What Did You Discover About Your MC That Shocked You?

Darren Frey · Feb 18, 2012

He isnt exactly an MC more like a strong secondary character but I discovered while planning my 2nd vampire book that my character, Xavier is gay. It shocked me at first but then I realized how much it made sense. What has shocked you about your characters?

richcapo · Feb 18, 2012

That he isn't good enough to interest agents and publishers.

Nymtoc · Feb 18, 2012

Nothing, really. Is that bad?

triceretops · Feb 18, 2012

richcapo said:
That he isn't good enough to interest agents and publishers.

Yeah, my paraplegic MC becomes a female "Iron Man" when a combat exoskeleton lands in her lap, and she ends up fighting a terrorist triad on a Cuban island, with a black nanny/secretary and a gay therapist--three of the most unlikely, but endearing heroes you're ever likely to meet. The book garnered four agent offers, and the its chapters wiped out the competition on my Booksie site.

Not one nod from any NY publisher as a result of many agent subs. Quite shocking to me, but, alas typical of the way this industry works and defines great stories.

Tri

jasonaaronfox · Feb 18, 2012

Can't say I was shocked, but surviving multiple unjust atrocities turned my gentle and simple colonist into a cold blooded killer.

leahzero · Feb 18, 2012

Mine's pretty dark: incest. I had NO idea it was heading that way, but when I got to the end of the book and had this mysterious, clearly disturbed character reunite with a certain family member, it just suddenly made sense--oh, THAT'S why she was acting that way. And then I couldn't unsee it, so I had to go with it.

I think we subconsciously plant these seeds for ourselves.

sickmuse · Feb 18, 2012

I'm constantly shocked by my main characters. One is apparently partially responsible for the deaths of millions of people and one frequently drops bombs on me like, "Oh, by the way I'm a porn star. And even though I'm a lesbian, I married a guy so I could stay in the country after my visa expired."

triceretops · Feb 18, 2012

sickmuse said:
I'm constantly shocked by my main characters. One is apparently partially responsible for the deaths of millions of people and one frequently drops bombs on me like, "Oh, by the way I'm a porn star. And even though I'm a lesbian, I married a guy so I could stay in the country after my visa expired."

Characters highjack the plot, don't they? That's funny!

Tri

owlion · Feb 18, 2012

He used to be a bully

Never saw it coming...

Tom from UK · Feb 18, 2012

I wrote a novel about a real person, using as my narrator a fictional character. What surprised me was that the fictional character took over so completely that when I came to write the follow-up it was about my own invention, not the historical figure who had been the subject of the first book.

I was really shocked it turned out that way.

Buffysquirrel · Feb 18, 2012

That he was the same as the antagonist he was fighting against.

Logan! · Feb 18, 2012

Despite being a cautious, tactful, disciplined professional criminal, he can be very impulsive at times.

Zelenka · Feb 18, 2012

I recently discovered that my neurotic physicist is actually a 'New New Romantic', dresses like Adam Ant in his spare time and is addicted to karaoke competitions. But then that scares me more that this was all bubbling away in my subconscious somewhere...

jeffo20 · Feb 18, 2012

That he killed someone.

scarletpeaches · Feb 18, 2012

Darren Frey said:
He isnt exactly an MC more like a strong secondary character but I discovered while planning my 2nd vampire book that my character, Xavier is gay. It shocked me at first but then I realized how much it made sense. What has shocked you about your characters?

Pretty much the same thing. Almost.

I was chatting to another AWer (firedrake) about my current WIP, and she said of one character, "He seems like he needs the love of a good man."

"Huh? No; he's straight."

"Oh. Right. It's just I always thought of him as bi."

"Don't be daft; he's not--" *thinks* "Hmm...come to think of it...you could have something there..."

soullesshuman · Feb 18, 2012

He's a complete and naive idiot, kept together only by a little ball of rage he keeps on a leash.

Mari · Feb 18, 2012

My MC is bisexual.

Buffysquirrel · Feb 18, 2012

I always thought mine was bi, but no, he's gay. Bless him.

Nina_20 · Feb 19, 2012

She really is a sarcastic thing.. but still likable. Makes perfect sense she would be a little mad at the world, she's dead after all.

shakeysix · Feb 19, 2012

she has a mind of her own. she will raise up off the page and say "hold the bus! i would never do or say that!" spooky--s6

muravyets · Feb 19, 2012

He's an action-guy, a wilderness survival expert, physically violent, over-protective, a guilt-ridden chronic worrier, and kind of thinks like a cop.

All of those traits surprised me when they came out in the scenes, but upon reflection, considering his history, I should have expected it.

kaitie · Feb 19, 2012

My main characters don't surprise me as often, but I've been surprised by quite a few of them in the past. A FMC betrayed my MC out of nowhere once, which is probably the most shocking I've come across.

I have a secondary character in the book I'm writing now who's gay. That doesn't come out in the book, though, as he's still in the closet.

Another ended up with a secret conspiracy to throw over my MCs, but he was something of a bad guy in the first place so that wasn't unexpected.

I did have a character who was friends with my MC who ended up siding with the bad guy in the end. I had no idea he'd do that until he did, and that surprised the heck out of me. He was a minor character but one I'd really liked, so I was pretty disappointed when he did that.

Lhipenwhe · Feb 19, 2012

My male MC wants to have biological children; more shockingly, this is related to a sub-plot within my story.

cornetto · Feb 19, 2012

That he was a retired baseball player. That one really came out of left field.

Kitty27 · Feb 19, 2012

That he's a nasty piece of work. Which makes me very happy as he's a vampire!

What Did You Discover About Your MC That Shocked You?

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