Writers can look to biographies of history's most interesting or evil figures to better flesh out their heroes and villains. After all, they're infinitely more interesting than the soap opera chess pieces one might find in a 'shipping fic.
I spent 11 years as a prosecutor. Crime often occurs because of despair, greed, stupidity, or combinations of same. Exploring these elements can give depth to characters in fiction. But sometimes crime happens just because of evil. Evil exists, and sometimes it can’t be broken down into layers and motivations. That too leads to fertile ground in fiction, but it might be off putting to some audiences as too pessimistic or cynical. Trust me, evil exists. Sometimes, it really is that simple.
True. And sometimes evil characters are cathartic -- in my opinion. I miss the simple evil characters of some of my favorite stories growing up. They can be written as evil and also multi-faceted. I don't think the recent trend of explaining the villain -- through a backstory to "understand" them etc. is really all that entertaining. Let someone be evil and love it. Cue Emperor Palpatine.
I think psychologists and behavioral researchers might be a bit better equipped to spot motivations than lawyers. There are always "layers and motivations"--even if you never discover them in reality.
@@A-Nonnie-Mouse I am a psychologist and research behavior (ironically enough). I see your point, but that opens up the discussion of to what extent should characters be as realistic as people? I'm in the camp that they're not people, but representations -- something more impressionistic.
That's funny. I love to portray prosecutors as evil pawns of the state with no conscience. Men who work for a corrupt system and do it's bidding for money and ego. I have them wake up in the morning looking for someone to nail, innocent or not. Evil is everywhere. Anyone who doesn't know that has something wrong with them.
@@noncomplacent, trust me, there’s no money in it! And in that job, every minute of every day, I worried about two things constantly: making a mistake that sent the wrong person to prison; and making a mistake that let a guilty criminal escape justice. Keeping the ego in check is necessary when those two things are on your mind. That said, I don’t think I can ever fictionalize the experience, so I’m glad that you are creating characters, even if that type of prosecutor doesn’t reflect my own experience. I have no doubt that it’s an accurate portrayal of some people in other offices. But there’s definitely no money in it!
Another thing to consider about characters who have trauma slapped onto them to give them "depth" or to make them interesting to the author - a lot of writers invent stories to sort out their own lives, kind of like dreams unpacking our daily lives as we sleep. We can't always see an immediate correlation, but our brains are constantly trying to make sense of our experiences. Sure, writers might never have lost family members or been in a dramatic battle or been attacked by evil people, but it could be still be an abstract exploration of the writer's unresolved emotional experiences. That's why a lot of teenagers write very emo or abused characters - they're struggling to sort out their deluge of emotions, and trying to offload some of what they feel onto a target that reflects a portion of them as a person. We "love to torment" our characters, but in a way that means we're actually making our own selves into beautiful martyrs. All of that to say... If you've traumatized a character (or all of your characters) and it isn't an integral part of the story's development, or doesn't seem to pan out in character actions, reactions, etc... Ask yourself if you aren't just using that trauma as a conduit for some of your own emotional experiences, and if your story will improve if you remove that unrelated bit of personal experience from the pages.
I’d love to hear about how to articulate your characters in a sequel… Assuming you developed them well in the first book, what is your advice for developing them in the sequel without being too repetitive?
Great video. I'm just starting to write a new character into my novel and was in danger of making him too much of a kind mentor to my damaged MC. You showed me he needs to be more flawed in some way, and not just there as a foil for the MC healing journey. He needs to have his own agenda for helping the kid out, not just because he's a good guy. Thank you for this.
I would add more internal, emotional descriptions. Read some passages from D.H. Lawrence-that man can write 10 pages of a character feeling like they’re becoming distant with their partner haha
How many words are you talking? If you're self publishing you don't need to pad a story with excess words. There are many awesome books from earlier days of publishing with 30k words or less. Just curious, Moon.
@@kirtiomart A good story is a good story. Extra words are only necessary if the story is incomplete without them. Of course, do as you wish. I feel most books are just plain too long. In any case, 69k words is plenty. Cheers.
Hey Alyssa - loved your video! Honestly, I was a bit skeptical because, initially, I felt like the character tropes you listed in the video description were in a ton of the books I love! And I don't necessarily see a problem with cliches in fiction writing. I think fiction is an orchestration of cliches; archetypes appear again and again as Joseph Campbell taught us :-) But as you say: it's not necessarily bad to use tropes, so long as the characters are well fleshed out with enough depth so they don't feel one-dimensional. They have to be complex and feel real to the point where we can understand where they are coming from. Totally agree. Great advice! I really enjoy your measured perspective and practical pointers.
Just here to say, do NOT write a savior character. People with trauma aren't here for people to fix, so don't even try. Be a decent human being and try to support people who struggle with things like PTSD, but please don't try to fix them. I have severe trauma myself and my way of acting comes from that experience, I don't need fixing, but I don't mind people being supportive or trying to make situations easier for me. Love does "fix" trauma, so please don't write that.
Very helpful notes as always Alyssa! Would you say having an antagonist - e.g. the domineering figure or epic villain - as a perspective character would help to mitigate the negativity they may portray? I feel like writing/reading chapters in which their perspective is not only shown but highlighted can really help to humanize them.
I went the Happy Meal route and collected the whole set. From day one, though, I've been trying to make them as nuanced and true to life as possible as I can. I've got over 30 years of intent people watching and observing, so fingers crossed... 🤞
The classic Disney villains were the best. They had clear motivations, fleshed out personalities, and were proactive. When Disney steered away from the classic evil villains, that actually led to weaker, poorly written villains.
Could you please add "veteran with PTSD" as an overused trope to avoid? I'm a veteran of both Iraq and Afghanistan and I'm so tired of seeing every veteran in fiction being depicted as damaged goods with PTSD. There are lots of ways people respond to hard experiences and PTSD is not even the most common reaction.
So everything is cliche. Nothing's new under the sun. In fact, it's a fun game to play with anyone who think they're original. Ask them to describe their ideas to you. And enjoy watching them doodling this chimera until they understand. "Oh, my story is actually quite complex. There's this villain nobody knows about at first, but heard legends, like Voldemort, but more into Tai Lung. He's a wizard. No, not like Saruman, rather Lord of Fire. Because his powers are of one element, like in Avatar. So the MC finds this magic staff that only listens to its master... like the Ring... And he travels with a girl... Kinda like Hermione but more Fluttershy type". We simply cannot create any new character or a new story today. Everything's created. Ask google and it'll find your story already written 50 years ago by the first 5 words you input. We can literally describe our best ideas via names from existing books and movies. Because we are filled with these stories and labels and it's much easier to bring up one label than describe a character or a situation through a 1000 words when it gets you back to that 1 label. Vaas. Titanic. Iron Giant. Bambi. Don Quixote. Dr Faust. Jurassic Park. Give me your best idea and I'll tell you where it's from. =)
@@fatemakarim5054 Because otherwise we have nothing to do on this planet. We envy the creators of the past so we play this role. This whole era is huge role-playing. No one is real, only fakes, only parodies.
This is not really a new or groundbreaking concept☠️ And there's no objective merit to being the "first". Even examples from the eras you listed can be traced back to Shakespeare, or the Greek tragedies, or even ancient mythology before that. "Cliché" ≠ "anything that's ever been done before".
@@CASantos What's not cliche today? Everything has been used 10 times at least. And we live in the era of information. We know everything. That we shouldn't. Games spread the border a bit. New concepts that couldn't have been done before or would be too weird. But I mean it, explain your fresh idea to me and I'll tell you where was it taken from. And I don't know everything, there are people who know movies way better. Cliche is something overused, you're right. But what's not overused today? We're happy if the new combination made of familiar elements is not used as often. You need a set of drop-down menus to pick all the elements for your story. The name of your MC, age, wealth, nature, alive parents, arch nemesis, means of battle etc... Sad, really. Miyazaki can create something that seems new but if you break down the plot you see it's nothing unusual. Because, yes, the rules of drama have long been created and mastered. So what's not cliche?
Just underwent a development edit for a psychological thriller I wrote that takes place in 1980's East Berlin with a strong immigrant female protagonist. I'm completing edits before I go through a formal line edit. I came upon Matesic's RU-vid videos and have found them to be invaluable. They far surpass any book on writing that I have ever read, bar none. These videos get right to the point without having to deal with author's backstories and their incessant referencing to books that I have never read. Each video has plain examples that are written out onscreen-absolutely brilliant. I wish there was enough time in the day to watch all of them. I actively take notes while watching them, hoping to apply any pointers to my own manuscript. I wish I could hire her as an editor but she probably has a line of clients going around the block.
I really appreciate your video. I do see some ID character traits in my own character of my book that I need rewrite Lash out better I make them more dimensional
I am very lucky to be working on a dark fantasy story where nearly every major character has something wrong with them (usually mentally, but i do have one character who was born missing a limb). I am of the opinion that if you want to make trauma a part of your MC's arc, dont make them the only one. Most people go through SOMETHING traumatic in their life, after all.
Wayward character who just lost their job but moves to a new city will almost always take me out of the story. If they’re moving in with someone they know (family, friend), I can believe that. It’s going back to the comfort of the familiar and sharing of financial burden until you get back on your feet. But if they’re moving to a brand new city and living on their own without a job, I will be pulled out. Character is spending a bunch of money they probably can’t afford to spend to move their stuff. No apartment will take them in as a tenant without a job or the prospects of a job. So they’re rich enough to buy a house without financial help? If yes, then why should i care? If no, then logic has more than likely been broken but the author will expect me to just believe! Nope, sorry, no. I need in world logic and if that in world logic doesn’t make sense with our world logic, you’d best do your best to make it make sense for an outsider looking in.
Wow my hero is a moon witch with a drinking and cocaine problem, who's obsessed wtih himself (he is pretty). He's pretty damn wayward! And my story is stuck too lol
I've been watching a lot of your videos in order to delay writing my synopsis and query letter. This is off topic, but I'm so curious about that plaid blanket-looking thing just outside the window behind your left shoulder. If you don't mind would you please tell what it is? Then I can get back to your very well done videos and not writing my synopsis. Thanks!
A character trope that annoys me is what I call Cinderella Syndrome. It is similar to the Damaged One. But the Cinderella Syndrome character is written with an extremely bad upbringing and childhood. Their birth parents are probably dead, and they're left in the care of extended family who hates them, abuses them emotionally, and is entirely overbearing. Meanwhile the protagonist will often be an extremely sweet and innocent person who is highly respectful and nice towards other people. The reason this trope annoys me is multi-fold. Although this is a real thing that does happen, it often feels forced in stories. The terrible relatives feel like they were written specifically to showcase how awful they are, and their only purpose is so we feel sorry for the protagonist. They are over-the-top and one-dimensional. They're also generally ugly so we hate them more. Meanwhile, the absolute sweet good-nature of the protagonist feels inauthentic. People who go through this kind of drama don't generally come out this sweet and innocent. They generally come out hardened, pessimistic, traumatized, and distrusting of people. They can can create powerful storyarchs about overcoming their demons though. Cinderella Syndrome is one of the biggest reasons why I hated Harry Potter and consider its writing so terrible. In this regard Harry Potter is worse than most Cinderella spinoffs themselves. On the positive side, however, Annie did it right. While Annie had a Cinderella-like upbringing, she maintains her innocence and good-nature with hope. Annie's hope that her real parents would take her away kept her uncorrupted from the traumas she faced. It served as an emotional beat to find out her parents were dead, and it may seem like all that hope was for nothing, but it wasn't. Annie's positive attitude won the affection of people around her and helped her be an inspiration to others. Even though her hope was proven in vain, it made her a light to those around her.
My "Domineering" character is my MC's hero early in the story, then the MC observes the faults of the Domineering character, and plans (takes control of) his own future (which is diametrically opposed to the desires of the Domineering character. I've paid special attention to avoid the "Absolutely Evil" Domineering character.
These are clichés, but I have the impression that this is not a problem. Our personal experiences give this cliche individuality. The first 2 clichés are in my favorite books. Especially Japanese watashi novels.
Hey there! Thank you so much for the fabulous content! I really appreciate it, and I am finding a lot of great value in your videos. I have just finished and completed my manuscript (fiction). It is proofread, edited, and has been through a round of beta readers etc. I also have a book proposal, and now I am working on the query letter and compiling my list of agents. I have a question, at what point do I use the proposal? I see everywhere that a proposal is needed, but then sometimes I see that a book proposal is only needed if you do not have a complete manuscript, which I have. So… When is a book proposal needed or at what point is a book proposal submitted?
From what I've seen, a book proposal tends to be used more with nonfiction manuscripts, as it's easier to propose/plan out the chapters of a nonfiction text than the chapters of a fiction novel. A more in-demand document for fiction novels are blurbs, which is the teaser that hooks a reader/agent into reading the rest of your novel. Hope this helps!
I remember another video of hers explaining the difference between a blurb and synopsis. A blurb, typically part of a query letter, is written like the copy on the back cover of the book. The blurb's goal is to entice the reader to read the book and does not give away the ending. The synopsis is a quick breakdown of the story's main points, from start to finish. Since they are different (blurb = entices person to read the book but does not give away the ending vs. synopsis = shares the main points of the entire story, including the ending), they're not redundant. So query letters still need a blurb even if the agent also requires a separate synopsis. HTH
So, Alyssa, you're saying that you don't like Frank Castle because he is a cliche as a damaged soul. And you don't like Clark Kent because he is just too excellent and flawless. And you don't like Bill and Ted or Beavis and Butthead because their slackers' tendencies are too much for you. Because of their terrible scenery-chewing habit, you have no use for Disko Troop and Captain Ahab. And apparently, you don't like Ernst Stavro Blofeld, Emperor Palpatine, Voldemort, and Wile E Coyote because you see them all as one-dimensional cartoon villains. Okay, I get it. ┌( ಠ‿ಠ)┘
