Why Your Characters are Boring (and How to Fix Them)
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- čas přidán 13. 07. 2024
- In this video, I delve into the common writing mistakes that make characters boring and uninteresting in your stories. From lack of depth to clichés, I break down why your characters may be falling short and provide practical writing tips on how to breathe life into them. These insights will help you transform your characters from mundane to memorable. Tune in to learn how to make your characters truly awesome!
Transform your boring characters into unforgettable legends!
Stay tuned for valuable advice on character development that will take your storytelling to the next level.
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00:00 Introduction
00:08 10 Reasons Your Characters are Boring
00:16 Character Motivation Unclear
00:50 Nothing New to Discover
01:35 No Emotion
02:50 Character Reaction is Boring
03:57 No Flaws or Weaknesses
04:45 Characters are all the Same
05:50 Life is too Easy
06:34 Too Vague or Generic
07:16 No Values and Doesn't Stand for Anything
08:11 Inconsistency
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Books and videos mentioned in this video.
Creating instant character connection; Writing Tips - • Creating instant chara...
Mastering Character Development: 5 Essential Tips for Your Writing - • Mastering Character De...
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What is your biggest struggle to write engaging characters?
The "no flaws or weaknesses" point really resonates with me. The Mary Sue factor really wrecked the latest Star Wars trilogy and Captain Marvel for me. My main character, Faith Faraday, has several weaknesses including a fear of heights that she has to continually endure. None of my characters a re boring, but I clicked the video anyway. Glad I did. :) Great video!
"Faith Faraday" is an AMAZING name. 😃💯
@@JhadeSagrav Thank you so much! 😁
Thank you for your comment. I love your character's name. What genre are you writing? I'd love to read it!
I agree!
I always start with internal conflict and make the story around that my story I'm writing write now was sparked my a story prompt that could have gone so many ways but with Johnny's internal conflict he made a decision that fuels the story without it there would be no story
Internal conflict is a huge part of a good story! Some writers start with the character and the internal conflict and the story unfolds from there. I love that we are all so unique and have different ways of constructing our stories. But the internal conflict is a good place to start!
I thought I was the only one who didn't connect with Captain Marvel. Now I understand why. Also, I think that if a character over emotes and seems over the top, it doesn't seem realistic to me, and it turns me off.
I agree. There is a balance. Not enough, and it's boring. Too much, and it's annoying.
For me, it's a challenge to keep the balance between #1 and #2. Describing the character's motivation may contradict discovering the character over time.
My plot contains a lot of conspiracy and betrayal, with multiple people turning out to have different motivations than expected. A reason my concept of giving about twenty people at least one POV chapter probably won't work is that it feels like betraying the reader, like hiding thoughts and feelings of characters while telling less important stuff just to tell something.
That's why I now concentrate on the POV of a few low ranked people, who have no clue about what their higher-ups are really planning. So I have to reveal to the reader only what the other characters reveal to these originally four people, of whom after a major turning point in the middle only two are still alive.
I love this! It is always tricky to decide whose POV the story is told through. If done correctly, it allows for revealing a little bit at a time. I love the conspiracy and betrayal themes in a book. It is a great way to elevate the tension and conflict.
@@DaveandAngieSmuin That's true. At the moment, I'm wavering between two options.
I may use four POV characters, two fom the "goodies" and two from the "baddies" teams. The former will be a disillusioned veteran soldier and a brash, overconfident young activist, the latter a disgraced and disgruntled military officer (a truly horrible human being) and small fry criminal he hired as a henchwoman (eventually the most important character of the story).
Or I may write in first person, from the good soldier's POV. Scenes where he wasn't present, but will later have the opportunity to speak to someone who was, will be told by him too, with his more or less correct evaluation. While he is the narrator, the henchwoman is the person whose character arc is told over the course of the story and who has to sort out things at the end.
Dang, this was really helpful (not that it can make me write any better 😅, but for other people, i mean). Biggest struggle is probably a succinct "i have no idea what i'm doing."
Writing started out as a joke and now it's kinda taking the wheel. Like i jokingly threw a "POV" comment on a lovey-dovey instrumental video cuz everyone else was doing it... and... it's up to ~100pgs now, God help me.
Then i made a stupid little poem thing and someone was like *[EXPLAIN! EXPLAIN!!!]* so oops guess i have to figure out the plot behind it now, and while i'm at it, i guess i'll throw in a scene for free and NOW THAT ONE IS >100PGS NOW TOO. WHAT THE HECK IS HAPPENING?!?!
But i reread it and i know it's trash. My brain is a dumpster fire on a train wreck, and i don't understand "emotions" like normal ppl do, so "emotions" don't come through at all in the stories. Flat. Boring. ...Trash.
it sucks, cuz i really like my characters and i just wish someone else was writing them so they could do them justice. ☹
That does sound frustrating. When I started, I didn't know what I was doing either. I'm a firm believer that anyone can learn to write if they are willing to learn. What do you like about your characters?
Captain Marvel had been subjected to electric shock treatment to destroy her memory plus she was indoctrinated to suppress her emotions. EST produces flattened emotions, so this was a realistic portrayal.
The result was a boring and flat character. They could have given her a flaw or a weakness to make up for the lack of personality. Anything to give us something to root for and something to relate to.