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| Photo credit: Alex E. Proimos on Flickr |
Let’s take a look at a few examples (some of these are a
little spoilery, so proceed with caution):
- The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King (J.R.R. Tolkien)—Paranoid about people trying to take the ring from him, Frodo sends Sam away, follows Gollum into a rather eerie tunnel alone and nearly gets eaten by Shelob, the giant spider. And he sort of decides at the last possible second that he’s not going to destroy the ring after all, so Gollum has to bite his finger off to get it away from him.
- The Harry Potter series (J.K. Rowling)—Over the course of seven novels Harry makes some judgments about Snape and accuses him of more than a couple horrendous crimes, and we all know how that turned out. Oh, and there’s also that nasty habit he has of running into situations unprepared that often leads to people dying.
- Divergent (Veronica Roth)—Tris refuses to forgive a certain depressed teenager and says some horrible (if not deserved) things to him and shortly thereafter he commits suicide.
These are just a few examples, but the list goes on.
There’s something to be learned from these characters’
less-than-stellar decision-making skills, namely, that characters make mistakes
just like their real-life counterparts—except their mistakes often have more
dire consequences.
But character errors are more than just a chance to make our
readers want to slam their heads into walls: they provide opportunity for
character growth, great tension-filled plot points and a chance for our readers
to relate to them. We all make mistakes, and reading about a character who never makes mistakes not only misses a
whole slew of plot possibilities, but also makes the character significantly
more difficult to relate to.
In short, I encourage you to make sure your characters make
plenty of errors along their journeys. Don’t be afraid to let them royally mess
up or make the consequences of their actions dire.
Because just like reality, mistakes are essential for our
growth, and unlike reality, they make the plot significantly more interesting.
What do you think? Are character mistakes important? Do your characters
make enough mistakes?
29 comments:
Agreed, too Mary Sueish characters tend to make a boring story. And lots of authors who do make their puppets do mistakes or have flaws don't really make them so they affect the plot.
Yes, character mistakes are central to a good story. Case in point, the Fall from the Garden of Eden. Had Adam and Eve not made their initial mistake, the overall story would have turned out different, indeed. Same goes for the first written story (that we've found so far), the Epic of Gilgamesh, full of interesting, pivotal character mistakes.
Good post.
Love your profile description.
That's a good point. I feel like a like of writers, especially new writers, are a little afraid to let their characters make huge plot-changing mistakes, but doing so not only makes the story more interesting, but it makes the characters more realistic.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, Katja!
That's a fantastic example, Mohamed--I hadn't even thought of the Fall from the Garden of Eden, but their mistake not only affected them, but the rest of humanity (talk about a big mistake).
And thank you! It was fun to write. :)
Thanks for stopping by!
Great timing on this post! I've been trying to think of some interesting plot twists for my WIP, and I love the idea of the characters making mistakes. I think it's great that you used HP as an example -- in spite of all of Harry's awesome character traits (he's loyal to a fault, brave, determined) -- that boy can hold a grudge, can't he? It's fantastic that his misjudgments are used as a plot twist.
At the same time, I think the character's mistakes need to fit in the realm of reasonable. I hate watching horror movies and screaming at the TV "What are you thinking! Why are you going into the dark abandoned cabin with blood dripping from the walls!" LOL. Great post!
http://nickieanderson.blogspot.com/
Great point about character mistakes being reasonable. I tend to find that those kind of ridiculously (and unrealistically) stupid mistakes are more common in movies, but it can be equally frustrating on the page. Thanks for commenting! :)
Hmm...thinking about it, it was a mistake on Tris' part. Sure, it was partly deserved, considering what the other character did to her, but it's a heat-of-the-moment action that leads to another chain of unpleasant events.
Agreed. I don't necessarily blame her reaction all things considered, but had she reacted differently I suspect a certain character might have survived the novel (or at least, lived longer).
Love the image, such a perfect fit. If characters don't make mistakes...they're not real characters. No "character" can be perfect. If there are such, (unless they're some version of a god-like authority) I don't want to know about them. *holds hands over ears*
Hi Ava. This was a great post today. I was readying through my WIP yesterday afraid that my MC was to much of a screw up. That readers may get tired of her always making the wrong choices, even though the moment when she finally understands what everyone else is saying about her behavior is epic, but now I am looking at it differently. Thanks.
I was pleasantly surprised by how quickly I found that image--it really was exactly what I was looking for. Thankfully, I can't think of very many characters that didn't make any mistakes in their respective stories, and there's a good reason for that.
Hi Sydney! I think like everything in writing, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing, but I think as far as WIPs go, it's probably safer to err on the side of your character possibly making too many mistakes rather than too few. Easier to fix the former, if necessary. :)
Good luck with your writing!
Yeah, my characters are walking disaster areas. One guy unleashed a dragon on London because he has a dislike of the lion statues at Trafalgar Square. It was kinda accidental but still taught him a lesson.
"Accidentally" releasing a dragon on Trafalgar Square--I love it. :D Sounds like you've got the high consequences to your characters' mistakes down pat.
This is really an excellent point. For some reason in a few of my story ideas I had been having issues coming up with plot points... but when your character makes big mistakes it almost builds the plot for you. Great post! Keep 'em coming. I always look forward to them! :)
Author Steven
as always, good advice.
Thank you, Steven! You're absolutely right--when your characters make big mistakes, plot points that come afterwards often feel like they're building themselves. Certain even just flow naturally after an influential decision.
Thanks for commenting! ^_^
Thank you, Lori! :)
I posted this quote yesterday on my Facebook page.
"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new." - Einstein
And really interesting post.
BTW Ms. Jaedra may I ask, if you don't mind - how do you earn money from this blog as there are no ads here?
Thank you, Farhan! I've shared that quote before on tumblr. It has a lot of truth to it.
I don't. :)
Thanks for this post! The main character of my WIP is a bit too much like me in that we're both perfectionists, so even the thought of making a mistake is disturbing. Naturally, I make mistakes all the time despite my best efforts. :-P This post is a good reminder to me to make sure that my main character makes a few mistakes, too; she's just as human as I am. :)
I feel your pain on the perfectionist thing. Glad this post served as a reminder to make sure your characters aren't too perfect. :)
Thanks for commenting, Grace!
Great post!
Thank you! ^_^
Hey Grace,
That could be a boon for character development, too. How does (s)he react when (she) does make a mistake?
Cheers! :)
Very good point, Caroline! A good angle to take for some character development, for sure. I'll keep that in mind.
:-)
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