Thursday, March 26, 2009
Tips for Young Writers 7: Love all your characters, even the ones you hate.
Love ALL your characters, even the ones you hate. If you love the bad guys, you’ll make them much more real, and strangely enough, that will make them much more scary. A bad guy who doesn’t seem real, just isn’t going to be all that scary. So, if you create a bad guy, try to see the world through their eyes, try to understand them, and even better, try to like them … even just a little.
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2 comments:
Hi Michael! :)
I was just surfing the net and I came upon your blog! Very nice tip by the way...I know that when I created my antagonist character, I didn't altogether hate him. :) I definitely tried to see everything through his eyes, and it truly did make the story more successful and him more "scary". :)
Taylor J. Beisler
http://www.eloquentbooks.com/ArintSaratir-WarriorsLight.html
www.taylorbeisler.com
That's fantastic, Taylor. I'm glad you feel the same way about this idea as me. I actually think there's something kind of profound (perhaps just to me) in the idea of loving even the people you hate. If only I could achieve it in life as well!! :^) Actually, I don't think I really hate anyone, so I may not be doing that badly.
I also find this idea works well if you're writing a regular drama - i.e. there are no trully evil characters, just normal people with terrible flaws (at least from the protagonist's perspective). Redeeming the bad guys, even just a little, seems to add an extra dimension to the story.
Anyway, I'm rambling now ...
Thanks for contributing to the blog.
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