Beginning novelists want readers to love their characters as much as they do, so often they’ll make them perfect. I was guilty of this. When I first wrote Leo into existence, I continued to point out how gorgeous he is. The funny thing is, the more you state a thing, the less impact it has. And such repetition dulls the reader to the point that they don’t care, which is the worst possible outcome. I don’t need to hit the reader over the head with Leo’s good looks, they get it the first time.
When I started writing Carpe Diem, Illinois, I described Leo to my critique group. Then, after a year of working together on the book, I asked them how they pictured Leo. All five women had completely different ideas of what he looked like. That’s when I realized that beauty is in the imagination of the reader and that’s where it should stay. If I over-described him, forced my preferences on readers, then some wouldn’t find him handsome at all.
And later I discovered that it’s not his good looks that makes him interesting, it’s his flaws.
The problem with perfect, flawless characters is that they’re boring and oftentimes we resent them. Picture this: you run into the grocery store after working out at the gym to pick up diet soda (for you) and a bag of chips (for the kids, you kid yourself) and, of course, you haven’t showered yet. Passing quickly by the health food section, you run into your neighbor, the one who lives in the colonial manor with the four-car garage and heated pool. She’s impeccably dressed with her designer bag slung over her shoulder, a shopping basket filled with organic produce in her hand, her nails manicured, and her blond hair perfectly coifed. You hate her.
And then, she limps.
The best characters are flawed. Smart, pretty Elizabeth Bennett (depicted in a drawing by C. E. Brock) is a poor judge of character. Purely good Atticus Finch trusts the rule of law and is shocked when h e realizes that he’s been naive. And Harry Potter arrogantly ignores rules as if they don’t apply to him. One of the amazing things about J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter is that his flaw is often his strength. Breaking rules is what saves him.
My Leo started out as a cliched protagonist — an incredibly handsome, womanizing journalist with a drinking problem. But then I gave the poor guy a phobia (a fear of crowds) and a scar on his otherwise perfect jaw. When you first meet Leo in chapter two of Carpe Diem, Illinois, he forces himself to enter a crowded grand jury room where he’ll be expected to give up his source which will possibly cost him his career:
Leo ran a damp, shaking hand through his wavy brown hair. If he could take charge of the situation, he’d feel better. He shuffled forward, cleared his throat. The room quieted. The jurors stared. He wondered if they noticed his fingers quivering. Attempting to appear calm and in control, he tilted his head toward the jury and slowly smiled. Some people nodded, some smiled back. A few jurors actually sighed, and not all of them were women.
Leo’s nerves make him human. And you know he’s good looking but not because of a lengthy description of his chiseled jaw, swarthy skin, dreamy green eyes, and rippling muscles, but because of the reaction of the jurors.
My favorite literary characters are memorable and definitely flawed. They include Mattie Ross fromTrue Grit by Charles Portis, Beatrice from Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, Mitch McDeere from The Firm by John Grisham, and the irreverent Skink in Carl Hiaasen’s novels. And lately I’ve been hooked on anti-heros like Walter White in Breaking Bad and Amy Dunne in Gone Girl.
Who are your favorite characters? Why? Let me know. In the meantime, I should find out what Leo’s been up to . . .
Where you can find me when I’m not writing about Leo:
Let’s Just Write! An Uncommon Writers Conference, Saturday, March 10th – Sunday, March 11th, Whitehall Hotel, 105 East Delaware Place, Chicago (one block from Michigan Avenue). I’m volunteering for the Chicago Writers Association’s first writers conference.
UW-Madison Writers’ Institute Pathway to Publication, April 12-15, 2018. I’ll be busy helping writers practice their pitches to agents, running the Book Fair, and, together with Book Doctor Kevin Mullen, hosting the Live Lit Event.
Madtown Author Daze, Saturday, May 5, 10:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m., Madison Museum of Modern Art. As one of twenty-six local authors on hand, I’ll discuss my books and sell signed copies. Would love to see you there!
