McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft
MC help needed
belial.1980:
--- Quote from: Lanodantheon on March 15, 2009, 09:02:41 PM ---
My 2 problems in particular are thus:
1. Every time I try to design my Main Character, he seems to become more and more like me. To be more specific, the character I want is a Bookworm who has read a lot of Fantasy before he became a magic user. A way to word it would be, "If I became a Wizard, I would..." But, I don't want an MC who is an embellished Author surrogate/clone of myself because that in my opinion is unbelievably lame.
See Anita Blake for reference on this matter in my opinion (For those AB fans reading this, you may ignore this sentence :P).
2. It seems like my MC is either too badass, powerful, ...infallible for his own good. I want him to be fallible. I want him to have the Sherlock Holmes moment at one point and be wrong (getting beat up for it as a result).
--- End quote ---
A seventeen year old, geeky kid coming into magic power? Sounds a lot like my protagonist, lol. Honestly, there's something elemental about coming of age, the call to heroism, etc. Since our characters are similar, I'll offer what I've tried with my character:
For #1- It's already been said, but this is fun: Think about things you like and give MC the opposite tastes. If you're politically conservative make MC a communist; likewise if you're views are more liberal make him a right winger with a shrine to Ronald Reagan. Bonus points if you make him obnoxiously vocal about his political stance. Do you eat meat? Make him a vegetarian. Do you like heavy metal? Make him a huge fan of Jessica Simpson's music. Do you drink Coca Cola? Make him a diehard Pepsi drinker and have him give a vivid description as he savors the beverage--since he's genre savvy, have him dog Harry Dresden's well-known preference for Coke. You don't have to make him completely different from you in every aspect, but these kinds of things can serve as a crowbar to pry him away from your personality.
For #2- I suggest thinking of a critical moment in the climax of the story where the character will be called upon to use his abilities to save the day. Everything builds up to this. Beforehand, maybe he's just as likely to fall on his face as he is to succeed. Acheiving this critical success should outshine anything he's accomplished in the past. Think of that moment when Luke Skywalker switches off the targetting scope and takes aim to destroy the Death Star. Everything should be on the line and the readers shoud ::want:: MC to pull it off.
As for infallibility problems--hey, he's a kid coming into power rather suddenly. Make him abuse it! Show the readers that he's a young man still emotionally developing. Hit up a relative or friend that might've gotten into trouble or done reckless things at that age (or if you're like me, you can use personal experience ;) ) and get some inspiration from the trouble they've gotten into.
That's my $.02 in the jar. Hope it helps. Good luck!
Quantus:
for #1:
I had a similar problem with a book I was trying to write at the end of high school. What helped me was to introduce a few supporting characters. My MC was part me, but not all me. But between the MC, the Mentor, and the Buddy/Sidekick, I was somewhere in the middle of all of them, but they provided contrast to each other enough that it helped me keep the drift down. In keeping their own differences straight, it keep mine out of it. It also gave me extra outlets, if my MC wouldnt say something but I wanted it to be said, there was a good chance the Mentor or the Sidekick would. And it also helped me get some good rounded supporting characters. And they dont necessarily have to stick around for the whole of the story or be really key parts, but if you find your character waxing a bit too altruistic for what you want him to be, have an altruist there to contrast him with.
for #2:
One way to do it would be to have his fantasy fiction knowledge become at times preconceptions that then get him into trouble. Let him try to throw a fireball during a getaway and not realize that it would suck the heat out of the engine and kill it. He can still get away, but it would take some quick thinking. Use his inexperience. This may depend on how much accurate education (be it book or mentor) he gets. But even with lots of study, he is still going to be unpracticed and unrefined. The thing about the kid in the candy store mentality is that it usually comes with the a deficiency in recognizing drawbacks and consequences.
I dont know what relative power level you want him on in your world, but he could also have moments where he tries to do it the direct/brute force way and it fails so he is forced into sudden cleverness to make up for it. Like he tries to telekinesis some badguy out of his way, doesn't have the clout, so instead he releases the parking break on a nearby delivery truck which rolls down and smashes the dude.
Good luck. Hope this was helpful
Lanodantheon:
This advice has been very helpful and has influenced several decisions about my MC.
Sibling/family dynamics and interests can greatly define him into a unique character.
Having his genre saviness being dubious and/or dead wrong would add great flavor to the character and the setting. I don't want a "Stock" Fantasy setting so what better way to go against expectations than to have a Character who expects them himself?
John McClane and HD are great examples of what I want, they are the perfect balance. What I am trying to avoid is a character that takes that too far. Getting beat up is great, but a character who gets beat up too much appears inept.
I consider the idea of any character let alone a real person with a shrine to Ronald Reagan to be a difficult (But entertaining) thought to bare. I'm writing that down somewhere.
The idea of people abusing magic and not recognizing consequences is exactly what I'm looking for.
That's all the response to this advice I have. Thanks guys/gals.
-Lano
Starbeam:
--- Quote from: Lanodantheon on March 25, 2009, 11:20:30 PM ---I consider the idea of any character let alone a real person with a shrine to Ronald Reagan to be a difficult (But entertaining) thought to bare. I'm writing that down somewhere.
--- End quote ---
There's a character on Chuck that almost fits that. Not quite a shrine, but a picture, that he sometimes talks to. The character is Casey, played by Adam Baldwin. One of the best parts of the show.
Quantus:
And when his boss the short dour general lady saw it she said "Wake up Cassey the 80's are over" Classic :D
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