
Reading has been long equated with escapism, imagination, and wish-fulfillment. What if this adventure happened to me? What if I was the hero? Roleplaying games function much the same way, and can create some amazing things. But, as writers, we have a certain responsibility to the characters we create.
Writing can also become a wish-fulfillment activity. And while there’s nothing inherently wrong with this–if a writer doesn’t feel the wonder, how will their readers?–there is a distinct difference between imagining how you would feel in the role of your character and imagining yourself as the character. People take cracks at Cassandra Clare for this every now and again.
Wish-fulfillment writing is where we get “Mary Sue” characters, which most commonly refer to overpowered characters who the others (and the readers) are expected to understand is somehow intrinsically right and amazing. Usually, the story will suit this character’s moral views perfectly, unless it is somehow opposing them to create extra drama or martyrdom.
Let’s put one of my characters, Dimitri, on the table for surgery. In the making, I thought, wouldn’t it be cool to to have a necromancer with a pack of undead wolves at his command?
I did that because I thought it would just be really fun. And it is. But I also knew what story I wanted to write. Let’s take two different approaches to breaking down this character:
Dimitri Hawthorn is a prodigy of his age. He can unravel formulas other necromancers have struggled with for generations. He has an ability to see the Truth of All Things, which means he can’t be deceived. He travels in self-imposed exile with a pack of undead wolves because he is arrogant, young, dedicated to dangerous research, and unable to see things from other perspectives. This impedes his relationships with his father and brother.
He is not ready to fully grasp the responsibility of his powers, which degrade his vision with each use and often tempt him to stick his nose into situations he’s not a part of. The conflict of Dimitri’s story is largely moral, challenging him to reconcile his pride with doing the right thing when his family needs help.
There’s one. Now here’s two:
Dimitri Hawthorn is a prodigy of his age. He can unravel formulas other necromancers have struggled with for generations. He has an ability to see the Truth of All Things, which means he always knows what’s right. He travels with a pack of undead wolves because other people are jealous of his powers and don’t understand the merit of his research. His father and brother reject him for pursuing the path he was meant to follow, but still demand his help to solve a problem of their own making.
Yikes. Did Dimitri write that last one?
Putting too much of yourself into a character, or putting yourself into a character you wish you were, puts you at risk of tunnel vision. If Dimitri was essentially an avatar of me, I might not choose to send him around accepting hard truths, facing his weaknesses, and taking criticism. What I want is for everything to play out in my favor, isn’t it? I can’t be more than myself. Which is one of the absolute worst pitfalls of self-inserts and wish-fulfillment: they kill character development.
Notice I went out of my way the first time to give him neat powers and abilities, but limit them. Just because he’s a genius doesn’t mean he has good judgment. He can see the “truth” of the universe, but will eventually go blind from it–and what he does with the knowledge comes down to judgment again. He has good qualities: determination, intelligence, value for human life, and an ultimate desire to be recognized for the good he does. But he’s got bad ones, too: pride, selfishness, a need for control, and a bad temper.
Which qualities dominate his decisions? That’s what someone will keep reading to find out. How will he change throughout the course of the story? He’s not going to change if he’s always right, or never doubts himself.
And please keep in mind: angst is not a character quality. If your character has a tragic past, them sitting around and thinking about how tragic it was does not actually count as a character weakness unless it affects the story directly. Maybe a character freezes up where it matters. They struggle to move on while their partner threatens to leave them. They try to find the motivation to go outside for the first time in days.
These are all elements of decision. They have built-in conflict. A character has to do something with them, as opposed to sitting in a dramatically-lit corner and having a droning monologue about how sad their flashbacks are. If, on the other hand, this character has been trying to suppress these flashbacks and the audience is slowly piecing together what happened…
See? Isn’t that much more fun to write? Characters are great! They’re people, friends, and children, just like us.
But they aren’t you. Parts of you, maybe, but they’re organic creations that grow and develop like anyone else. They are not vehicles, avatars, or costumes. They’re something unique, that only the writer can convey. Don’t limit them to just what you (or a perceived audience) wants to see.
“HEROE”by LALO VAZQUEZ is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
The beauty of split personalities is that I am never ‘just’ myself. The give and take, love and hate, calm and turbulent are always teetering on the brink of one side winning while the loser goes down swinging. I love this post; it really got the gears turning.
That’s very interesting, and fantastically said. I’m glad to hear it inspired some thought!
I gotta be honest, I really thought the first character description was a Mary Sue until I got to the second one, which is a lot more obvious.
It can be a fine line though, especially if you are dealing with characters who are prodigies and have magic powers. I think you are right though, the key is really in the character development.
Provided there is sufficient emotional grounding the ridiculous or fantastical elements of their abilities are less of an issue.
For example, Superman can be a deeply compelling character in the right hands and absolute trash in the wrong ones, depending on whether the story is centered on Clark overcoming his human faults or solving all his problems with his alien powers.
The worst thing I see is characters who have flaws like “love everyone too much” or “is constantly naive in a way everyone forgives, including the plot.” Deconstructive stories are my absolute favorites–I like me some cliches, but I like me some CONSEQUENCES.
And I definitely hear you on Superman. I love Justice League Unlimited best because we can always see him and Batman challenge each other. Particularly the bit when he goes full totalitarian and starts lobotomizing criminals with eye lasers because he can. That was…unique.
Great thoughts and writing advice here. Do you write a lot??? Have any books?
Writing consumes my life and dictates my purpose, a little bit. I have three projects, one fully drafted, one about halfway drafted, and one that’s in editing right now at about full draft 2.0. That’s “Lost and Found,” my epic-length pirate fantasy, which I’m doing as my Nanowrimo project next month. The other two are “Black Dragon” (urban fantasy) and “The Stars Went Out” (fantasy/magical realism).
I almost exclusively write long-form fantasy, as you might have noticed. I do contemporary or magical realism short stories, too, with assorted poetry–I’m collecting and polishing some right now I plan to get in publishing order before July!
Congratulations! That’s so great. Those major works of fiction require a lot of dedication. I’ve been raised to reach for immediate gratification so working on my novel is so difficult for me sometimes and it’s why I pour too much energy into my blog.
You’re an inspiration 😉
Well, I can do Huge Fantasy Novel and Itty Bitty Short Story, and no in-between, so I really am envious of your blog posts, which are more middle distance. Writing is hard. Cheers!
It is and we have that in common at least! Take care of yourself and best wishes 🙂
Best wishes to you too! I hope everything goes well with your classes.
Thank you 😊