I read a novel from cover to cover yesterday, which I don’t do very often in such a short time span. The premise was really good, and I was interested to see how the plot would evolve.
At nearly one o’clock in the morning, I finally put down the book (actually, I put down the Kindle) and was disappointed—not with the story itself, but with the characters.
What could have been a well-written and thoughtful novel ended up falling short of its potential because some of the characters were one-dimensional. And there was one character in particular (the protagonist’s love-interest) I thought really let the story down.
He was just…well…way too perfect.
Do you recognize any of these three signs that your own novel’s characters might be too perfect?
1. You spend a lot of time describing your characters’ good looks.
Sure, in many cases we expect the protagonist’s love-interest to be beautiful or handsome, but that’s not a license to go on and on describing a character’s perfect looks. And hearing too much about how good the protagonist looks can even make readers feel resentful or like they can’t connect with the character.
On the flip-side, sometimes an author goes to pains to assure us that said character really does have flaws, but we generally remain unconvinced by the quirks or small details that are meant to make them less-than-perfect.
There are ways to show your readers that a love-interest is attractive without going into the gory details. What’s more important than how the character looks is how the protagonist feels when he or she is around that person.
Writer Caro Clarke gives practical advice on how we can describe our characters through their actions, instead of their looks.
2. Your characters’ actions and speech seem inauthentic.
If your characters never do anything wrong, if they have the most infallible moral compasses and are always the voice of reason in any situation, they might be too perfect.
What about the way they talk? Men don’t really say things like, “Your hair looks so beautiful in this light,” or “When I look into your eyes, I see my future.” Well, at least no men I know.
Compare:
Example 1
“Your hair looks beautiful in this light,” said Tom, lightly brushing Sarah’s cheek with the side of his hand.
Sarah blushed from head to toe.
AND…
Example 2
“Did you do something to your hair?” Tom asked. “It looks different.”
“Just a trim,” she said.
“I like it. You should trim your hair every day.”
Sarah slid her hand down the back of her head and smiled.
Tom’s words and actions in Example1 are cheesy—way too perfect. Example 2 is a more realistic exchange.
Here are 5 quick tips on writing good dialogue, and more great advice on how to make dialogue work.
3. Characters just happen to be in the right place at the right time.
You know the scene: something terrible is happening to our protagonist and she’s in desperate need of help. Perhaps that perfect character could just stroll by at the right moment and come to the rescue.
Or maybe Ms. Protagonist is out on a date with Mr. Wrong and…duh duh duuuuuummmmm…Mr. Perfect (a.k.a. Mr. Right) just happens to be at the very same restaurant on a consolation date of his own. It could happen, right?
Problem is, your readers won’t buy it. They’ll know you’ve written that character into the right place at the right time because it’s convenient for your storytelling.
Nothing can happen at random in your story, and your characters can’t just be in the places you want them to be to make your job easier Even if you give characters a reason for being in such a convenient position, the situation needs to be not just possible, but plausible.
Possible simply isn’t good enough.
Are Your Characters Too Perfect?
I’m preaching to myself right now, as much as anyone else. There are definitely characters in my own novel-in-progress who need a little roughing-up of their own.
The first step in creating lifelike characters is recognizing the hallmarks of stereotypical, too-perfect ones.
Are there characters from books you’ve read that you think are too perfect? What traits make them so?
What are some of the characterization faux-pas that irritate you most?
OMG, Suzannah. You’ve been reading Twilight, haven’t you? 😉
I believe that there is a market out there for cheesiness… even deliberate cheesiness. However, any work that wants to be taken more seriously should probably stay away from such “perfection”.
Actually, now that you mention it, Twilight does sort of meet all those criteria! I read it this past summer and didn’t care for it much. This was a different book.You’re probably right about there being a market for deliberate cheesiness!
#1 is what happened to me while reading Kristin Cashore’s FIRE. It is NOT the same thing as what you are describing here – Fire’s looks are an important part of the story and her character. But it took a long time for me to like her, and as you said, it was difficult for me to connect with her.
I find when the protagonist of a story is described as very good looking, I have trouble connecting with them unless they really are flawed, but it only seems to be in instances where the author has spent a lot of time describing that character’s looks. There are books I’ve read where I’ve assumed the protagonist to be good looking, even though not much has really been said about it, and I’ve had no trouble connecting. I guess I don’t have anything against being very good looking, so long as a characters’ looks aren’t really important.
Something I dislike is the way that often central characters become perfect even in their flaws (and foils or side-characters are horrible people for similar weaknesses).
For a well-known example, in the Harry Potter novels things like being out after curfew, breaking school rules, and even having non-standard physical attributes (hair colour and type, body weight, athletic ability) and academic skills is shown as sympathetic in the ‘good’ characters and suspicious and wrong in the ‘bad’ and borderline ‘evil’.
It’s one thing in my mind for a character to have hypocritical attitudes and prejudices, because that can work really well, and another thing for it to be so wholly endorsed and reinforced by the treatment of the prose. Perfection through distorted perspective, it really irritates me.
“…sympathetic in the ‘good’ characters and suspicious and wrong in the ‘bad’ and borderline ‘evil’.”
What a great insight! Thanks for sharing 🙂
I am usually turned off by lengthy descriptions, whether they apply to characters or scenery. A little description helps, but if every detail is provided by the author, the reader cannot use his or her imagination, which is what makes reading unique and enjoyable. I cannot agree with you more regarding perfect characters. The best protagonists are deeply flawed.
I agree–too much description is boring. It’s nice when the details are interspersed with dialogue and action.
One of the things that irritates me most is boring characters. And even worse, boring romances. I come across both a lot and strive hard to avoid making the same mistakes.
Yes, boring characters are sort of pointless, aren’t they? 🙂
I have the opposite problem re looks in MC. I usually don’t over-explain looks, or make my characters supermodel look-a-likes. However, in the current WiP, the love interest is a rock star. I felt it wouldn’t be believable to have a man with women throwing themselves at him left and right to notice an average girl. Physical attraction plays a huge part in the beginning of every relationship.
Most people recognize the perfectly good characters but do people notice the perfectly evil characters? Evil characters need flaws too to be believable; not saying they need a few good traits but they need to make mistakes as well.
Conflict can be built out of those perfect coincidences in #3.
Harlequin has built an empire out of right place, right time type situations. Just as you desecribe. Like Ms, Heroine faints and Mr. Cowboy stops to help her and they turn out to be the answer to each other’s problems- on the surface. Or girl returns to hometown only to get into a car accident with her crush from high school who takes her in because he feels responsible for the accident. It’s perfect set-up for trouble- and romance,