tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post485732097055763566..comments2024-03-28T09:13:07.455+00:00Comments on MOODY WRITING: Let Characters Be Wrongmooderinohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-31340176355609553352013-02-09T01:37:28.258+00:002013-02-09T01:37:28.258+00:00@Addictivestory - cheers!@Addictivestory - cheers!mooderinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-60618676395272753812013-02-09T00:41:36.104+00:002013-02-09T00:41:36.104+00:00What a great post, you're absolutely right. Pe...What a great post, you're absolutely right. Perfect characters are boring, and we need to make room for flaws. They're what make a story interesting. Epic thoughts! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-4224213030908528362013-01-09T11:53:19.373+00:002013-01-09T11:53:19.373+00:00@Barry - there aren't many humans without flaw...@Barry - there aren't many humans without flaws, but quite a few who think they have fewer flaws than everyone else. They're the ones who tend to mike life miserable for the rest of us.mooderinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-32472487232195083542013-01-09T08:05:07.264+00:002013-01-09T08:05:07.264+00:00I agree completely that characters should be allow...I agree completely that characters should be allowed to be wrong. As a matter of fact, in all of my writing whether it for a YA audience or adults my characters all have their flaws. Sometimes they overcome them. Other times it's far more difficult. There's no one right way to create a character. What I often do is start off with the warts of a character and as the book progresses that character works on becoming a better person, or a better cop. In my Shamra Chronicles the main character, Dara, has warts galore. Over the course of the trilogy she confronts them. Some she overcomes. Others (being stubborn and impatient) continue to plague her even though even with these she grows with time. So, yes, create characters with flaws. There are no humans without them and it makes little sense (and it's often boring) to create characters too good to be true.Barry Hoffmanhttp://shamrachronicles.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-42457261179319650882013-01-07T16:08:50.141+00:002013-01-07T16:08:50.141+00:00@Laura - Breaking it down is the easy part. Applyi...@Laura - Breaking it down is the easy part. Applying it to the characters in my story is the bit I find hard.<br /><br />@Julie - Cheers. I didn't even realise I'd won until you mentioned it.mooderinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-86735322391239155822013-01-07T13:13:51.974+00:002013-01-07T13:13:51.974+00:00Great post and a big congratulations on your blog ...Great post and a big congratulations on your blog recognition. Well earned!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-21776585018348150592013-01-07T12:58:11.409+00:002013-01-07T12:58:11.409+00:00Excellent post. It's imperative for characters...Excellent post. It's imperative for characters to have flaws--makes them interesting. I like how you break it down into different categories.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05491389088378769955noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-55588192411992467652013-01-07T10:24:19.274+00:002013-01-07T10:24:19.274+00:00@Charmaine - mistakes just for the sake of it tend...@Charmaine - mistakes just for the sake of it tend to be easy to spot (and annoying).<br /><br />@Irene - thanks!mooderinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-58260429991850307142013-01-07T09:35:23.832+00:002013-01-07T09:35:23.832+00:00Great post!Great post!Irenehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17094198630665639598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-17896477697594150662013-01-07T06:13:02.403+00:002013-01-07T06:13:02.403+00:00I love when characters make mistakes in mysteries,...I love when characters make mistakes in mysteries, otherwise it'd be solved all too quickly. Mind you, when some of the clues are too obvious and the detective still gets it wrong because it's too early to identify the villain, I do struggle with that (makes the detective seem thick).Charmaine Clancyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18059559142070140041noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-21781322247471559552013-01-05T12:57:39.329+00:002013-01-05T12:57:39.329+00:00@Rachna - human characters tend to be best, I find...@Rachna - human characters tend to be best, I find. Even when they aren't technically human.mooderinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-4155906689114257862013-01-05T04:55:34.992+00:002013-01-05T04:55:34.992+00:00My character is prone to making mistakes, I think ...My character is prone to making mistakes, I think that makes him more human. We can identify with him.Rachna Chhabriahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16900999965919504282noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-12202183998249295062013-01-04T21:45:46.710+00:002013-01-04T21:45:46.710+00:00@Nutschell - Thank you!@Nutschell - Thank you!mooderinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-11193560340241396202013-01-04T20:42:07.864+00:002013-01-04T20:42:07.864+00:00Mistakes definitely make for a more interesting pl...Mistakes definitely make for a more interesting plot. I loved this post and will be tweeting it :)<br />Nutschell<br />www.thewritingnut.comnutschellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10967710710805174781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-88233391809874970182013-01-04T19:28:01.076+00:002013-01-04T19:28:01.076+00:00@Margo - I think most writers have an ingrained id...@Margo - I think most writers have an ingrained idea of this already, but useful to go back and check when things aren't quite working.<br /><br />@Louise - Villains have a great capacity for making themselves believe their mistakes are justified.<br /><br />@Lydia - You can get away with stupid up to a certain point, but beyond that I think you need to show the mistake as being for a valid reason.<br /><br />@Nate - Well said. And now I feel like a snack. mooderinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-48052044367754631432013-01-04T16:47:05.427+00:002013-01-04T16:47:05.427+00:00Well put, Moody. Perfection is stupid. And stupid ...Well put, Moody. Perfection is stupid. And stupid only works for so long. But characters being wrong -- and then overreacting or blindly following their mistaken beliefs -- is the entire basis for my novel. Without that, my story would be dumb as toast. And not nearly as tasty.Nate Wilsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09690171790664252309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-20232343682381580432013-01-04T16:17:29.568+00:002013-01-04T16:17:29.568+00:00I like flawed characters too, but it's funny w...I like flawed characters too, but it's funny when readers are like, "I hated this book because the main character did so many stupid things!" I guess there's a fine line between frustration with characters, and pure annoyance.Lydia Kanghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00484415427764822386noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-79841408798372495702013-01-04T15:38:04.670+00:002013-01-04T15:38:04.670+00:00Interesting blog post... I am currently in a predi...Interesting blog post... I am currently in a predicament trying to work out if my horrible character (secondary character) needs to do 'discovery'.... He's a bad 'un! <br /><br />http://www.misswrite.co.uk/1/post/2012/11/my-next-big-thing.html<br /><br />Louise<br /><br />@misswriteuk<br />www.misswrite.co.uk<br />www.facebook.com/louise.gibney.writer<br />www.borntobeatourist.co.ukAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16864573085750253171noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-14625512248057964892013-01-04T15:30:44.374+00:002013-01-04T15:30:44.374+00:00It's helpful to see these broken down into dif...It's helpful to see these broken down into different categories. This is certainly one area in my writing I just pants, without thinking about the specifics of my characters' mistakes. Something I may need to take a closer look at. Tweeting & bookmarkingMargo Berendsenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03476308235642890474noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-33933550066199227472013-01-04T13:03:38.646+00:002013-01-04T13:03:38.646+00:00@Golden - watching them realise their mistake is a...@Golden - watching them realise their mistake is always fun. mooderinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-43517084844693278832013-01-03T23:29:28.548+00:002013-01-03T23:29:28.548+00:00I love it when a character makes a mistake. It'...I love it when a character makes a mistake. It's interesting to see someone you want to prevail run into a roadblock of their own making.Golden Eaglehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08721520451194318436noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-78419630628538915872013-01-03T22:23:07.284+00:002013-01-03T22:23:07.284+00:00@Donna - hubris is always a nice way to take a cha...@Donna - hubris is always a nice way to take a character down a peg or two.<br /><br />@Michael - whenever Superman and Batman face off, Bats always beats him because nobody wants to see Mr Perfect win. mooderinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-69530782358264949192013-01-03T22:04:00.503+00:002013-01-03T22:04:00.503+00:00This is a great post. I love flawed characters. Fo...This is a great post. I love flawed characters. For example: some people say Superman is boring. That's true because he's too perfect...too powerful. Characters need weaknesses and wrongs to make them interesting.Michael Offutt, Phantom Readerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10557969104886174930noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-59757326193350908632013-01-03T20:41:59.396+00:002013-01-03T20:41:59.396+00:00In the second Sherlock Holmes movie, Holmes makes ...In the second Sherlock Holmes movie, Holmes makes a terrible miscalculation which results in some dignitaries getting blown up. He's all smug about how he prevented the disaster, then the bomb goes off. His "OMG I made a mistake" reaction was perfect, and mirrored my own as a viewer. Highly effective device to keep the hero humble (somewhat).<br /><br />......dholedolorahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08715849844092553699noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1061937348591302555.post-6082459793019408162013-01-03T18:41:23.374+00:002013-01-03T18:41:23.374+00:00@Alex - always entertaining to watch a high fall (...@Alex - always entertaining to watch a high fall (if a little wince-inducing).mooderinohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01523337588830695638noreply@blogger.com