Guess Why I'm Pulling My Hair Out In Frustration Day!
A Lesson by TopHatGirl
It's because of your character.
This could either be very good,
or
HORRIBLY BAD.
Ever hated a character? Not because
he/she is a Mary Sue. Not because they're the villain. But
honest to god, they just make you FURIOUS. Like a, "I HOPE
YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S KILLED OFF." That's either a hilariously
good thing, or a horribly horribly bad thing. There are two types
of hate: THE ENDEARINGLY ANNOYING This is purely
intentional by the author. I recently took a whack at this in story
form, and found it to be quite easy. It was to get a point across,
and it's a good way to use it. It's if you're
interested. (This isn't a self promotion. I'm just wanting to provide
an example that is written by me so no author will sue me)
It's good to have the purposefully hateful. The snotty rich kid, the
angsty stereotypical teen. It provides us with laughter or good
hearted eye rolling. The trick to doing this is to go over the
top. "WHAT????" you ask, throwing your arms in
the air with utter frustration, "You always say to NOT overdo
things! I hate you, be less confusing." I do. Thanks for
noticing. But for the Endearingly Annoying type, I'm going to
say a great tip: PRETEND THAT EVERYONE READING YOUR STORY IS A
COMPLETE IDIOT AND COULDN'T TELL THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN REAL AND
PARODY IF IT HIT THEM WITH A CHOCOLATE COVERED BRICK. Why
chocolate covered? Because I'm immature and this isn't the point.
Note: This tip also works with driving as well. Everyone else on
the road is an idiot. Be careful. Anyways. This is true, a lot
of the time. I've seen reviews of the endearingly funny characters
(not always with my own, it's with others too) that go something like
this: Why is ____ so mean? What a jerk! You need to have him
more likeable, like, seriously. They are confused. You
need to prod them in the right direction with this one. I admit,
even I get utterly lost with the E.A.T. (ha, EAT) when it's not
shoved in my face. Shove it in their faces that it's a parody for
at least one example, one paragraph, then space out the examples, use
sparingly after the initial prod. Because readers are sometimes
smart, too, and after example after example on how annoying the
character is, they will throw a chocolate covered brick at your
throat. It will hurt. Also, have the people around them point out how annoying they are. Have someone learn from it, for god's sakes. Have THE READER learn. You get extra points for doing that.
THE NON INTENTIONAL PLAIN OLD
FRUSTRATING CHARACTER. Bella
Swan. Bellaswanbellaswanbellaswanbellaswah. Did you get that?
Pretty much every character in Twilight has their moments of beyond
tolerable, but she takes the cake and doesn't eat it because she
doesn't want to get fat for her Edward. Read the books, and just
make a list of: MY CHARACTER SHOULD NEVER EMULATE THESE PEOPLE:
For those of you who love Twilight,
then just ignore what I said, you'll grow up eventually.
Okay, enough Twilight bashing. This
is always the author's fault. Don't argue with me. I'm your freakin'
boss, and the customer is always right. Either the author has a
warped sense of people, or just didn't do a good job at writing
them. This is forgivable for a side character. If it's a side character, people can often mistake it as an EAT, but it does say,"KILL 'EM OFF!!!" This usually happens when traits you think are just "AWSUM!" really, just, suck. Yes, sure, your boyfriend being very protective and follows you ever. Romantic! But it's creepy to everyone else, and turns them into a Non-Intentional POFC.
Tophatgirl! you begin, tears in your eyes, how do I know if the good traits actually are very, very bad? That's an easy one! Ask. No, don't ask your BFF who loves everything you write and wouldn't give you criticism if your life DEPENDED on it. This is why I love WritersCafe. There are people who actually want you to get better, and to do so, they aren't afraid to be a little mean. Post snippets of your work, and ask,"Are they annoying? What makes them so?" And if nobody responds? This is when you make friends on this site. GASP. Making friends. (see relationships lesson) Review people, message people, get honest opinions.
And you do always have one person on here who will give you critiques on your characters. Who?? you cry, looking frantically around. Me! Yes, I'm annoying myself and immature to boot, but you have to admit, I could help you. One on one is usually better, because I can give you specialized advice. Feel free to message or comment with some of your work, and I'll give you advice. This only works if you are able to take advice about your character, though, which I'll tackle in the next lesson. Comment, subscribe, message, whatever. Happy writing!
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Added on July 21, 2011
Last Updated on July 21, 2011
Author
TopHatGirl[Redacted], NV
About
Hi, I'm TopHatGirl!
If you're here about my character lessons or to get some advice, email me instead of messaging at [email protected]. This is because I don't go on this site as much anym..
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