tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844784446912062670.post5203829633743400286..comments2024-03-27T08:14:40.699-07:00Comments on Indie Writers Monthly: Holding Out for a Hero(ine)Brianehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01616494058636881575noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844784446912062670.post-31367767086002147962014-02-07T12:52:09.588-08:002014-02-07T12:52:09.588-08:00I read this the other day, but clearly, did not co...I read this the other day, but clearly, did not comment. So, yes, I think I like everyman sort of characters myself. I'm told that readers love experts, or folks that are exception at something. But I really like a regular person that overcomes despite not being even remotely qualified to do anything. <br /><br />I do think that larger-than-life characters are generally personalities, and I think they're necessary for good fiction too. So, basically, I want an average Jo that is also completely abnormal. <br /><br />No problem.Rusty Carlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09887821877521181811noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844784446912062670.post-24126356219821095532014-02-06T14:30:13.133-08:002014-02-06T14:30:13.133-08:00Briane, I'm more familiar with the classical H...Briane, I'm more familiar with the classical Hercules than Disney's version. And I do think we want characters to feel human, even if they're not.<br /><br />Andrew, good point.Sandra Ulbrich Almazanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15365908651235829765noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844784446912062670.post-73802543814526569702014-02-06T11:42:16.154-08:002014-02-06T11:42:16.154-08:00Also, Briane, that character you're talking ab...Also, Briane, that character you're talking about... that's Molecule Man from Marvel. Or the Beyonder. I'm not sure whatever happened to Molecule Man once they did the whole "he can do anything he can imagine" thing.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844784446912062670.post-41731352584818244032014-02-06T11:39:32.223-08:002014-02-06T11:39:32.223-08:00I think "larger-than-life" has more to d...I think "larger-than-life" has more to do with what a character does with what he has rather than what he could do with what he has. Hercules could have sat around playing video games all day and no one would have known about him.Andrew Leonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964775673414653644noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7844784446912062670.post-41468514435400587542014-02-06T07:53:22.122-08:002014-02-06T07:53:22.122-08:00Plus, Hercules was saddled with his love for Meg. ...Plus, Hercules was saddled with his love for Meg. Or is the Disney version non-canon?<br /><br />This was well-written. You've hit on the key to creating any character, man or superman (Nietszche can't sue, can he?)(Did I get that reference right?), which isn't necessarily empathizing with them, but rather the idea that there is potential conflict and the ability to rise above it.<br /><br />Sometimes the conflict is easy: Hercules wants to be a god, but wants to save Meg's life, for example (sorry: I have 7-year-olds). Sometimes the conflict is harder: Superman wants to save the world but they might hate him because he's a superior alien. (I'm leaving aside the kryptonite and killing things for now.) Batman fights crime by being half-criminal himself.<br /><br />So it's not whether your character is larger than life, but whether she has something to rise above, anyway. <br /><br />I've often said that I wanted someone to write a story about an all-powerful wizard or something that can literally do anything, no limits on his or her power, and see what they do with that. That's the supersuperhero, so to speak. So I did kind of that thing, in my story "hoc nunc est, quod tunc erat, et nunc... et nunc... et nunc"<br /><br />(This isn't a totally shameless plug, of course, but it is a plug:<br /><br />http://www.troublewithroy.com/2014/02/hoc-nunc-est-quod-tunc-erat-et-nunc-et.html<br /><br />As that is the link to the story), and what I realized was that even with godlike powers, there might still be something nagging at a person.<br /><br />So I think my supersupergod comes off as kind of human. Not as human as a rock trying to save her kids (that sounds AWESOME, by the way) but it's that bit of humanity that gets emphasized by the superiority that makes a character fun to read about.Brianehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01616494058636881575noreply@blogger.com