Monday, November 23, 2009

Thin Characterizations

Thank you to everyone who helped me in my sadness before unplug week. You'll never know how comforting it felt. Hearing you talk about your precious animals that you had lost and knowing I wasn't alone. I really appreciate all of your comments.


We've all probably made this mistake before in our writing lives.

Goody two shoes is my hero for this post. You know him right? He's my goody-goody hero and he has NO faults. He's almost robot like. Goody is just about the MOST boring hero you've ever read about.

Top that with ol' Villainous Villain. He's too unbelievably rotten. Not one good thing about Villainous. He has only one personality trait and it's BAD. He hates his granny! Need I say more?

A story using these two characters would make the story, *YAWN*, mind-numbing to say the least. The hero needs some weaknesses to make he/she more human. The villain needs some redeeming qualities added to his/her character to make him more convincing.

It turns out that Goody makes hasty decisions. Hmmm, I can do a lot with that and still have him as my hero. *thinking cap goes on*

Villainous buys all the names on the angel tree at Christmas. WHOA! He's not all bad after all. Hmmm, this means he actually has a positive quality or two. And as it turns out, he loves his granny.:) *thinking cap flashes*

Now I have a story to write. My characters are becoming balanced and more real.

Have you ever realized that your characters weren't true? That they were artificial and flat? :)

And before unplug week I was honored to receive two blogging awards from two SUPER BLOGGER PALS. Maria surprised me with Loyal friend and visitor award. Thank you so much Maria! I really appreciate this award. Maria is always praying for my family and especially my son. Her blog is very inspiring.

I want to pass it on to a few blogging buddies that ALWAYS comment and always have something great to say.

My great pal Tricia who ALWAYS has thought provoking posts. How DOES she do that?? She also had been instrumental in making me feel good when reading her comments about my son and his hospital trips. BUT. She doesn't think this cowgirl can ride in heels. PSHAW Tricia!

BJ another great pal who never fails to have the right things to say and has a MIGHTY pretty pic now too. You go girl!

And that little lady who is eatin' for two, Linda Kage. She is always coming by and sharing what she knows and she knows a lot. After all, her book comes out in Feb. 2010. Plus she gets a baby too. Dang it! Life can't get much better Linda.

And to Kristi. That girl hasn't been blogging long and look at all the pals she's made. Someday I'll say, "I knew her when." :)


And this award from Cindy. Who by the way, gave this to me on a day when sorrow visited me and still hasn't let go. She made me smile on that day. Thank you Cindy.

So I am passing this on to my pal who along with Cindy and so many of you pray when I take my son on the many hospital visits that we journey on. Susan. Her blog is the BEST! She has taught me so much.

To Dani for ALWAYS being there and sending me so many warm hugs. Her blog is always filled with wonderful advice. She's moving right now and I miss her terribly. And how is she going without internet? YIKES!



Susan, Cindy, Danyelle, Tricia, BJ, Maria,Linda, Kristi, and ALL OF MY BLOGGING PALS have taught me so much on this road I'm driving down. I feel like I'm gonna make it because of y'all! Yeah!

21 comments:

  1. Congratulations on your awards- same to the winners! What a wonderful way to show thankfulness to friends.

    I realized this week that my MC need a few less redeeming qualities. She was starting to send me into sugar shock. Great point!

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  2. Oh, Robyn! Thank you so much for the kindest words you always have for me. No wonder your friends do nothing but stand by you-your friendship is invaluable.

    You are making it because of YOU, but we are all here to cheer you on and remind you of your brilliance. :-)
    Have a great week!

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  3. Tamika, I had Goody as a MC and realized that NOBODY but Jesus lived like him. So I had to change him. Make him more REAL. :)

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  4. Kristi, thank you friend. I really appreciate those words.

    And my brilliance? Yeah! I actually have been thinking of a post that deals with writers and their knowing they write brilliantly and they also know they write crap sometimes too. Thank you and I'm glad we're friends. :)

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  5. I'm revising a WIP right now, and one of the things I'm working on is making my antagonist more multi-dimensional, more complicated, more of a real person.

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  6. Oh, Robyn, thank you. Thank you! What a beautiful blogging award. I'm so honored...and blushing!

    I'm glad you're making so much progress with your good and bad characters. It always feels rewarding when you make a revelation about your story and suddenly it adds a new dimension! Congrats.

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  7. Paul, if you're doing that, then you are on your way, friend. Because if the reader believes the book is nothing but FLUFF, or that the characters are too one way or the other, then he will put it down and never pick it up again. :)

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  8. Linda, You are welcome. You inspire me and teach me. Thank you!

    And I am glad too. Goody and villainous have no place in my story unless they become more real. :)

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  9. Congratulations and, oh my, thank you! What a gorgeous award. It's so purty.
    I love your discussion of GoodyTwoShoes and VillanousVillain. I have been guilty of that, too. And cardboard characters just won't hold up in the rain, you know?

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  10. Love the bit on characterization! Awe, and thank you so much for the award! That is too sweet.

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  11. Flaws are a good thing . . . especially in believable characters. Nobody, not nobody, is perfect . . . and such characters (the perfect ones) become quite boring.

    Bilbo Baggins left his handkerchief behind the day he set out on his great adventure. He worried about not having a handkerchief. You know what? I worried with him because . . . he was just as flawed as me. I could relate.

    I think good characters are characters that the reader can relate to on some level. Those characters are more believable . . . at least in my opinion.

    Great post.

    S

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  12. congrats on awards and great examples of giving some life to flat characters.

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  13. Robyn,
    I hope you are feeling at least a little better. And, congratulations on the awards!

    I think I'm in the middle of actually realizing that my main character is flat right now. Unfortunately, it's not because he's a goody-goody, but because I made him too unsympathetic. In my quest to give him faults to make him real, I think I gave him too many faults, and now I'm backing off a little. Hopefully it will help my story.

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  14. I have a tendency to do this -- make my antagonist all bad with no reasoning behind it. I'm working on it...

    And, glad you are feeling a bit better this week :)

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  15. I avoid thinking in terms of "hero" and "villain" for just these reasons (and a couple more that are beside the point). You get more realistic and compelling characters if you frame the story as being about two actual humans in conflict over a specific issue.

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  16. Congrats on the awards and to all you shared them with! Bloggers are so generous!

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  17. Congrats on the award!

    And you're so right...it takes a dimensional character to makes a story. *thinks about your current work* ...I can't wait to see what you've written next!

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  18. Congrats to you and all the other award winners:) Happy Thanksgiving!

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  19. Congratulations on your awards, you certainly deserve them. I like your discussion of GoodyTwoShoes and VillanousVillain.

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  20. Hope things are looking up! Congrats all around on the awards. Loveliness!!

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