Bitten by Books
Let’s get one thing straight – I want my heroes flawed. Look at the human race. Strong. Adaptable. Flawed. So why shouldn’t our characters be nicked with bad breath, bed head and nasty sinus coughs? Call them quirks, oddities, habits, whatever. I call it good writing. And with good writing, comes lots of readers.
Nothing is more non-magnetic than reading about a main character’s long flowing locks, strong chin and that little boyish sense of humor. Come on. Where is his drinking problem? What happens if it is a Cialis moment in the subway? He goes to kiss the heroine after a garlic, salmon sandwich?
And how about the heroine? She comes out in her size two dress, with corset no less, flings her silken washed and styled hair over her shoulder, and, somehow finds the time to touch up her lip gloss all while waiting atop a mountain of fire and brimstone, yearning for said hero to come along. All fine and good till she reveals she has a nasty rash that “just won’t go away”.
We want characters we can identify with. Sure, we all want to run off to Fantasy Island and enjoy the view of what has been published perfection up until now. But in the end, we want to read about someone and say “I know that person”.It could be a scrappy kid, replete with burgeoning teen angst. Sure he may have all of the magical powers of a wizard, but he still has no date for the prom.
Man of steel? Only in his hip replacement. Sexy mistress? Of three? Okay, having children is not a flaw. Maybe she still has that nasty rash. You get the picture.
Take the ole cop buddy novel. You know the tale. Two friends grow up together, become cops in the old neighborhood and take on the local mafia. Add the typical dash of comedy, action, danger…all that. It has been done before. Now what if one has a drug problem? All of a sudden your gelatinously common buddy book now has a sharp sprinkle of saffron. Yum, now that’s good reading.
Flaws are what it is to be human. We as writers are slightly skewed. Readers have eccentricities. It is almost reassuring when we find out that the heroes we grew up with had various foibles, phobias and idiosyncrasies. The knight in the shiniest of armor is afraid of heights. The female homicide detective who can’t stand spinach. These are what dreams are made of. A dash of blemishing here and an imperfection there fracture out a story line so that you can write in a million directions if you so choose. Pick any genre and see what happens. Flaws, people. We all have them. We may as well use them.
Author Bio:
Born in a small town of the smallest state, Rhode Island Joseph Mazzenga knew he was a writer by the third grade. When his creative simmer turned to an imaginative rage, he embarked on a voyage with no anchor and no horizon. He stepped aboard knowing that this journey will be for the rest of his days. He still looks to the stars to find his way. The navigation can be plodding but the bearing is clear. Joe is now a full author, by way of children’s literature, Science Fiction, Non-fiction, and Urban Fantasy. Ever pursuing the itch that he can’t possibly scratch, he is constantly stretching his boundaries, honing his craft and fighting mortal enemies such as avoidance and procrastination at every turn. Whether it is a beloved stuffed seal, a hard-nosed orphan stuck on the raw streets of a future time, or a pre-apocalyptic vampire turned human, he is fantasy intermingling with the future. Joe continues to live with his wife and beloved son in Rhode Island, center of the creative universe.
Joe’s latest works:
Gillian’s Angel
Invasion of Blood
When the Music Dies
Due September 25, 2012: Dive – A quartet of Merfolk Tales
¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨
Learn more about Joe Mazzenga Below
http://jmazzenga.blogspot.com
http://cancerhatesoxygen.blogspot.com
http://believeittour.com/wordpress/
http://www.facebook.com/joseph.mazzenga
www.twitter.com/jmazzenga
www.myspace.com/josephmazzenga
¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨°º©©º°¨¨¨¨¨¨
Characters with the long, flowing hair are forgettable. The ones with garlic breath stick with us after we’ve finished the book. Quirks and flaws bring our characters to life.
Nice post! Can’t wait for the merfolk book!
Thanks Penny. I agree…gives our characters life. And, boy, am I thankful!
I totally agree, although I don’t want to read about someone with say my life. My life is nothing to read about, and I’ll admit it. I’m picking up a book to escape into a better world, I want to get lost in some magical universe. But I don’t want everything picture perfect and generic either. I want those ups and downs, nail biting parts, I love when a book makes me want to either throw it or yell at it sometimes and then FINALLY gives me the happy part at the ending. I think a lot of people want that, so maybe we can think we all deserve some HEA at the end of our time. (even if it takes 5 books till we get that HEA!)
I concur with this axiom. You want look through the lens so I speak. Still you need that anchor to say you have an identity with the character. At least in my opinion.
The flaws make the man, the woman
Thanks Candy! Monsters with flaws. You hit it on the head. All of my creatures are flawed which, if you think on it too long, can be quite hysterical….
Okay, some flaws but who wants a guy to think it’s okay to kiss a girl when he’s just eaten a garlic salmon sandwich?
You bring up a valid point Debbie. However, I counter by saying that maybe, just maybe your guy learns through his mistakes - like all of us? You can build a story around that. I put to you, Tarzan, by Edgar Rice Burroughs. Tarzan placed into “civilization” had many obstacles to overcome. He was the portrayal of primitive and his city dwellers around him found what he did as uncouth and flawed. Of course there was a larger story to all of his development, but you know what I am trying to get at. I think when your male character “learns” and comes back around, it makes him more endearing.
Every character I have ever created has at least two flaws, the one others see and the one he sees in himself. Long have I had issues with characters that were drawn oh so physically perfect, though I can’t say I hated these stories. I loved them, but when I was finished, I was finished. They id not stay inside my head. So you are right on. We remember what is different about someone more than we recall generic traits and stereotypes. Thanks for the great article.
Thank you for replying Penna. I agree - it totally makes the character stick in the mind of the reader. I even find myself categorizing my characters by trait than by name!