Writerly Ways
Feb. 4th, 2024 10:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cornerofmadnessThis is less a writerly way and more a question for the peanut gallery. It's also a Your Mileage May Vary sort of thing. Question brought to you by Jack Taylor.
I always get excited for new mysteries/cop shows and Ovation has brought me Jack Taylor, set in Ireland. And once I find out what happens to one side character I'm done.
The question is, what is your breaking point for unlikeable characters? They can be compelling watching/reading but what is too much for you? Is there something that will make you say nope, too much.
The above mentioned Jack was a cop now a sort of PI and a bit of an alcoholic. He has/had a hypercritical, castrating super Catholic mother leaving her mark but does any of that entitle you to shit on every friend. About the only person Jack is nice to is his landlady. The few other main characters, a former partner on the force, a young police woman, a young man who wants to be Jack's business partner and his bartender are constantly being used and crapped on. Jack gets attacked (badly) every episode which is eye rolling enough but what's ending it for me is the way he uses and abuses all his would-be friends.
There are other ways to get on my bad side. I can handle whiney characters, even mean ones. I can even go the John Constantine level of bad friend. And there are others I can't, like outright misogyny. Having your protagonist be a rapist (looking straight at you Thomas the covenant who is making the rounds right now as all that 80s era fantasy is being put on streamers and there are Bros asking why not him? So thankful for the redditors going even the blame the victim 80s Thomas raping a young woman left a bad taste)
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CHOOSING THE RIGHT STORY: THREE QUESTIONS EVERY WRITER SHOULD ASK
I always get excited for new mysteries/cop shows and Ovation has brought me Jack Taylor, set in Ireland. And once I find out what happens to one side character I'm done.
The question is, what is your breaking point for unlikeable characters? They can be compelling watching/reading but what is too much for you? Is there something that will make you say nope, too much.
The above mentioned Jack was a cop now a sort of PI and a bit of an alcoholic. He has/had a hypercritical, castrating super Catholic mother leaving her mark but does any of that entitle you to shit on every friend. About the only person Jack is nice to is his landlady. The few other main characters, a former partner on the force, a young police woman, a young man who wants to be Jack's business partner and his bartender are constantly being used and crapped on. Jack gets attacked (badly) every episode which is eye rolling enough but what's ending it for me is the way he uses and abuses all his would-be friends.
There are other ways to get on my bad side. I can handle whiney characters, even mean ones. I can even go the John Constantine level of bad friend. And there are others I can't, like outright misogyny. Having your protagonist be a rapist (looking straight at you Thomas the covenant who is making the rounds right now as all that 80s era fantasy is being put on streamers and there are Bros asking why not him? So thankful for the redditors going even the blame the victim 80s Thomas raping a young woman left a bad taste)
Open Calls
5 Paying Literary Magazines to Submit to in February 2024
The Book Folks: Now Accepting Manuscript Queries
From around the web
Crafting Realistic Characters: A Deep-Dive into Character Flaws seems appropriate for this post
How I Learned to Live a Life Worth Writing
Context and subtext in dialogue: Creating layered speech
How to Find a Literary Agent
How to Sell Self-Published Books to Bookstores
JOHN HARTNESS: FIVE THINGS I LEARNED KICKSTARTING A NOVEL
Picking a good tag line
Ten Reasons to Write Short Stories
What’s the Difference Between the Main Character and Protagonist?
Developing a Career as a Travel Writer
12 Character Archetypes to Know Before You Start Writing
From Betty
Why Breaking Stereotypes Makes Stronger Characters
Five Story Elements That Worked in One Story but not in Another
Creating a Scene Plan to Make Your Draft a Success
The Practice of Writing: How Much and What Kind Is Needed?
How to Show Emotion in Characters Who Hide Their Feelings
Laura’s Big Guide to Conference Networking
100 Days of Rejection
Sleep in Your Guestroom and Other Random Thoughts for Authors
How to Write Your First Book
Character Type & Trope Thesaurus: Wallflower
Do Less (to create more of what matters)
How to deal with writing milestone hangovers
FIVE CHARACTERS IN A WRITER’S LIFE
GENRE EXPECTATIONS: WRITING ROMANTIC FANTASY AND FANTASY ROMANCE
TIPS TO DIVIDE UP YOUR WRITING TIME INTO VALUABLE CHUNKS
STAGES OF CHANGE AND CREATING YOUR WRITING SUCCESS!
FEAR: THE BRICK WALL EVERY WRITER DREADS
TIPS TO HELP YOU TO GET BACK INTO A RHYTHM OF WRITING REGULARLY
CHOOSING THE RIGHT STORY: THREE QUESTIONS EVERY WRITER SHOULD ASK
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Thoughts
Date: 2024-02-05 05:46 am (UTC)Things that I find a turnoff:
* They have no redeemable qualities at all.
* They have no reason for what they're doing, they just fuck things up for the hell of it.
* They're so grating to be around that I just put down the book / walk away from the show.
* Not only are they doing bad things, other people act like that's okay instead of stopping them or even criticizing them.
* Being around them puts me in a bad mood.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2024-02-05 03:43 pm (UTC)They have no reason for what they're doing, they just fuck things up for the hell of it.
That one most of all (and that's Jack's personality straight up) I mean even an excuse for it might not be enough but it would help
thanks
no subject
Date: 2024-02-05 05:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-06 03:20 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-07 10:33 am (UTC)Ugh, Thomas Covenant. I naively thought that had died the death it deserved.
no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 03:42 am (UTC)Yeah I was hoping that too but apparently people are still reading those books and wanting to see them (Or at least older male fans my age want them)
no subject
Date: 2024-02-08 08:07 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-02-09 02:54 am (UTC)