McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

YA: Is my character supposed to be a good role model?

<< < (2/3) > >>

Nickeris86:
i would say let the little bugger steal, though you should give him a reason to steal rather than just because he likes to do it. For instance he could have come a poor family so he started shoplifting groceries to help feed his family, and got really good at it. Then he moved on to stealing bigger things because he enjoyed it and needed the money to buy shoes for his little sibling or something, and just have it escalate form there. He doesn't have to start out as a moral individual so long as he ends up doing the right thing in the end

mithrandirthewhite:
All these comments are good, but I gather that few people here like anti hero stories.  They can work.  One of them is called Day of the Jackel.

Nickeris86:

--- Quote from: mithrandirthewhite on May 14, 2011, 02:50:28 PM ---All these comments are good, but I gather that few people here like anti hero stories.  They can work.  One of them is called Day of the Jackel.

--- End quote ---

It's not that I like Anti Hero's, though I do, i just like main characters with depth and adding a flaw like he steals stuff is a relatively harmless way of giving them a flaw that while you may not agree with it or even like that aspect of the character it makes them more interesting to read then someone that never does anything wrong. Take Tony Stark from Iornman, the movies would not have been anywhere near as successful if he had been a boy scout and not a alcoholic womanizing dick. You wanted to hate him but he was just to damn charming and then he starts saving the world. He's still a dick but now he's a dick that is still at least trying to do the right thing.

Gruud:
Don't know much of anything about YA, but in the case of theft and morality, I'd say be sure and show consequences to his actions, and/or have him know internally that stealing is wrong.

heck, you might even use that as his growth arc.

He starts out as a thieving little shit, but as time and the plot goes on, due to the results of his thefts, he "begins to see the light", etc.

FWIW

SunshineDuk:
There's a lot of successful YA out there right with very anti-heroic characters. The Thief is about a pickpocket, The Demon's Lexicon is about a street badass, and even The Hunger Games' main character kills people left and right.

~Duk

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page

[*] Previous page