Shannah-style character questionnaire #2

shannahmcgill:

Once again, this will focus on actions rather than traits.  In this one, however, you will provide causes to certain effects rather than effects to causes.  It might take pretty extreme circumstances to get your character to do some of those things, but that doesn’t mean the questions are useless.  It’s good to know your character’s limits.

What would cause your character to…

• physically attack somebody?
• insult someone?
• get drunk?
• betray a friend?
• commit murder?
• have sex?
• stop eating?
• stay up all night?
• cry?
• run away?
• get plastic surgery?
• eat rotten food?
• tell somebody their life’s story?
• go naked in public?
• wear a silly hat?
• believe an obvious lie?
• become nervous?
• crack a lame joke?
• frame an innocent person for a crime?
• put a whoopee cushion under a seat?
• run a marathon?
• burn money?
• design a building?
• change religions?
• memorize a long passage?
• take on a new identity?
• paint a masterpiece?
• try harder than ever before at something?
• spit on something?
• yell?

Please, please hate them, please?

A couple of months ago, I read one of the worst disgraces to the printed word ever created, Kill Me if You Can by James Patterson.  I could go on and on about it, but it will only be used as an example to demonstrate this post’s point.  In it, one of the villains, a mafia dude, was looking quite evil.  He had this insatiable urge to kill the protagonist.  I actually thought he was kind of interesting until it was revealed that he was engaged in an incestuous relationship with his daughter.

I thought that was hilarious.

When you have a bad guy, giving them every single evil trait you can think of doesn’t make them more evil.  There comes to a point where it stops being menacing and starts becoming ridiculous.  It’s like you’re desperately telling the readers that they need to hate the villain, please, please, and you’ll be their best friend forever if they just hate this bad guy, please?

A few evil traits can make a good villain.  All of the evil traits make a laughable villain.

-Shannah

The Writer's Craft

scribbled-ideas:

I stumbled onto this site looking for character development stuff and you know, they have some really awesome worksheets. Take a peek!