raphiael: (Words)
raphiael ([personal profile] raphiael) wrote in [personal profile] mark_asphodel 2011-08-07 05:24 pm (UTC)

Kind of late to the party here, but I think while at heart 10 and 11 are spot on, perhaps misaimed attempts at capturing those elements of an enjoyable story are where we get certain trends. I really feel like often writers confuse "likeable character" with "character who never does anything unlikeable". On the far end of the spectrum you have your Purity Sue types, but less extreme than that, you get characters who get over every instance of whatever unlikeable element they have by the end of the story, or who feel absolutely no trace of sexism/racism/whatever-ism despite everyone else in their society feeling that way.

Aaaaand I wonder if all those charts I had to fill out in creative writing classes, deciding what sort of ice cream my medieval fantasy character would like, comes from an exaggeration of #11. I mean, I know some people who find doing that kind of thing extremely helpful, but 9 characters out of 10, it just drives me batty.

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