Let's talk about.....

[lilsneak]

Main characters

Well, me and my friends were discussing about main characters from the shows and books that we love/hate and I was surprised by how much they disliked some characters. The main problem is they are often too whiny, too weak, too Mary Sue-ish [or Anti-Maru Sueish], too emotionless, too emo, too lovestruck.....you get the picture.
So, bbs, tell me, what do you think a main character should be like?

Comments

[dameboudicca]

I like to experiment with different kinds of main characters. Some are just like someone you could meet anywhere, complex and believable, and all that. But sometimes it can be interesting to take someone who seems to be perfect and reconstruct that character, see what makes them tick, see how a perfect character would act in a non-perfect environment (and in my experience, it almost always means I end up with a psychopath on my hands - but that can be interesting to write about too).

The main thing to me is that character and story fit - and it's very different from story to story, it needs careful adjusting and tuning.