TnT: Varied Characterization

[pipisafoat]

Congratulations again to pippin for winning the 4th contest!

Your topic for the first Challenge Contest, Tear Down The Wall, will be open until 5 pm GMT Saturday - stretch yourself into something new in 500 words or less!

Don't forget about your assignments, editors, which can be found at this link along with a question for the community as a whole.

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One of the greatest challenges for an author is to write believable characters who are from a variety of backgrounds and not just a cookie cutter of themselves, or of the self you wish you were. Depending on the story, this can mean characters of a different time period, geographic location, culture, socioeconomic background, race, gender, or even height and weight - you wouldn't believe the number of people who fail to take into account that a 4'9" character simply can't reach the spices over the stove without a stool or someone else's help.

Think about all the character-fails you've seen. Don't share them except in the most general of terms, and don't link them to any specific author, but rather think about what knowledge you have that the author didn't that made you recognize them as fails. Share that knowledge here to help other authors do it right next time! If there's a type of character you've not seen enough of in other people's works in general, let us know about their characteristics and how to present them believably and without offense.

As always, please remember to keep a respectful tone here, to authors who have been misinformed as well as other community members sharing their insights with you.

Comments

[msmcknittington]

I think my biggest flag for mischaracterization, especially in fantasy novels, is a character who comes from a rural background and yet still seems to think like a person who grew up in an urban environment. I grew up on a farm and still live there, and I'm always sort of uncomfortable with the role that a rural background plays in literature. It seems like most of the characters there are usually portrayed as yokels, which certainly doesn't match my experience. People in rural areas aren't any stupider than people anywhere else.

It's kind of hard to describe how a person from a farming background thinks. I think part of it might be that a lot of characters don't seem to think about animals or take for granted that there will always be food there, semi-magically, and seem to be unaware of all the work that goes into producing it. I know that a lot of people consider food to be "boring" writing, but food is a major part of cultures and the lack thereof has prompted more than a few wars and rebellions.

I think another element of my discomfort is that so many stories have people escaping rural settings to urban ones (unless we're talking like English Renaissance drama), and that sets up this weird almost ideology where people who live in rural areas are backwards yokels and they go to cities to find enlightenment. Which I find pretty problematic, honestly.

I do feel strange being uncomfortable with the portrayal of rural people, because it's a non-issue for most of the US, and I don't think I've ever encountered anyone else who felt the same way.

The "surprise feminism" (or whatever social issue you want to insert there) that many characters in historical fiction show is disconcerting, too.

I think the only way to avoid either of those things is RESEARCH. Holy lots of research. Not just "factual" research (how do you make a sword?) but anthropological/sociological research (how was the sword regarded in this culture at this time?). The answer is probably going to be slightly more nuanced than IT WAS TOTALLY AWESOME!!! at least 99-percent of the time.

Specifically on the representation of rural areas in fiction, I think it might help to write fewer "farmboy becomes prince" stories, and maybe write more "farmgirl saves the day with hoe" or "wizard-farmer prevents war by growing super big sweet potato that feeds the nation" stories. OK, maybe not the last one. But there are a lot of aspects of culture that are neglected in fiction that are pretty rich with conflict and which don't require Idiot Villager #1 and Hayseed Yokel #4 to make happen.

[thblackflame]

lol. Well, I agree with you on the research. That's one of my biggest hang ups as well since I come from the anime fandom and for a long time I only ever wrote Japanese characters. I was a little obsessed. *holds hands hands far apart to express how little the obsession was* Anyways, I also agree that people don't think about how a rural character would think and react. I will fully admit I am one of them. Until I read your comment it never even occurred to me. I'm a city girl and I count the number of times I'm been on a farm much less did anything on one on half a hand. Luckily, I generally only write what I know. ^_^;;; But, I think you bring up a very good point and one that I will certainly be thinking on the next time I write something. Thank you. ^_^

[mercredigirl]

I like the sweet potato storyline.

[msmcknittington]

I can see Howl from Howl's Moving Castle doing it.

Authority Figure: What is this?
Howl: (Pats sweet potato.) The answer to all your problems. And I made it!
Sophie coughs.
Howl: With some help from my wife, which she will not let me forget.

[azuire]

Yes. This is a pet peeve of mine, that the character automatically thinks like a 21st century average white person, instead of a person in that fictional universe. And again, although I wouldn't mind a storyline where rural person goes to city -- I would like to see the baggage all that entails being focused on, because too often the experience is trivialised.

[msmcknittington]

And again, although I wouldn't mind a storyline where rural person goes to city -- I would like to see the baggage all that entails being focused on, because too often the experience is trivialised.

Exactly! There's a lot of culture shock when it comes to going to a place with high population density after living in one with low population density, and that culture shock isn't because cities have better culture, yuck yuck. Usually it just turns into a rather boring "how ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Paree?" cliche, and hell. Possibly we could contemplate there being something on the farm to keep them there, and that it is not all a life of drudgery and pain? Because I'm gonna tell you something: in a time before indoor plumbing, electric light, antibiotics, combustion engines, etc. there's going to be drudgery pretty much everywhere you go, because living without modern technology takes lots of time and muscle. These fictional cultures need to be put into context, yo.

[azuire]

"how ya gonna keep 'em down on the farm after they've seen Paree?" Yeah, the people I know RL subvert this so well. You talk about the city and it's like a different planet -- one they don't want to visit. (All that crime! And the pollution!)

But I would like people to focus on the joy of every day living -- especially domestic fantasy. There's a lot you can do without running water!

[keeps staring at Queenie]