off, whether with fists or with words. She likes fighting. A lot. (A lot as in "it gets her hormones all a-race".) Otherwise, my characters tend to be polite to a fault. Some of them wield politeness as a weapon.
5. They're generally broken in some fashion. Some more than others. Reiko from Nine Tails and Illume is pretty certifiable. Imryne has episodes of depression that look a lot like psychotic breaks. Sondirra's an alcoholic and tends to risk her neck a lot, Palil's repressed and kind of prudish. Jade from Flower of War has intimacy issues. But it's along the breaks that they're the most interesting, for me--not where they're broken, but what that says about them as a person and how they fit into their world.
6. They're religious. There are notable exceptions here, namely Ayame and Sabina (who has absorbed a lot of the background religious stuff in her culture but doesn't think about it much). But a lot of them, even if they're not priests, are at least fervent believers in their chosen gods. Again, reflection of the writer here.
7. Either they're accomplished liars, or they're unreliable narrators. Sometimes both. However, most of them lie largely to themselves. Exception to this is Sabina, who never met a truth she didn't want to shout from the rooftops, and the fact that her life's sunk into this mire of lies is driving her crazy.
8. They're intelligent, or they're wise. Sometimes both. I dislike stupid people, and I have to spend a lot of time with my protagonists, so they all tend to be bright.
9. They make mistakes. Big ones. And they fail. Lack of information, headstrong pride, having to make decisions in the heat of the moment--sometimes you're going to jump the wrong way. And sometimes those mistakes leave scars and holes in their lives.
10. They're strong. There's all kinds of strength, though. Even what I would consider my least strong character, crazy, broken little Reiko, even she's got a core of steel and the ability to pull it together, ward off her ghosts, and do what she has to do to survive.
11. They like sex. Unfortunately, if they're male, they always seem to have guilt issues around sex for whatever reason. I have got to write a male protagonist who's as unconflicted about sex as most of my female protagonists one of these days.
Here's what I came up with.
1. The protagonist has something they feel duty-bound to/responsible for. This probably says quite a bit about me, because it's one of the things that is pretty much invariable. I should try to write an irresponsible character one of these days.
2. Everyone has a profession. Usually, they're pretty good at their jobs. Exception here is Imryne, who was supposed to be a house mage but has pretty much failed at being good enough to be one. Until she becomes a representative, she mostly contents herself with watching house politics and raising her children with Tarithra and Ilfryn.
3. They might not be good people. Often, they could be antagonists if the story was written from another viewpoint. Livia from Every Sacred Thing, for instance, was not a nice lady. Ayame from Shadows and Silk was an assassin and pretty much the definition of not a good person, at least to start with. Palil from Tiamat's Kittens was good at what she did, but in contrast with her bondmate she was not a naturally good person. And, well, there's Martin from Sleepless Streets. Martin is probably the least good person I've ever written. Pater Riverbend wants to be good so desperately, spends so much time atoning for what he considers his mistakes, but even in the end he's a guy living with the fact that when the chips are down, he is always going to make the wrong decision, and the selfish decision. That's just who he is.
4. They have tempers, but they usually keep them buttoned up. And they're usually very polite. Exceptions include Odile from Black Angel Crossroads and Sabina from Hunter's Shadow (which is what Storm and I are working on now). Sabina is fun precisely because her temper burns hot and fast, and she is totally unafraid of letting it show and going after the person who's pissed her off, whether with fists or with words. She likes fighting. A lot. (A lot as in "it gets her hormones all a-race".) Otherwise, my characters tend to be polite to a fault. Some of them wield politeness as a weapon.
5. They're generally broken in some fashion. Some more than others. Reiko from Nine Tails and Illume is pretty certifiable. Imryne has episodes of depression that look a lot like psychotic breaks. Sondirra's an alcoholic and tends to risk her neck a lot, Palil's repressed and kind of prudish. Jade from Flower of War has intimacy issues. But it's along the breaks that they're the most interesting, for me--not where they're broken, but what that says about them as a person and how they fit into their world.
6. They're religious. There are notable exceptions here, namely Ayame and Sabina (who has absorbed a lot of the background religious stuff in her culture but doesn't think about it much). But a lot of them, even if they're not priests, are at least fervent believers in their chosen gods. Again, reflection of the writer here.
7. Either they're accomplished liars, or they're unreliable narrators. Sometimes both. However, most of them lie largely to themselves. Exception to this is Sabina, who never met a truth she didn't want to shout from the rooftops, and the fact that her life's sunk into this mire of lies is driving her crazy.
8. They're intelligent, or they're wise. Sometimes both. I dislike stupid people, and I have to spend a lot of time with my protagonists, so they all tend to be bright.
9. They make mistakes. Big ones. And they fail. Lack of information, headstrong pride, having to make decisions in the heat of the moment--sometimes you're going to jump the wrong way. And sometimes those mistakes leave scars and holes in their lives.
10. They're strong. There's all kinds of strength, though. Even what I would consider my least strong character, crazy, broken little Reiko, even she's got a core of steel and the ability to pull it together, ward off her ghosts, and do what she has to do to survive.
11. They like sex. Unfortunately, if they're male, they always seem to have guilt issues around sex for whatever reason. I have got to write a male protagonist who's as unconflicted about sex as most of my female protagonists one of these days.
