Flamboyant characters

Dreambrewer · Dec 20, 2011

I've always had a problem with self-censure concerning flamboyant characters. What I mean by this, is characters you might see in a cartoon or comic book. When I write books, I usually write droll boring characters, because I am somehow fixated on books being a serious medium. I personally love such interesting characters when I read books, but it pains me to put my own characters of that type into words.(I keep thinking "That's unlikely/absurd/stupid")

How do I get past my own failure? How can I force myself to create colorful, glorious characters(imaginative), instead of dry, uninteresting("realistic") ones.

And a question to you as well. Do you think such characters are appropriate to books in the first place or should they just stick to the other forms of fiction?

MJNL · Dec 20, 2011

Perhaps you might want to re-evaluate what you think "realistic" people are like. Most people aren’t dry, or uninteresting, or proper. I can understand not wanting to cross the line from character into caricature, but most people have some "flamboyant" characteristics. People talk too loud, are clumsy, they flail their hands when they speak, and misuse words, and dress ridiculously, and are snobby, and are overly nice, and are easily excitable, etc. These are very real personality traits. Maybe you need to do some people watching--take a notebook with you and jot down any new, interesting traits you see.

ETA: to answer your second part: I think books without these kinds of people are unrealistic and flat.

Maxx · Dec 20, 2011

MJNL said:
Perhaps you might want to re-evaluate what you think "realistic" people are like.

'You think it unlikely my former self survived, then.'

Iain Banks, online Epilogue to Against a Dark Background

As I recall it, everybody is pretty flamboyant chez Banks, but they often have a somber side.

Like Lady Sharrow whose name is close to sorrow:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Against_a_Dark_Background

Filigree · Dec 20, 2011

Let's turn this thought experiment around: why write about boring people?
Interesting stories don't happen to boring people. Moreover, a 'dull' or 'realistic' person who lives through a great adventure will likely not be boring anymore.

Stop self-censoring. Nobody wants to read what the internal editor has to say. Let the characters out to play, and they will probably startle you.

sunandshadow · Dec 20, 2011

There are definitely real people who are flamboyant in various ways, and they have real reasons for being so. Maybe you need to focus on why people act however they do. I know a kid who learned to act like a clown to defuse the anger of his older brother, a bully with a temper. Their single mother was low-energy and morose, and couldn't control the older brother. The kid also used his clowning to try to cheer up his mother; he could see her depressed attitude driving friends away and could see how when she was too depressed to do some chore it made thinks worse as they piled up. Then in school, the kid learned to use humor to deflect attention away from anything he didn't want to talk about, like his lack of a father, or any problems he had with his grades. Clowning also got him attention from girls, although he had problems getting them to take himself seriously. Clowning was so much a part of his identity he wasn't sure if he should take himself seriously anymore, so maybe no one else should... except he couldn't help wanting them to. This guy's story could go on and on, but the point is that people can have serious reasons for acting absurd, and flamboyant actions can have real effects, both very useful ones and somewhat dangerous ones.

Dreambrewer · Dec 20, 2011

The problem is, partly, that I may go too over the top and the resulting characters may be too absurd. They may become cartoonish, so to say. How do I know where to stop?

The bigger problem is that it's not that I don't understand why this is a problem, but that I have a mental block that prevents me from truly correcting it. It feels bad to write cool characters. I guess I should see a shrink.

Anninyn · Dec 20, 2011

I'm pretty damn flamboyant, and I promise you I really exist.

Get over this idea that books are somehow a medium that require 'propriety'. It's clearly not doing you any good. Sufficiently wide reading will smack that right out of your skull.

All that said, do be careful not to push your characters so far into flamboyance they look like caricatures.

Some fantasy/sci-fi novels with VERY interesting main characters include:
The Metrozone Trilogy, by Simon Morden
The Last Werewolf
Rivers of London and Moon over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch

and as I've read all of those recently, they're just the first that came to mind.

You should read these, to see how it's done.

Anninyn · Dec 20, 2011

Dreambrewer said:
The problem is, partly, that I may go too over the top and the resulting characters may be too absurd. They may become cartoonish, so to say. How do I know where to stop?

The bigger problem is that it's not that I don't understand why this is a problem, but that I have a mental block that prevents me from truly correcting it. It feels bad to write cool characters. I guess I should see a shrink.

All that is stuff that comes with learning how to edit and having good Beta Readers.

It's possible your reluctance to write cool characters comes from reluctance to write a Mary Sue, but as long as the character has flaws and messes up on occasion, it's fine.

Honestly? Worry is the worst stuff for writing. Give yourself permission to mess up. It won't kill you.

ironmikezero · Dec 20, 2011

Sit down and have a drink with your most boring character.

Get him/her to open up to you - remember, as the author you are omniscient and nothing is hidden from you. Ascertain what secret goal or fantasy your character harbors - what they would do or be if they could.

Everyone, even the most two-dimensional character, has a hidden desire - you need only ferret it out.

Now, grant some portion of that unfulfilled wish. Let this new aspect spark an evolution in this character's development and see where this leads.

Your character may not yet be as flamboyant as you'd like, but he/she is probably on the right track to depart Boredomville and seek out the more interesting suburbs of Fascination City.

Rhea · Dec 20, 2011

I agree with Ironmikezero. Another writing exercise could be to create a scene with a character that is as crazy as they come and then put reason behind his/her actions, bit by bit. To reveal the background, so to say.

E.g. A little old lady who uses a machete to cut her lawn, a middle-aged man with a crew-cut who wears an army boot on one foot and a ballerina shoe on the other, a 7-year-old who giggles non-stop, etc. Any number of reason could be behind these behaviours, you just have to find out.

So my advice is, for an exercise, deliberately go over the top with one or some of your charaters and present them to the unsuspecting reader, but don't forget to provide the logic behind their actions.
For example in one of my examples - the old lady was once bitten by a poisonous snake that was hiding in the grass and she didn't want to take any chances in the future. Or that the machete was a gift from his long-departed husband who used to work in the sugar fields in Brazil and she uses the machete to bring his memory back to her. Any number of explanation will do

Maybe these exercises help you to overcome your fear

Good luck!

Dreambrewer · Dec 20, 2011

Thanks for the advice, especially Rhea's writing exercise, I'll be sure to try it. To artificially go from the opposite direction may be helpful.

jjdebenedictis · Dec 20, 2011

Just to ditto what IronMikeZero said, every person -- when you scratch beneath the surface -- is interesting.

If they seem boring, it might be due to some paralyzing fear that stops them from acting, and that means there's all kinds of intense drama going on inside the silent confines of their skull.

Or perhaps they're boring because they're brimming over with gratitude for their blessedly-bland life, having escaped some dark childhood.

You can take a cliche of a character and make them interesting by digging deeper and finding the person below the stereotype. You should be able to do the same thing for a boring character -- just dig deeper.

elflands2ndcousin · Dec 22, 2011

Dreambrewer said:
The problem is, partly, that I may go too over the top and the resulting characters may be too absurd. They may become cartoonish, so to say. How do I know where to stop?

One thing that you might want to think about is how your characters are expressing their natures. What is that makes them serious/cartoonish? Is it the way they speak? Is it the way your prose describes their movements? Is it their attitudes? Really memorable and well-drawn characters are neither perfectly realistic (they'd be boring) nor are they over-the-top in every way (they'd be cartoonish). It's a question of finding where the balance is for different characters: they might crack jokes, or they might try to make themselves the center of attention, etc. That balance is going to be different for each character, but if you can find it then it'll go a long way to making them distinct and engaging.

Dreambrewer said:
The bigger problem is that it's not that I don't understand why this is a problem, but that I have a mental block that prevents me from truly correcting it. It feels bad to write cool characters.

What have you got to lose? It's perfectly acceptable to write a lousy character. Honest. We all have, and for that matter the pros on the NYT's bestseller list have, too.

The first novel-length work I ever wrote, I forgot a tiny "minor" detail: my main character's motivation. Of course, I didn't notice this little fact until I was done with the whole thing at 85k words. It was a lot of work, and sure the novel's been trunked for the time being while I work on other stuff, but it was totally worth it for the lesson it taught me. Now motivation is front and center when I think about my characters, and it stays front and center as I write.

So I'd suggest just write, and then put what you've written aside for a while to gain some distance, and then come back and analyze what works about your characters and what doesn't (it's never an "either/or" question: even badly drawn characters usually have something about them that works well). The experience and the practice will give you a lot more control over how you portray your characters.

Hope this helps! Good luck and good writing!

Chris

Liosse de Velishaf · Dec 22, 2011

Rachel Aaron and Scott Lynch seem to be able to sell flamboyance. I know plenty of out-there people in real life, too.

Just write them all and let the beta-readers sort them out.

RichardFlea · Jan 8, 2012

ironmikezero said:
Sit down and have a drink with your most boring character.

Get him/her to open up to you - remember, as the author you are omniscient and nothing is hidden from you. Ascertain what secret goal or fantasy your character harbors - what they would do or be if they could.

Everyone, even the most two-dimensional character, has a hidden desire - you need only ferret it out.

Now, grant some portion of that unfulfilled wish. Let this new aspect spark an evolution in this character's development and see where this leads.

Your character may not yet be as flamboyant as you'd like, but he/she is probably on the right track to depart Boredomville and seek out the more interesting suburbs of Fascination City.

That is cool advice. What an excellent idea. Will definitely use that one...

... see ya... off to the pub with some good friends of mine.

Rachel Udin · Jan 11, 2012

I advocate riding public transportation in a city area. It's cheap and if you do it long enough you'll see tons of characters. My local area even had a quote from Neil Gaiman that he likes riding the bus for this reason.

You'll discover some really interesting stories and get over the notion that people are dry and boring in real life really fast.

On the bus I've seen a guy hit his boy, an African American guy say, "A sista understands a brotha that's been to jail--'cause ya know that they are related to someone that's been to jail." (Which made me go WTH~ he told his life story to the driver and I kid you not he was playing to black stereotypes 100%) and a guy in a business suit call a lawyer because his ex-girlfriend is a hooker on crack and he wants custody of his son.

Yeah... there might be a few in your family too.

defcon6000 · Jan 12, 2012

Rachel Udin said:
On the bus I've seen a guy hit his boy, an African American guy say, "A sista understands a brotha that's been to jail--'cause ya know that they are related to someone that's been to jail." (Which made me go WTH~ he told his life story to the driver and I kid you not he was playing to black stereotypes 100%) and a guy in a business suit call a lawyer because his ex-girlfriend is a hooker on crack and he wants custody of his son.

Yeah... there might be a few in your family too.

That reminds me of when I rode the lightrail from uni to downtown and back again. Lots of interesting people.

I saw... a black grandmother threatening (in a very loud voice) to punish her granddaughter, who had to be only 3 or 4, and eventually they just got off.

A young black guy trying to be all gangster, talking shit and trying to pick a fight with another black guy who was peacefully listening to his music. Then an older lady yells at him before she gets off, "You're not all that!"

Semi-drunk guy with a beer in his hand asking you where you got your shoes.

Creepy older men sitting right next to you when there are plenty of other seats available.

Homeless guys hitting on you. >.>

kiwiviktor81 · Jan 12, 2012

I'd recommend giving Double Star by Robert Heinlein a read. The protagonist, who tells the story in the first person, is an out-of-work actor. He is bombastic, excessive and certainly flamboyant. By the end of the novel he has changed completely - and stayed exactly the same. It won the Hugo in 1956 and it's hard to understand quite why until you're deep into it, at which point you become aware that the character development is a work of genius.

Ambri · Jan 12, 2012

MJNL said:
People talk too loud, are clumsy, they flail their hands when they speak, and misuse words, and dress ridiculously, and are snobby, and are overly nice, and are easily excitable, etc.

Hey, have you been spying on me, or what?

Well, I'm not sure I'd go so far as snobby . . . or nice . . .

Turn off that annoying inner editor, and let your characters' inner kid(s) come out and play. Let your characters burt, fart, curse, leer at fine specimens of the preferred sex, and leave messes behind them. Keep it from turning into caricature by giving your characters layers. Have the CPA be by-the-books during the day, but tell stories of when he worked in the Congo (I spoke to such a person at work today). Give the rich, blonde bimbo a hot-pink dye job, even though she's near 40, with a kid in middle school. Give the long-haired former hippie chick dreams of going to the police academy. I think what I'm going for here is contrasts. Cliche and stereotype comes from not being fully fleshed out, not having the odd little idiosyncrasies that make real people . . . well, real.

defcon6000 · Jan 13, 2012

I'd also like to add that don't be afraid to give your characters ugly thoughts. I always find it unbelievable that we [the reader] ride around in a character's head, and the place is squeaky clean in there! This is more of an issue in YA than adult fiction, tho. But I have noticed this aversion to giving characters not-so-nice thoughts, because *gasp* it might make the reader not like the character. Like I had a beta reader disliked my MC's passing sexist thought, which was out of annoyance, but they thought I was trying to make the MC a jerk. But then again, I think writers should aim for interesting (fully defined) characters rather than likable ones.

DVKirste · Jan 13, 2012

Dull characters aren't all bad in my opinion as long as they are surrounded by crazy characters.

I have a brooding, humanity-hating, jerk whose only real emotion is anger, who loathes himself for being so adept at destroying things that he believes no one should come close to his heart and that he shouldn't grow close to anyone.

He is surrounded by an elderly mentor who kicks his bum regularly and calls everyone "Damn brat..." all because he's been hardened by war and has watched too many people die as he grew older and older that he pushes the people whom he trains till they break so that they won't die in battle.

Another character refers to herself in the third person at all times, only eats sweets, has childish nicknames for everyone, acts like a five year old, and thinks mostly about everyone other than herself. She's this way because her childhood was so serious about grooming her to succeed her father as the military genius and strategist that once she became an adult she decided to finally live her childhood.

I have many awkward characters that surround my MC who is the ever straightman, only occasionally having dirty thoughts and cracking gruff jokes as the story goes on and he is "poisoned" by the humanity around him.

The story is a magical war romance thingy that I only work on when I have writer's block. It's my original story filled with the first role playing characters i ever made.

DVK

Straka · Jan 23, 2012

I've observed from the comments of associates and reactions of strangers, that if they interpret another man's actions as flamboyant, often they perceive him as gay. I find this "view" isn't as wide spread in NYC and richer communities.

I think this wasn't always the case historically, such as with dandies but I have no numbers to back up such a claim.

Just some food for thought.

Nazurelle · Jan 23, 2012

Obviously you're a character driven writer, which means that what happens in the story is less important than who the characters are.

For that reason you need to have a balance.

Typically, from the YA books I've read, this is the allotment:

1 Bella Swan (boring, drab, uninteresting character)
1 Jace Wayland (too hot for words, also snarky and sarcastic)
1 Puck (completely off the wall character, mostly for comic relief)
1 Gale (best friend / alternate love interest)
1 Dumbledore (older mentor, wiseman)

and then multiples of anything else you need to make the story go somewhere.

Like:
1 Grimalkin (tour guide if navigating a place like Nevernever)
1 Cole (if you need a mad scientist bent on curing a disease)
1 Amy (if you're planning on throwing a wrench into an otherwise organized cultural lifestyle)
1 Patch (if you want sex on a stick)
1 Haymitch (if you want the unlikely wiseman)

And then add villains, sprinkle with research and outline.

I guess it all depends on what type of book you're planning on writing and how much you want to accomplish with your characters. Don't forget that not all characters will stay true to their form, some will fluctuate depending on what you put them through and you have to be aware of that, because it could change the entire plot, mood, and essence of what you're writing.

Good luck!

Luciamaria · Jan 24, 2012

Think about some of the people you know.

I have lots of types of personalities. Make sure the name goes with the personality, by the way - you can't have a ferocious serial killer with the name of Heidi (well, you could, but the name Katrina sounds more suitable).

For instance, I know a person who is sort of bold, outgoing, determined, kindhearted but tough on the outside, sensitive on the inside... it's based on someone I know. Make sure not to edit out their flaws, by the way. Your characters should have flaws.

Flamboyant characters

A Little Lost

Got the hang of it, here

Mildly Disturbing

Impractical Fantasy Animal

Stealing your twiglets.

Stealing your twiglets.

practical experience, FTW

Las brujas son sabias

is watching you via her avatar

Chris, King of Elfland's 2nd Cousin

Foo!

Cough up blood. Laugh, light cig

Plotting something

Destroyer of Worlds

Bored Fanatic

Sometimes it hurts instead