A Writers Question

[spyells]

I like to write stories but lately I'm having a problem. The main character of my story never seems to come out the way I want him to on paper. And I'm at a lose at what to do. In my mind I can see him and hear him but he never comes out the way I want him too. T.A. Baron the author of the Lost Years of Merlin said you know you've created a great story when the characters can live off the page. And it's true it's the same thing I've noticed with the Young Wizard's series, Harry Potter and many others. I've been trying to figure out for a couple of years now how to write the boys story that I can see so vividly in my mind but I can't. Everyone loves my writing but no matter how much I improve I still have the same problem. My character just doesn't seem real on paper.

What do I do?

[christmas]

Does your character have a flaw? He could be the greatest person in the world, but if he's perfect, he's unbelievable, because no one is perfect. But its kind of hard to say what you can do to make a character seem more real without reading the story and getting to know the character...

[Kathy Li]

This may sound stupid, but have you tried looking at what you wrote with your reader's head? I.e., don't look at what you write at the author, and not from inside the charater's head, but as a reader would read it? Sometimes that can tell you where a hole is, or a confusion in narrative voice.

Another thing is that if your characters start arguing with you about what they should or want to be doing, sometimes you should listen and let them go and do that other thing, even though it seriously messes up your plans for the next six chapters and what you wrote back up there for chapter two. Sometimes they know better than you do what they're supposed to be doing.

Another "rule" (made to be broken, btw) is trying to show things, instead of tell them. You can tell us that a character is cool, but unless they do or say something cool, it's harder to believe.

[Dragon Writer]

i've had the same problem recnelty. the characters are all developed, but they don't neccessarily come out right...part of it for me is simply not being able to conecentrate on it though. :P if you're doing it in first person, my suggestion would be to start looking at it not through the eyes of writer or reader, but character...if you can slip into their emotions, and see things the same way they do, you'll have a much easier time writing as them. *should probably take up my own advice when i start the next rewriting of book* if it's third person...well, i don't DO third person, but you should probably do the same thing, just in a different way...watching their reactions to problems inside your mijnd rather then actually living through them. (ok, it kinda sounds crazy....but writing IS insane! look at the writing techniques that are used! we're all a bunch of lunitics most likely. :P and i say that in the dearest fashion, being one myself.)

[spyells]

I never thought about looking at it from the readers point of view. That's a good idea. I also never thought about slipping into the mind of the character and going from there. I mean I've written a lot of stories and all of those characters come out right. It's just this one. ONLY this one. My character isn't perfect but he is talented in many things. Especially magical ones. But he isn't perfect and he knows it too. Many people in the story think he is. But he's not and he knows it. He has a lot of secrets in his life that no one knows. He's done somethings some good and some bad. But when I try to write his story it just wont come out. I want people to read his story exactly the way I see it. I'll try the suggestions that were posted and see what I can do.

[Dragon Writer]

another way of making them more real i guess is giving them more complexities...mine are often so complex it's almost impossible to actually explain it (though easy to understand when you see it developing in the book) the only problem is, it's hard to remember to slip eveyrthing in at the right times at some points....i'm having trouble with that currently.

[spyells]

Maybe we can help you too Young Reader. I've never had that particular problem. But I'm pretty sure someone would have some suggestions for you.

My character has done so many things behind the scenes it isn't funny. He's family isn't even right. I see it like one of those married couples that are just perfect for each other. They compliment each other so well. But they end up getting a divorce a year later. And then you ask yourself what happened? What happened to that perfect couple? And then you realize that they weren't perfect at all. Maybe the girl cheated. Maybe the guy was abusive. Looks can be deceiving.

There was this book I read once called "Shades of Simon Gray" by Joyce McDonald. In this book Simon is thought to be well a good kid. Until everyone realizes the truth about him when he is in a coma after a car crash.

What I'm trying to say by by mentioning that book is that I want to convey what the other characters see. But at the same time I want the reader to know the truth. My character has everything to be perfect on the outside. But he isn't happy and he wants something more. I need to stop ranting and just write. *sighs*

[Dragon Writer]

i doubt it...i just need to manage to work in all the information slowly, but surely, without overcrowding the actual story trying to stick in hints and bits of informatin that will come together later... i'll get it all in eventually, though. and i'll just have to make sure i can concentrate on the writing properly when i do it, so i won't have any problems with the character's behavior or the way they're acting not being quite right for them. (or not right at all. :P) anyways, i hope OUR advice helps YOU.

[Rhi]

My problem when I'm writing is sticking with it. I started writing something in 5th grade, put it aside for a loooooonnnnnnngggggg time, picked it up again and completely changed it and then put it back down, waited about a year, and then wrote the next chapter. How weird is that? Oh well, it's not really a passionate project and I don't think I'll ever really finish the story...Hmm, I wonder if that's kind of an analogy for life-it's a story we start, work on, and never finish

[spyells]

Thanks Young Reader. I hope it helps me too. What I've been doing for practice is I started working on a story that I started a year ago. I see what you guys mean by getting inside the character and letting them tell their story. But all of my other stories always come out right anyway. Plus I still need to decide how I'm going to present my characters story since nothing ever seems to be quite right.

Let me explain. When I read books I like to pay attention to how the book is written. Take "Pendragon" by D.J. Machale. He writes his story from the main character point of view like a journal. Then look at "Harry Potter" by J.K. Rowling. She narrates in the third person (I forgot the proper term.). I've always played with my characters story. I believe part of the reason that it never comes out right is that I'm not quite sure just how to present it. And when I do present it it isn't right so my character doesn't come out the way I want. I'm going to keep practicing on the story that I'm currently working on. And go from there.

There is this story I wrote a couple of years ago for my best friend's birthday. It was a short story and it was about 20 pages long. It took me about two days to finish writing. Because I didn't have a computer back then it took me 6 months to find a way to get it typed, but I got it done. My other best friend wrote a poem to go along with the story. Everything fit perfectly. I just wish all of my stories came out like that. I have a Halloween one in the works right now also.

[christmas]

Something that helps me sometimes is to write it out in second person (You go to the store. You buy bread and peanut butter. You go home. You make a sandwich.) Sometimes it helps you get more of a feel for how your character feels. I wouldn't write the whole story in second person, but sometimes it helps to write just on little part, and then put it in first person (or third person) afterwards.

[Emi]

Have you ever read "Pants On Fire" by Meg Cabot? It's about this girl who is really smart, and ends up having a popular boyfriend, but she goes behind his back and cheats with this other guy. She ended up having to lie all the time to her friends and stuff, until this guy who used to be her best friend in elementry and middle school came back in to town. She ended up having to lie so much that she finally broke down and told the truth.

Anyway what I'm getting at is she was putting on a show about how she's perfect, but inside she was just a BIG FAT LIAR. Meg Cabot wrote it in first person, and did a really good job showing her true personality to the readers, but not the characters. Not until later on in the story. But try reading that... It might help!

[Wiccangixie]

Truthfully I think it's much better when a character you're creating doesn't come out quite the way you like. I always modify my stories in a way where my character changes in a new light of how I see her. One character that I created, Firena, develops from being a shy young lady, to being a fierce young woman finding her love Matt. I love developing characters, and sometimes developing them means giving them a spark from life that you didn't imagine that character having before. Hope this helps.

[Tsakaki]

I'm not sure if someone else suggested this, but maybe you could get someone else to read it and describe to you what bother's them about you're character, what feels "off" about it.
I have quite a few friends who read and write (and I rarely trust my own opinion in regards to my own work) so I often get them to read it and give me suggestions. It's really useful, it helps point in directions you never noticed.
Also, it's good to imagine you're character in different situations, figure out how they'll react, or how they'll change in regards to new information. Many of the characters I've created (most were for fanfiction stories and such, but over the last few years I've been creating my own stories) and the more scenarios and stories I imagined them in, the more their personality developed and changed.

[willowtree]

May I suggest you read 'The Graveyard Book' by Niel Gaiman? (such a terrible last name. I feel sorry for the guy). It's about this kid named Nobody who lives in a graveyard. He is very flawed and tons of things go wrong with his life. And it's funny!

Also, if you want to do first person read 'Percy Jackson And The Olympians' series by Rick Riordan. He's very good!