Uh....his sleepy look is spooky..
So I was scrolling down the Cynsations blog when I read an interesting phrase: "unlikeability is a tool in the writer's toolbox." To me, this was kind of an odd phrase because I've never really thought of that as necessary to write a compelling book, much less a children's book. Sarah Aronson, the guest writer of this article, writes: "I prefer 'different' over 'beautiful.' I want to read stories that offer me something less safe and perhaps, a little more edgy with lots of moral ambiguity. As a reader, I enjoy entering the world of someone who in real life I would despise, despicable characters, characters that are not all that nice, complete with endings that make me more unnerved then content." This is very interesting outlook that I haven't really considered.
Personally, I agree and disagree. In many cases, the villain (in antagonist form) truly becomes the focus of a story. Look at many of today's movies and shows, they focus on the villain at the beginning of the show and explore their motivations, sometimes more-so than the hero (case in point, General Zod in the blockbuster hit Man of Steel in many points drives the story). Of course, the trend in superhero blockbuster movies is to make the villain almost cartoonishly evil, but this is part of the charm of comic books, and often the cruel nature of the villain provokes an almost animal like aggression from the hero. And though there are many heroes and arch-types, that's not to say there aren't famous "evil" protagonists. Case in point, Saul gets a ton of attention in Scripture and drives the story as he wages war against Israel's enemies. Saul continually disobeys and seeks plunder for himself, but then there's a part of him that wants to be good. I would still say he's unlikable though. Perhaps this does fit the bill because there's some moral ambiguity: Saul shows potential, and vows to do good, but ultimately fails and fails. But to me, I think that a story works best when there's an underdog. Saul's complete descent to madness, when he's a lunatic and not redeemable (truly detestable), is best depicted when he faces the underdog in David. They are very much alike, but David truly does chase after God's own heart (not just professing it). In another hit show, Smallville, there's a very intricate twist of this: there's the underdog Clark Kent (before he was Superman, he's an angsty and love driven teenager), who befriends Lex Luthor (we all know he's going to be the villain but here he is insanely likable). Over the course of the show, Lex Luthor becomes more and more unlikable, but that's part of the story: viewers want to see what will drive Lex Luthor into madness, into becoming a super villain. So I surely agree that dislikable characters can drive the story and carry some positive traits, but I think often times they can only be the protagonist for so long until the underdog hero takes over the reigns. It's an interesting thought to consider that some readers would truly want "to spend some time in a body that they would never want to be in real life."
I really enjoyed some of the tidbits of Chapter Eight of "Writing Great Books for Young Adults" where it lists tips in bullet form (here's some of my favorites, most helpful): "people to not use proper grammar...conversation involves give-and-take between people...people exaggerate and often lie...silence is part of conversation...there's many speech hesitators such as 'uh', 'well', 'you know.' That's certainly true: dialogue should be believable and unrobotic. Quirks in speech and mannerisms helps make a story unique: whether it's a character using excessive hand motions, a character avoiding eye contact, someone pulling out their phone at a particular moment in the conversation, etc. All of this is important and makes a character unique. And I surely agree conversation is a 'give and take', it's like two characters throwing ideas around back and forth. The quirks in speech and mannerisms can be used to show the wit of a character, nervousness, confidence, and the subtle details can be the most important in shaping a character. Often times interruptions and short fragments will be used in conversation: this can set up almost a rhythm or a musical effect. Pacing is very important, to have a balance between humor and seriousness, etc.
I'm laughing and seriously about to place my palm on my face.
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