Friday, June 15, 2012

Have you ever fallen in love with your Main Character?

I can confidently say that I am in love with all the characters I have created: Leo the  brave lion who goes in pursuit of his dream, Bunny the grumpy baby rabbit who hates his name, Nina the notorious prankster and Rahul the wimp who becomes a Soreiquil (a human with a piece of a Zespirit’s soul inside him). As writers its but natural that we fall in love with all the characters we have created.

All the above characters I have created have been for the Middle Grade readers (ages 9 to 14 years). But Devon (the half-blood devil) one of the protagonists of my half-blood angel and devil YA book, is my first brush with an older hero.

Though I am still in the first draft mode (courtesy the virus) which derailed me by a few days and played havoc with my mind, I am currently in the process of getting to know Devon. I am not sure whether I have deliberately or sub-consciously given Devon all the traits (both physical and emotional) that I find appealing in a boy/man.

There are certain qualities that I just flip for: strength of character, loyalty, honesty, sense of humour, the ability to chase one’s dreams until they are fulfilled, the guts to stand for one’s rights and the need for justice and a desire to protect the honour of a lady. Throw in good looks and a body to die for and you will have me swooning like a teenager.

Devon, my protagonist has all these qualities in abundance. Though he is a cynical guy, who does not believe in love, he cherishes friendships and is always quick to return favours. As I am wading deeper and deeper into the story, I feel a certain bias towards Devon more than Annabell, the half-blood angel pitted against him. It will be with a heavy heart that I will put Devon into trouble and pile problems into his life.

Have you ever felt that strong a love or connection with a character you have created? I hope my falling in love with my male protagonist will not jeopardize his journey in my book. I hope I will be able to do justice to him and not make things easy for him because of my affection for him. Any tips for me about distancing myself from my main characters?

23 comments:

  1. Though I have not written any fiction I think it is very important that the writer falls in love with his or her protagonist. I will keep that in mind when I write my first story. Thank you for that.

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  2. I find with a lot of WIPs I read that the writer goes too easy on the MC, who they obviously feel very close too. I think the thing to remember is you want others to see what's so cool about your MC, and the only way to do that is to put them in difficulty and then show how they get out of it.

    mood

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  3. many a times when you write , some where you are reflecting your self so i agree with Mam that it knowing or unknowing that you fall in love with your character...

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  4. The characters are life size so one cannot but fall in love or creations to hate as the story requires! So far have not written a book or a long story, Rachna:0

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  5. My main character is a bit unlikeable at times so I had no problem doing things to him. Sorry, no help here!

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  6. It's my love interests who I fall in love with. Good thing. It makes it easier to put my mc through hell if I don't love her as much as her love interest.

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  7. Hello friends, though its very important for us writers to fall in love with our characters, especially the main characters, we should not make things easy for them. Rather, it should be the opposite, we should ensure that our characters reveal their true mettle after undergoing all kinds of hardships.

    I learnt this the hard way. But, its a lesson well learnt.

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  8. I love my characters! I have favorites among them, too (Shh, don't tell them I said that). :D What's more special is that I know their whole backstory--the stuff that doesn't really get into the book (to avoid info-dumping), so I feel for them more than ever.

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  9. I fall in love with the main character but sometimes, I am attracted to the protagonist's friend. This usually happens when hero's friend has a certain quality that pretty much sums up his character as a pathetic person and yet a strong and diligent enough to support himself. :D

    Cheers!

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  10. Interesting!
    Makes me wonder whether it's wise to be close to your characters, or keep a certain emotional distance from them... though I don't think it's a conscious decision.
    It probably evolves in one of two directions...

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  11. I'd fall in love with the main assassin in my book if she was played by my choice of actresses, that being Jessica Alba!

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  12. Hmm, I have fallen in love with a character before, but not in the attractive way. More like, I got really attached and come to unconditionally love the character as if he/she was real. This sometimes happens if I feel like the character is being bullied or hasn't been done justice because of the circumstances in the story.

    By the way, I'm hosting an awesome blogfest and critique giveaway at my blog from June 22-24 if you're interested! :) Hope you have a great day, and thanks for the insightful questions here!

    ~Wendy Lu

    The Roarin' Twenties Poetry Blogfest + Chapter Critique Giveaway (hosted by The Red Angel)

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  13. Devin sounds kinda sexy Rachna ;) I have never heard about the concept of falling in love with your characters, but it isn't far-fetched because don't we all fall in love with the characters that we read about - Mr.Darcy for example. My lifelong crush.

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  14. There's one particular character I fell in love with, but I had to kill him off for the sake of the story. It was one of the hardest things I had to do, lol.

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  15. No tips here, Rachna! I truly believe that we need to be close to all the characters in our stories. Even though I'm close, I have no trouble whatsoever giving my characters the worst possible scenarios. It is for the good of story, after all. *wink*

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  16. I think it can be a good thing to be so attached to a character-- as long as you can make yourself still torture them. :) I'm in love with the guy in my current book, probably because he has a lot of the same traits as my husband. ;)

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  17. Totally! I definitely have a crush on my male protag!

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  18. I like this angle; I think we need to be well acquainted with our characters. Great food for thought, thanks!

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  19. I love the main characters of my two adult books, and I'm getting there with the MC of the middle grade I'm drafting. I love most of my secondary characters, too!

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  20. Intriguing - and amusing to me: I've only ever written one book, and if you'd met my main character...

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  21. Yes I am. And the rogue knows it. ;-)

    It doesn't really change my ability to tell the story, since it's more as if the events already happened and I just have to write them down.

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  22. Rachna, I left you a blog award at The Red Angel! Feel free to check it out whenever you have time. :) Thanks for being one awesome, stylish blogger!

    ~Wendy Lu

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  23. Interesting question. I adore the characters in my latest WIP, more so than with my other projects. I love their feisty personalities and they jump off the page for me.

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