How to Write Rounded Characters (and Avoid the Disney Princess Paradigm)

Creating new characters is like giving birth. Minus the nine months of pregnancy, morning sickness, and the whole "push a human out of your lady tunnel" part. And, just as if they were your own children, it's normal to want your mind babies to be perfect and unflawed.

But, in novels, character with flaws are often the most compelling.

Early Disney princesses come to mind as being the opposite of compelling. They are totally flat. Flatter than a piece of cardboard that's been trampled by a herd of elephants.

Cinderella is perfect: perfectly kind and perfectly hardworking. Princess Aurora is perfect: perfectly sweet and perfectly elegant. Snow White is perfect: perfectly innocent and perfectly pure. You seeing the trend? I call it the "Disney Princess Paradigm." Stop clapping, Snow White, it's not a compliment!

Those are a lot of good and admirable traits, don't get me wrong. But that's the problem: they're too good. They're too perfect.

And the problem with being perfect is that there's very little room for growth. What did any of those princesses learn from their stories? Can you think of a single thing? Anything?... Bueller?... Bueller?

Nothing, right!?

Real people are flawed with insecurities, fears, jealousies, etc. For every trait at one end of the spectrum, there should be a number at the other. And it's these negative traits that necessitate character growth, that force a person to confront their flaws and overcome them. And sometimes it's these traits that a reader can connect with. There's something powerful in being able to relate, to see your own mistakes and reactions and flaws in someone else. So you *puts bossy pants on* HAVE to create engaging, well-rounded characters.

To ensure my characters have positive traits AND negative traits/flaws and to keep them unpredictable and layered, I came up with a method I call the "U-List Method."

I do this for each of my characters before I start writing (though it might change as the story is written and as characters fall more solidly into place). Here's what it looks like:

Take your characters (main and minor) and apply this method to them. Draw a U, or a horseshoe if you're feeling fancy, and make a list along the "U," positive traits on the left, neutral at the bottom, and negative to the right. Here's a great list of traits some kind soul has already categorized.
Make sure your character's u-list is well balanced in each of these areas. Having a number of positive, neutral, and negative traits gives characters three-dimension. And knowing your character's main traits can really help you to understand them and how they would act/respond to happenings in your story.

Remember: negative traits don't always mean your character is bad. A character that's stubborn might also mean that he/she doesn't follow the crowd. A character that seems overly-sensitive might also be more compassionate. Make your villain idealistic and honest, make your hero gullible and impatient.

To every coin there are two sides, the same can be said of personalities. And that's what makes people so interesting. And it's what will make your characters more interesting as well.

So go forth, my fellow wordfolk, and unleash your rounded character creations on the world!
 

~Be mindful of a person's strengths and weaknesses. Some strengths can be a flaw and some weaknesses a blessing.~

#PimpMyBio

'ELLLOOOO PITCHWARS MENTORS!

This is your driver speaking, about to take you on a mildly exciting ride into the mind and dreams of a 1st year PitchWars hopeful.

DISCLAIMER:
-Please keep hands, arms, legs, and feet inside the blog at all times.
-Secure all lose articles, including wallets, change, cell phones, and hats (some of my characters are SUPER shady and wouldn't think twice about swiping them).
-Remain seated until the ride comes to a complete stop (just kidding, you can leave at any time...wait...don't go!).

WHY PITCHWARS?

My story is in one of the dreaded-dead genres, Urban Fantasy (with vamps and weres to boot). It seems like agents still hightail it for the hills when they see those words. I want so much to take my novel to the next level. To push it, to challenge it, to break those glass market ceilings! I'm ready to, with a mentor's help, beat it down and build it back up, to make it go the distance (Hercules, anyone?) despite the odds!

I need a mentor/mentors to help me whip this story into fighting shape (cue "Eye of the Tiger").

A mentor/mentors who can help me turn SOUL BOUND into a story capable of helping to dig the genre back out of the grave.

I've tried so hard to do something new and fresh. To give vampires/werewolves new life (er... un-life?). I promise they don't sparkle. And the werewolves aren't shirtless all the time. And their mythologies are completely original and not based on any that already exist.

I've also come up with a completely new supernatural being who is at the heart of the story, and I know she and her fellow soul binders ARE GOING TO KICK. SOME. AS--encourage you to see, love, and nurture the souls of nature. But also, yeah, kick some ass ;)

There are so many writers out there still creating stories and worlds and characters in the genre and I think that says a lot about the hole that exists in the market where UF used to be. I want so much to help bring the genre back and to do that by taking my story to the next level. And I know PitchWars is the place to find amazing fellow wordfolk that can help me do that.


WHY MY STORY?

SOUL BOUND is my book baby. The first novel I've ever written and a story so close to my heart. I wrote it to try and make a difference (ugh I hope that doesn't come across as pretentious--I know it's very beauty pageant, "world peace"-y).

I wanted to try and inspire some sense of wonder and compassion for the natural world by giving it a voice. By giving that voice to a girl trying to find her place in the world. By carefully pitting the three biggest influences (science, religion, and nature) on our species against one another, disguised as characters within the story. It's got an eco-warrior edge, a fiery and impulsive heroine, two characters in one, and a whole lot of heart.  


WHY ME?

I think two of the most important things you need on the journey towards becoming published are thick skin and a stubborn nature. I have both in troves (seriously, I have like, horse-thick skin and would never back down from a triple-dog-dare). 

I have been writing stories since before I could actually write. I would dictate stories to my grandma, who would then write them up for me (my very first story was about an angel named Share who took a new angel back down to Earth to check on his family and stop some bullies from hurting his little brother.). Here's one of my earliest writer's bios (I think I was 8 y/o). I'll never be able to top this one:

8 y/o Rosetta Stone: amashend/amashing=imagined/imagining, chaldrend's=children's

Words are my life. Stories are in my soul. It's my dream to write in every genre and across all different kinds of story spaces (screenplays, video games, graphic novels, etc) and I am prepared to cross hell and high-water to make it happen. If you've ever read THE ALCHEMIST (if you haven't, you absolutely should), you'll recognize the concept of "personal legends." This is my Personal Legend. And I'm not going to give up on it. They may take our lives, but they will never--wait, wrong speech... (cue Mel Gibson in blue face paint and a kilt riding towards you screaming "FREEDOM!!")

Point is, I will work hard to make this happen. Writing is everything to me. I will listen and take your advice, but also stand by some of my choices and aspects of the story. I will take constructive criticism and find a way to apply it to make the MS stronger. I will use entirely too many exclamation points, send you way too many gifs, fangirl with you about fandoms (see all my favorites here) and try to find new ones to get you hooked on, and will most definitely be eternally grateful to you and grant you three wishes (did you make it this far? If you did, I'm totally joking about the wishes thing. I'm not a genie... OR AM I?).