Thoughts on Character
Nov. 19th, 2011 03:01 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
moonshaydeLast night I was thinking about some of my favorite shows or books and how upset I get when the plot takes a turn that could permanently kill off a fave character of mine. I get mad. I get upset. I get grumpy. But in the end, that tells me the writing has been successful. Why? Because I am invested THAT deeply in the characters.
(This is different from getting mad at bad writing: looking at you, Smallville.)
I've always considered myself a plot-heavy person. I still think I am. But if I can't latch onto the characters, then the plot means nothing to me. Not even the most amazing plot can make me love the characters. There are many TV shows out there that have cult followings that I can't watch for that reason I feel nothing for the characters.
It got me thinking about my aspirations to be a pro writer. I've had some success with a few small publications, but I would love to write stories in a greater professional capacity. I want to have characters that I can invest in and that other people can invest in. Characters that stay with you and you don't want to leave.
I've run into many characters like that over the years. Clark Kent. Lois Lane. Mulder and Scully. Skinner. Jack O'Neill. Daniel Jackson. The original SG-1. Many of the Harry Potter characters. Sam and Dean Winchester. Castiel. Bobby Singer. Luke Skywalker. Han Solo. Leia Organa. Etc. Successful characters are the ones you love to love or love to hate. You want to stay in their worlds forever.
I had a point to this post but I seem to have lost it...
Oh well. But characters. The heart and soul of the story. I hope I can achieve that someday.
(This is different from getting mad at bad writing: looking at you, Smallville.)
I've always considered myself a plot-heavy person. I still think I am. But if I can't latch onto the characters, then the plot means nothing to me. Not even the most amazing plot can make me love the characters. There are many TV shows out there that have cult followings that I can't watch for that reason I feel nothing for the characters.
It got me thinking about my aspirations to be a pro writer. I've had some success with a few small publications, but I would love to write stories in a greater professional capacity. I want to have characters that I can invest in and that other people can invest in. Characters that stay with you and you don't want to leave.
I've run into many characters like that over the years. Clark Kent. Lois Lane. Mulder and Scully. Skinner. Jack O'Neill. Daniel Jackson. The original SG-1. Many of the Harry Potter characters. Sam and Dean Winchester. Castiel. Bobby Singer. Luke Skywalker. Han Solo. Leia Organa. Etc. Successful characters are the ones you love to love or love to hate. You want to stay in their worlds forever.
I had a point to this post but I seem to have lost it...
Oh well. But characters. The heart and soul of the story. I hope I can achieve that someday.
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no subject
Date: 2011-11-19 08:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-11-19 08:52 pm (UTC)I was going for something and then I lost it. Couldn't recover. There are some characters I love to pieces and I cling to them like they are real. I never want to let them go.
That's a pretty awesome accomplishment for the people in involved.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-20 05:30 pm (UTC)You got yourself all starry-eyed while gushing over your fave characters, I think. Happens to me all the time. ;)
no subject
Date: 2011-11-20 02:23 am (UTC)Too sleepy to be really insightful, but I've always found characters to be key. I can handwave large plotholes for good characters but have trouble with even excellent plots if the charactes don't resonant.
no subject
Date: 2011-11-20 04:16 am (UTC)