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May 27 07 12:39 AM

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What do you find to be the traits and characteristics of your character that makes it hard to be likeable by other characters (or readers)?

My character isn't the outgoing type. She is definitley opinionated-but she only shares her viewpoints with the people she feels comfortable with. Sometimes she can come off as haughty, because she is too shy to start up conversations with strangers. I guess you culd say she hasn't had much experience in social settings.

So what about you?

The one an only

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iaceu

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#1 [url]

May 27 07 1:20 AM

Hmm. Traits and characteristics of my characters that others would like tend to be the same things that I don't like about non-fictional characters. fictionfactor/bleh.gif

Not living up to potential, arrogance, obnoxiousness, overly emotional, to name a few. With one character, I picked a couple of these as they are things we as humans tend not to like, but we hope in our hearts that the people we love will overcome these flaws. Once these people do just that, we love them even more, but, if they fail, we will love them nonetheless.

iaceu

Stranded in Thought

"Beware lest in your anxiety to avoid war you obtain a master." - Demosthenes

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May 28 07 3:47 AM

I love the little quirks that makes characters unique! A character without a weird habit or a flaw isn't realistic, isn't believable. Why would you want to make a character that no one can relate to? The readers will become bored if they can't connect to character. I think it's important for our characters to make mistakes and screw up. Sometimes that's the reason we love our characters.

Another character of mine will either be hated or loved. He's a bit eccentric, and always makes sure he gets a word in... He's the exact opposite of the character that I described in my first post.

When the two of the meet up, He tries to be friends with her and she tries to avoid him.
My other characters like him because of of his cheerful disposition (you do get a few of those in the world), but those with a personality like my main character don't like him and find hm annoying.

The one an only

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iaceu

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May 28 07 11:30 AM

I am reminded of Mr. Bilbo Baggins, in The Hobbit.

For the first hundred or so pages, he is really, really out of his element, and he doesn't like it. Therefore, he spends a considerable amount of time in self-talk complaining about being away from home, being in the woods, etcetera.

I had decided, I think before page 50, that I didn't like Mr. Bilbo Baggins. This changed after a few chapters, however, as I warmed up to him, and he got stronger as a character. But, at the end, he was still basically the same guy, albeit a bit more confident.

iaceu

Stranded in Thought

"Beware lest in your anxiety to avoid war you obtain a master." - Demosthenes

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#4 [url]

Jun 12 07 11:39 PM

Yes, I definetley think that happens. We hate the people we don't understand. I read countless books thinking that a certain character was annoying or stupid, but by the end of the book I love them.

The one an only

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Jun 13 07 12:57 PM

I remember one book were the main character just kep whining and feeling sorry for herself, and that got realy anoying after a few hundred pages. I just wanted her to get over it and stop complaining. Eventually she did (somewhere right at the end of the book) but that was way too late for me to start liking her.
So I think that yes, feelings towards characters (can and should) change in the course of a book, but if it takes too long then they keep being remembered by readers as that anoying character...

Rod

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Jun 15 07 9:27 AM

It's a long time since I read the book, so I'm not surecompletely sure how all the other characters reacted to her. She was seen be most people as some sort of savior I think, so they put up with her. And one of the other characters took advantage of the fact that she kept feeling sorry for herself.

Rod

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