Thursday, May 20, 2010

Question

So I'm doing a little research.

I want to know what makes a great character.

Why do you love some book's characters and not others?

Who are your favorite characters and why?

3 comments:

  1. Ok I left a comment on this last night but it's not here. Prob because I did it from my iPhone.

    I hate characters that act in ways that no sane person in real life would act. Like sometimes an author needs a character to make a totally illogical decision just to advance the plot when, really, the character should be able to make normal decisions and STILL have the plot move forward. The Shopaholic books come to mind..I only read one but could barely finish it for all the forehead smacking going on. No one is THAT clueless. And there's an entire series based around that. It pains me.

    An author who does characters right is Jane Austen. Even her weirder, quirkier characters still make normal, character appropriate decisions and I think that's true of most of the classic authors. There has been very little forehead smacking as I read through my classics list.

    Also, I like characters who are kind of Jack Bauer-ish. You know, the ones who kick butt and you just know they're always going to win because they're awesome (Katniss from Hunger Games, Scot Harvath from Brad Thor novels, etc). It's nice to be on Superman's side when you're reading.

    I also like characters that I have something in common with.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for the insights,Kayla.

    I too hate "soap opera-ish" characters.

    I agree, Jane Austen is the master.

    Did you hear they are doing a Hunger Games movie?

    ReplyDelete
  3. characters who have something to lose are interesting because you attach yourself to them hoping they don't lose whatever that is...

    ReplyDelete