So moving on, it’s time to look at what to include and what to avoid when creating and adding different aspects within your character/s.
Let’s not lie, avoiding every stereotype out there simply isn’t possible, or if it is, very few have found a way of making it work. The way people are, even the most cynical of us enjoy a stereotype every now and again, the trick is knowing which ones to avoid and the moderation in which they should be included.
Getting straight to the point, if your character’s description fits either of the following then you’re not going to appeal to any reader over the age of five, or possibly a sappy, love sick teen in need of a lousy read and a tub of ice cream…and that’s if you’re lucky.
It sounds basic, but so many times I’ve picked up a book and thrown it down again when I recognise one of these ever lingering stereotypes.
Time to cover the basics!
~What to avoid:
Female/Heroine:
* Always has long and/or perfect hair either straight or in long ‘tumbling curls’ (blonde hair is the worst stereotype for this).
* The most popular girl in school, a cheer leader or prom queen (or in-waiting).
* School loner who may as well not even be there.
* Pregnant and all alone, i.e. broke, no male partner and no family support, (or very little of it).
* From a broken hopeless family in which she is discontent or badly treated,
* From a broken hopeless family in which she is discontent or badly treated,
OR
* From a rich privileged family where she is either waited on hand and foot or alternatively locked in a room somewhere.
* From a rich privileged family where she is either waited on hand and foot or alternatively locked in a room somewhere.
(If she is a princess or lives in a castle, delete the entire thing! – It should be illegal…unless it’s a re-write of Rapunzel or something similar.)
Male/Hero:
* Dark hair, clean shaven, or possibly a little stubbly, dark eyes and a six pack, with amazing abs and sculpted arms
* Always brooding or looking depressed or skulking somewhere in the background.
* Dark hair, clean shaven, or possibly a little stubbly, dark eyes and a six pack, with amazing abs and sculpted arms
* Always brooding or looking depressed or skulking somewhere in the background.
* The popular, good looking guy every girl would kill for.
* The loner who barely says more than four words to anyone else, except for “May I be excused?” suddenly and/or mysteriously in the middle of class.
* The guy sitting on his own table in the canteen with an empty tray of food in front of him, or a full up tray of non-touched food.
* Either from a tormented home where he feels misunderstood and is generally considered a failure,
OR
* From a wealthy family where he achieves absolutely everything, is the most popular boy in school, head of a major sports team (or a few) and is every girls living desire.
(Unless, of course, he’s a creation from a Cinderella rewrite, rethink him now!)
~ That's not to say you shouldn't use any of them, by all means most novels do, but they even it out by compensating with something else, usually plesantly unpredictable.
* Nowadays we don’t want to be able to guess the story line but the rate of logic makes it practically inevitable, so instead we crave twists and turns along the way…just to spice things up!
Looking at some of the most successful books and authors of today and the characters, such as JK Rowling’s ‘Harry Potter’ and Stephenie Meyer’s ‘Twilight Saga’ , excluding the truly naïve, (believe me there’s always a few) everyone knew that Harry would defeat Voldermort and Bella would become a Vampire. Overlooking that they’re in some way enlaced with romance -which never helps when trying to be unpredictable-the outcomes could be seen a mile away!
It’s the twists and turns and the nature of the characters which keeps readers so engrossed.
It’s the twists and turns and the nature of the characters which keeps readers so engrossed.
So how does it work?
Take for example, Hermione Granger and Bella Swan, they have many similarities, neither of them tie immediately into a stereotype.
* They are neither described as obviously or outrageously pretty, their physical faults of frizzy hair and unattractively pale skin are presented outright. However this makes us able to relate to them more, we all have aspects of ourselves we’d probably change if given the chance and many writers choose to draw from this to create more believable characters.
* Secondly both Hermione and Bella are studious, from normal families and are basically average people (except, of course, for Hermione being a wizard and Bella constantly falling in love with mythical creatures. – but I’ll get to that later!)
* They are neither described as obviously or outrageously pretty, their physical faults of frizzy hair and unattractively pale skin are presented outright. However this makes us able to relate to them more, we all have aspects of ourselves we’d probably change if given the chance and many writers choose to draw from this to create more believable characters.
* Secondly both Hermione and Bella are studious, from normal families and are basically average people (except, of course, for Hermione being a wizard and Bella constantly falling in love with mythical creatures. – but I’ll get to that later!)
Being average is something the majority of us like to relate to, after all, if amazing unbelievable things can happen to seemingly normal people, why can’t they happen to us?! – It feeds directly into our suspension of disbelief.
Of course, a book without any stereotypes would be…just like real life, which is clearly not the point of a novel. The majority of people read to escape real life and so a balance has to be incorporated. With Harry Potter the element of magic and adventure keeps the reader enthralled whilst the realistic characters make us willing to suspend our disbelief. (Come on, who didn’t wait for a letter from Hogwarts on their 10th birthday or utter a spell and wave a stick when they were younger just in case we weren’t actually Muggles? ...)
Similarly with Twilight, it’s based in a normal school (settings will be covered later) with normal people, Bella, like most of us, isn’t the schools it girl, she’s just part of a group, she doesn’t come from a wealthy family and honestly most of us would probably bored of her if it wasn’t for the superhot, mythical Vampire boyfriend Bella can’t stop burbling on about.
But once again it’s the balance, if you’re willing to create a totally ordinary and otherwise dull character (Bella Swan) then by all means create someone more stereotypical (Edward Cullen) Just make sure he’s not a prince!
A good way to keep plots balanced is remembering the Alkali/Acid theory…
Imagine one aspect of your character/s is alkali, normal, average, a day-to-day person you could probably pass on the street and not look twice at. Then imagine the other half is like acid, the side that makes the character/s completely different to who we are, magical, mythical, something we want to be but never will.
We relate to Alkali and are engrossed by Acid, the two work with each other to create our suspension of disbelief.
Remember:
* Total stereotypes like Princesses and Princes, Prom Kings and Prom Queens are a drag! No one wants to read about the people they loathed in life.
* Decide if you want the interest in the novel to be sparked by events that happen to a character or are ignited by an aspect of the character.
(No one would bother with Hermione if she was a normal school know- it-all with dentist parents, it’s a mixture of her magic and the situations that it leads her to which make her interesting.)
* Don’t shy away from a little disbelief! – If Twilight were just about a girl going to school and dating some guy barely anyone would bother… I’d rather read about a girl besotted with a handsome vampire than trawl through a book that might as well be my own dreary diary…just don’t go too overboard!
* BALANCE!
Ask yourself:
Why should I believe in this character? What can I relate to? What makes my character/s that little bit better than just real life? What is it about my characters that I, as the reader, will be drawn to?
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