Starting to dislike a character I used to love...

Christyp · Nov 4, 2011

I have a character who started out as a best friend to my protag. Long story short, his personality is changing, and I'm starting to dislike him. I have a feeling he's going to turn out to be the traitor.

How the hell did that happen? I'm the one writing the damn story...how the hell did everything change while I was watching? Please tell me I'm not the only one losing the reigns to my creations!!!

BotByte · Nov 4, 2011

Your the one who changed him. Somehow you allowed him to change to the situation rather then to change the situation to change around him.

Rewrite him.

Mr Flibble · Nov 4, 2011

Your character is starting to be a 3d thing on the page. This is good.

Go with it. See what he does. I always find these are the best characters, the ones that jump off the page. It's the best part of writing, for me.

Siri Kirpal · Nov 4, 2011

Christyp said:
I have a character who started out as a best friend to my protag. Long story short, his personality is changing, and I'm starting to dislike him. I have a feeling he's going to turn out to be the traitor.

How the hell did that happen? I'm the one writing the damn story...how the hell did everything change while I was watching? Please tell me I'm not the only one losing the reigns to my creations!!!

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

So let him be the traitor. If it makes the story better, why are you complaining?

Hidden depths, you know. We've all got them.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

jjdebenedictis · Nov 4, 2011

This is your subconscious trying to tell you something. Listen to it; it probably has a really great idea.

Also, this happens to lots of writers. It happened to Tolkien, for example. When "Strider" walked into his story, Tolkien had no idea who this guy was, but he left Strider in and kept writing the story.

And Strider turned out to be Aragorn, a pretty amazing character who made the story richer and more exciting. Tolkien's subconscious knew what it was doing.

Christyp · Nov 4, 2011

Siri Kirpal said:
Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

So let him be the traitor. If it makes the story better, why are you complaining?

Hidden depths, you know. We've all got them.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

Not complaining so much as hearbroken. This guy was such a sweetheart, my protag's soul mate (kindred spirit, best friend). Now, well, he's a little prejudiced (against species), and it's starting to look like he's going to betray his own coven. I actually got really sad writing today!

Chrissy · Nov 4, 2011

Christyp said:
Not complaining so much as hearbroken. This guy was such a sweetheart, my protag's soul mate (kindred spirit, best friend). Now, well, he's a little prejudiced (against species), and it's starting to look like he's going to betray his own coven. I actually got really sad writing today!

Ah, you lucky duck! That's wonderful! To me, this is the BEST kind of writing.

Feel those feelings - your readers will also be moved.

Trust the process.

P.S. You never had the reins. You just thought you did.

D.M.Drake · Nov 4, 2011

In my current WIP the bad guy becomes a good guy then becomes the bad guy again.

Its a ten year time span, but the point is we never know...

Run with it! And I agree, we are never in control. I feel I am more at their mercy. Which is scary, since I torture them every chance I get.

dangerousbill · Nov 4, 2011

Christyp said:
How the hell did that happen? I'm the one writing the damn story...how the hell did everything change while I was watching? Please tell me I'm not the only one losing the reigns to my creations!!!

Count your blessings. When one of my characters escapes my control, that's when I know the story's going to go well. Sit back and watch the show.

JSDR · Nov 4, 2011

Kill him. Kill him with fire.

Just kidding.

Character growth = good.

SRHowen · Nov 4, 2011

You can put him back on the right path, but it would most likely crash the story and turn it into a pile of firewood, dry and lifeless.

Go with it who knows it may turn out very much better in the end.

Siri Kirpal · Nov 4, 2011

Christyp said:
Not complaining so much as hearbroken. This guy was such a sweetheart, my protag's soul mate (kindred spirit, best friend). Now, well, he's a little prejudiced (against species), and it's starting to look like he's going to betray his own coven. I actually got really sad writing today!

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Ah! Well, as Chrissy said, let that sorrow inform your work. Your readers will thank you!

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

DancingMaenid · Nov 4, 2011

Christyp said:
Not complaining so much as hearbroken. This guy was such a sweetheart, my protag's soul mate (kindred spirit, best friend). Now, well, he's a little prejudiced (against species), and it's starting to look like he's going to betray his own coven. I actually got really sad writing today!

Hmm...I have to agree with the others that this sounds like interesting character development!

And is it possible that he could be both of those things? That is, that he's your protag's kindred spirit, but that he's also become misguided on this issue and makes this (presumably bad) decision? Very few people are totally good or totally bad, and I don't think these two roles are totally incompatible. Of course, only you know what will work for your characters and story, but that's just my thought.

BRDurkin · Nov 4, 2011

If this fact actually makes you sad... you might be doing something RIGHT! If you, as the writer, feel sad about this, imagine how the readers will feel! It'll grip them, and that's a good thing. It'll make them read on to see how the protagonist deals with this betrayal. It'll also make them read on to see if this character can somehow be redeemed before the book is done.

It's no fun and not very interesting if the guy that everyone hates ends up being the actual bad guy and traitor. That won't catch anyone by surprise.

LJD · Nov 4, 2011

well, sometimes our characters take control even though we're the ones "in charge"....

Interestingly though, I've never come to hate a character I used to like...It's always the other way for me. Always.

Sydneyd · Nov 4, 2011

Repeat after me:

You aren't a bad character, you just do bad things.

Zombie Kat · Nov 5, 2011

My favourite characters are the ones that seem irredeemable yet aren’t the bad guy. And it’s far too easy for your MC to love someone who is perfect!

Phaeal · Nov 5, 2011

If I dislike a character, I cut him out of the story. If a character is working, I like him whether he's good or teh ebil or a glorious mash-up of the two. I mean, he's WORKING! Gotta love that.

owlion · Nov 5, 2011

Maybe make him into an anti-hero? So he's bad for a while, but turns out to have good intentions.

LadyDae · Nov 5, 2011

Christyp said:
I have a character who started out as a best friend to my protag. Long story short, his personality is changing, and I'm starting to dislike him. I have a feeling he's going to turn out to be the traitor.

How the hell did that happen? I'm the one writing the damn story...how the hell did everything change while I was watching? Please tell me I'm not the only one losing the reigns to my creations!!!

Happens to me all the time. The story starts to subtley write itself and by the time you discover it, it's too late... almost. Just go with it and see where it takes you and if you don't like the idea, change the circumstances. Make it an almost betrayal, but not one, however the relationship between the two characters is changed. Yes you're the writer, but its just like parenting, sometimes you have to accept when you baby wants to do their own thing. Lol.

whimsical rabbit · Nov 6, 2011

In my opinion, solid characterisation relies on an inherent knowledge of human nature. If your character appears to be acquiring a 'conscience' of his or her own, it means that you possess such inherent knowledge, and that you don't treat your characters as puppets on a string.

So like everyone else already said, trust your instinct. If in the end you find that it doesn't work, you can always think of alternatives.

AlienGirl · Nov 6, 2011

I've never disliked a character of mine, even though I recognize some of them as people I wouldn't like in real life. And the people I wouldn't like are sometimes the main characters in my short pieces. It's weird. I can see them, and even though I don't like what I see it interests me enough to write about it.

I think the reason it doesn't happen is because the characters of mine are essentially tools of the plot in the end. Some things are going to happen and period, those scenes that are the reason I'm writing the book, not that there aren't characters that are just as essential. I see them as real, multifaceted people, but they're still slaves to their destiny, I don't let them run the story.

Elenitsa · Nov 6, 2011

AlienGirl said:
I've never disliked a character of mine, even though I recognize some of them as people I wouldn't like in real life. And the people I wouldn't like are sometimes the main characters in my short pieces. It's weird. I can see them, and even though I don't like what I see it interests me enough to write about it.

I think the reason it doesn't happen is because the characters of mine are essentially tools of the plot in the end. Some things are going to happen and period, those scenes that are the reason I'm writing the book, not that there aren't characters that are just as essential. I see them as real, multifaceted people, but they're still slaves to their destiny, I don't let them run the story.

Of course, this is how I see things too.

JuliaH · Nov 6, 2011

Back in college, one of my professors once said that a story should be like a wiggly line, good thing happens to a character, bad thing happens, good thing happens. Cinderella falls in love with the prince, but then she has to leave, but then he finds her shoe, and so on.

My point is that maybe this is your subconscious telling you that too many good things are happening to your main character. It's time for them to get beaten down a little bit.

If you're feeling like your main character still needs to have a loyal friend around, you could always introduce a new character to fill the role...

...then have them get run over by a train.

LucindaLynx · Nov 6, 2011

Let your Inner Writer guide you.

Starting to dislike a character I used to love...

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