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Questions for Readers and Writers​

Question 16​

If you had to pick your favorite stereotypical main character, whether it be a hero, villain, or whatever, what personality would it have? Basically, tell me what your favorite approach to a main character is! I like hearing from different perspectives because it brings inspiration for new characters and improves the reading experience that the audience may have!

Personally, I'm a sucker for the Grass-type failure heroes that come through for you in the end of the novel and somehow save the day. Ironically, I also enjoy reading about the failure heroes that fall short in the end of the novel and the end is not so bright and hopeful anymore.

Even though this is a somewhat broad question, what is your favorite commonly-used type of main character?
 
I was wondering when this one would come up.

I love writing the selfish and possibly twisted main character. I've found through reading, experience and sources that often times the flawed, self-centered, deviant characters are the most realistic. The stereotypes of good and evil are black and white and largely unable to be related to, but the fact that most of us real people fall closer to the gray than we like to admit is something that supports the understandability of such an mc. The selfish ones also tend to have logical reasoning to their actions and are far easier for me to write than the noble or purely malicious, as I myself operate largely on a logical basis and can thus sometimes ask myself what I would do in the character's place easily. I feel as if I can delve into the minds of such characters and layer complexity after complexity on them to just the right level, as I'd know what's too much when characterizing myself. On the downside, when one does plunge into the mindsets of this depth, it can be pretty silly trying to climb back out and write a character with a more pro-social approach to things. Caution: never overwhelm yourself when writing a dark character. Sometimes they grow on you :p

As an add-on, how do you as a reader feel about an mc requiring a redeeming quality or something like it? Do you care? What do you look for in a compelling mc?
 
An anti-hero is always better than a hero for me. Whether the main character has some fatal flaw or is just flawed overall, I much prefer it to the typical main character with very few, unimportant flaws (or flaws that are exaggerations of his good side). I like dark, troubled characters, characters who struggle with themselves or with the world, characters who want to understand and be understood.
 
Stubborn and/or arrogant despite being aware of their actual situation in reality. Often reliant on others if need be though some of my main characters might do it a bit reluctantly. Development of the character generally doesn't start until pretty late in the fiction. It makes for a rather small protagonist and allows for more focus one everything/everyone else but him/her.
 
I don't really think I have a favourite type of main character. Even thinking back to some of my favourite characters in books and series, they seem to fall all across the board. I guess if there's any specific trait that they all share, it would be that they grow and adapt as the story progresses. Characters that don't change grow stale quickly, while even annoying MCs can be redeemed with change and growth, keeping the story interesting.
 
Zyflair said:
Stubborn and/or arrogant despite being aware of their actual situation in reality. Often reliant on others if need be though some of my main characters might do it a bit reluctantly. Development of the character generally doesn't start until pretty late in the fiction. It makes for a rather small protagonist and allows for more focus one everything/everyone else but him/her.
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I really like this description, and I feel like I have read some mc's like this, but I can't give it an accurate example in my head. Are there any other details or any examples from published novels you could give? Also, is the mc's case of smallness and ability to be manipulated through other elements the main reason you like such a character?
 
You can find my main characters to have this trait, as much of the story is out of their control for quite some time. Many characters in fantasy stories will have it to an extent and will not gain power for a while. The main difference between the generic kind and mine is that they prefer to delude them on the outside with a stronger exterior shell despite the horror of the truth they have to deal with the will of others rather than being able to exercise theirs. As for why I like that is simply because I liken it to a metamorphosis; their physical stature will change along with their attitudes.
 
Looking back upon a few stalled stories of mine, both online and offline, they often stop because I simply run out of inspiration and have no idea where the story will go next, even though I draw outlines for them all the time. The little subplots and scenes that begin new phases are probably where the problem lies. I wish this not to happen with Outlet in the future.

What techniques do you guys use to make sure that your story doesn't stall? Are there any tried and true methods that you would recommend?
 
Oops, thought I answered this!

Uralya said:
What techniques do you guys use to make sure that your story doesn't stall? Are there any tried and true methods that you would recommend?
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I usually try and wait out the idea for a while to see if I'm still interested in it. If I've already started the story and I'm getting tired of it, then I either put it on hiatus for when I am interested or I just get rid of it because keeping my attention on a dying story isn't going to help me--and the same is true even if I love the concept.
 
Is this the proper thread I would post in if I wanted to get opinions on story ideas?
 
PMJ said:
Is this the proper thread I would post in if I wanted to get opinions on story ideas?
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I've done it in the past. I'm honestly surprised that more people don't do this already.
 
When I was finishing up 27772, I wanted my second fic to have an equally amusing thread id. 50000 was coming up, and I felt that that would be as good an ID as any, so as it got really close I spammed like 80 threads in the mod forum and eventually got thread 50000. I had originally planned on using it as a placeholder for my second fic (I don't know if the thread still exists), but I never got around to writing it.

So you guys remember Explorers of Time/Darkness, yeah? I remember getting some item, one of the Seven Treasures in that game, in some dungeon. I wondered what would happen if I collected them all. So I did. What happened, you ask?

Not a damn thing, that's what. I felt robbed. What a waste! No "hey you all seven, congrats!" or "oh shit you just unleashed mewtwo on the world, better go take him out", nothing. So that inspired me to make a big deal out of it myself and write a story in the Mystery Dungeon universe that focuses on the Seven Treasures. The main character is Shirley, a seven-year-old girl who, well, gets thrown into the Mystery Dungeon world. I had my plot but I didn't want to go the 27772 route and throw caution to the wind and just write it as I go. I wanted a plan.

Eventually I was reading up on some writing tips and I learned that, generally speaking, it's not a good idea for your main character to be seven years old, and I kinda lost the will to write the story. It still sits in the back of my head, though.

Then I played Platinum, and I was completely shocked when, after you defeat them at Stark Mountain, Mars and Jupiter quit Team Galactic. Mars reasons that there is no point in staying with Cyrus gone, and she quits while hinting that she is headed to the Distortion World to look for him. Jupiter agrees and she leaves, too, though it's not clear what she plans on doing. I thought about writing a Pokemon journey from her point of view. She has huge amounts of money, strong Pokemon, and without her goofy Team Galactic getup and code name, a relatively easy time blending in. I decided to give her the name Shirley, a backstory thanks to Athena's fic, and a rough picture thanks to Xous. Right now that's kind of at the forefront of my mind in terms of fic ideas.

That said, I still have The Rematch and Life in P-ville to finish, if I can ever bring myself around to writing them. The former actually has work done on the next chapter; the latter I have not touched since I last posted there.
 
Does anyone have the problem where you have all of the ideas, but when you start writing your mind goes blank. I have been having that problem a lot lately. I have a folder full of half written chapters of fanfics or articles.

Also are Articles or Editorials allowed in this section? A lot of them are about Pokemon TCG, and I wanted a place to share them were people know what I am talking about.
 
This is precisely why I have two unfinished stories right now. I know how I want both of them to end, but it's hard getting there.
 
I had a dream last night, and it was largely about writing. That's surprising to me considering the majority of my dreams concern real events in my life. I will admit that my latest work is deep in my mind frequently, but this is the first time I've had a dream concerning the ethics of the craft.

I'm not sure where or even if I've read this anywhere before, online or in a book or even by word, but my dream boils down to this: you should always write with a purpose. I was told that without an issue to voice an opinion about, a message to get across, or a purpose to what you put down on paper, one's writing holds no meaning. There were little examples that I believe were given, but the message I was given is all I remember well.

Upon searching the internet, I see that this is a widely discussed topic, both in conventional formal writing and fiction, though it takes two different approaches there (but I digress). I haven't come across this topic in recent memory, so I'd like to ask how you guys feel about the statement. How important is having a purpose to write, period?
 
PMJ, that sounds like a great story to write. Not only is it a unique concept, but a unique point of view as well. I'd really enjoy seeing it put into place if you ever decide to.


Mr.Muffin said:
Also are Articles or Editorials allowed in this section? A lot of them are about Pokemon TCG, and I wanted a place to share them were people know what I am talking about.
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Those articles probably belong in the TCG forums instead.


Also, for the great-concept-but-inability-to-write situations, I have a ton of experience. I've extensively envisioned a Croagunk being the lead detective in Pastoria City, fighting crime and saving lives from the evils of a Scrafty gang that lurks the streets. I plan on maybe starting it when I get ~40 chapters into my latest story, which may be a long time since I'm taking my time with these chapters, but I really like the idea.

Furthermore, I want to write from the perspective of a Pokemon Ranger because usually that side series is hardly touched upon in the writing world. However I'd much rather write from the perspective of a Pokemon! :p
 
I have loved writing both Shirley and Lisa in Mysteries. Based on their backgrounds, etc., I'm rather surprised to hear that you haven't written about them so far! I would be interested in reading a story based on either or both of them, especially if they take a bit more of a darker or serious tone compared to the games.

As far as child protagonists go, they can be very difficult. It's hard for a writer to get in the mind of a child and portray it realistically while also maintaining a serious legible story for an adult audience. The best example of this working well that I can think of is some of the children POV characters in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. Bran is 7 at the beginning of the series and Arya is 9. Of course, both children mature rather quickly due to their experiences, but some of the earliest chapters of each character are excellent examples of writing from a child's perspective, though of course their chapters are interspersed with chapters from older characters' perspectives as well, which may make the story as a whole easier to parse.

If I ever have problems with getting ideas down on paper it's because they don't seem as good when written as they appear in my head. I've had this problem with Mysteries occasionally where I am seeing so many flaws that are probably much less apparent to my readers, but OH WELL.

Also, Turtwig, your Croagunk detective story reminds me of the short (well, for me) story that I had planned out for the now-defunct short story contest. It was set to be a mystery starring a Lucario and Gothorita professional duo solving a murder mystery in a small town they recently moved to, with an overall theme of discrimination between species in the wild Pokémon community. I might still write it up, perhaps after Mysteries and/or CR are finished.
 
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