Comments on: Hemingway: Don’t Make Your Characters Stupid http://writeabetternovel.net/characters-stupid/ Practical wisdom for novelists and other storytellers Thu, 19 Apr 2012 03:32:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Mark Welker http://writeabetternovel.net/characters-stupid/comment-page-1/#comment-1869 Mark Welker Tue, 02 Mar 2010 23:23:18 +0000 http://writeabetternovel.net/?p=3400#comment-1869 Good post Bill. Characters are a funny thing for me. They don't work for a long time and then suddenly they do. For some reason I am not very good at sitting down and consciously writing believable character interactions, instead, I have to write a lot 'in character' until they work themselves out. It means that my first drafts are awful melodramatic affairs with very wooden characters, and by the third or fourth draft they are just starting to act believable. Good post Bill. Characters are a funny thing for me. They don’t work for a long time and then suddenly they do. For some reason I am not very good at sitting down and consciously writing believable character interactions, instead, I have to write a lot ‘in character’ until they work themselves out. It means that my first drafts are awful melodramatic affairs with very wooden characters, and by the third or fourth draft they are just starting to act believable.

]]> By: Bill Henderson http://writeabetternovel.net/characters-stupid/comment-page-1/#comment-1865 Bill Henderson Sat, 27 Feb 2010 14:55:29 +0000 http://writeabetternovel.net/?p=3400#comment-1865 Too true, Alegra. When you write a novel, you not only have to keep multiple plates spinning, but multiple SETS of plates, too. It's a constant challenge, but I've found the best way is to come to "know" the character so well (and I'm talking about weeks, months of daily living inside that character's skin) that you know longer have to think consciously about it, you just do it and it's right. Interestingly, this process is probably close enough to a legal definition of insanity to get you incarcerated. Just another occupational hazard for the novelist. Too true, Alegra. When you write a novel, you not only have to keep multiple plates spinning, but multiple SETS of plates, too. It’s a constant challenge, but I’ve found the best way is to come to “know” the character so well (and I’m talking about weeks, months of daily living inside that character’s skin) that you know longer have to think consciously about it, you just do it and it’s right. Interestingly, this process is probably close enough to a legal definition of insanity to get you incarcerated. Just another occupational hazard for the novelist.

]]> By: alegra http://writeabetternovel.net/characters-stupid/comment-page-1/#comment-1863 alegra Sat, 27 Feb 2010 09:08:23 +0000 http://writeabetternovel.net/?p=3400#comment-1863 Great advice. Just recently I had a friend catch one of my characters doing something that she shouldn't have in a scene - it was a case of me getting caught up in the editing and needing to get that fresh eye from a reader's perspective. So, point is, not only can it happen to try to make a larger plot issue work but it can also happen because of getting too caught up in the details. Great advice. Just recently I had a friend catch one of my characters doing something that she shouldn’t have in a scene – it was a case of me getting caught up in the editing and needing to get that fresh eye from a reader’s perspective.

So, point is, not only can it happen to try to make a larger plot issue work but it can also happen because of getting too caught up in the details.

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