It helps me separate my personal apathy from something cool that might be going on
Yeah, this is something I really have to work at.
It's funny because I think it's good to make all your characters, even and maybe especially the villains, sympathetic, because I don't think that authors should let their readers feel completely superior to anyone. It's good to feel "oh, that was wrong," but I think it's usually, you know, problematic to think, "ugh! I would never say something that would hurt someone!" when of course the reality is that we all do, sometimes.
Absolutely!
think it is good to have characters call out behavior, but sometimes it can be unrealistic -- I get frustrated when characters always have the perfect zinger, and I don't know if it's because I'm just jealous of their wit, or because it stops sounding like human communication, or what. It can be really helpful to have an outside character call out an inner circle, revealing the ways in which they've remained insulated from social realities. But it has to be somewhat organic -- there has to be an emotional reason for them to state the painful truth, not just someone brilliant walks into the room, sets everyone straight, and then leaves.
See, this is what I was talking about when I said that about leaving stuff out. It absolutely has to be in character and make sense for the story/plot for someone to do the calling out, otherwise it comes across as preaching. And I agree about zingers, too--sometimes it's more realistic to have someone say, "I can't believe you said that, that was gross" than to have some witty comeback. Though that said, when you're watching BtVS or The West Wing or something, there's a certain degree of not-realism you have to expect re: witty dialogue. :D
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Yeah, this is something I really have to work at.
It's funny because I think it's good to make all your characters, even and maybe especially the villains, sympathetic, because I don't think that authors should let their readers feel completely superior to anyone. It's good to feel "oh, that was wrong," but I think it's usually, you know, problematic to think, "ugh! I would never say something that would hurt someone!" when of course the reality is that we all do, sometimes.
Absolutely!
think it is good to have characters call out behavior, but sometimes it can be unrealistic -- I get frustrated when characters always have the perfect zinger, and I don't know if it's because I'm just jealous of their wit, or because it stops sounding like human communication, or what. It can be really helpful to have an outside character call out an inner circle, revealing the ways in which they've remained insulated from social realities. But it has to be somewhat organic -- there has to be an emotional reason for them to state the painful truth, not just someone brilliant walks into the room, sets everyone straight, and then leaves.
See, this is what I was talking about when I said that about leaving stuff out. It absolutely has to be in character and make sense for the story/plot for someone to do the calling out, otherwise it comes across as preaching. And I agree about zingers, too--sometimes it's more realistic to have someone say, "I can't believe you said that, that was gross" than to have some witty comeback. Though that said, when you're watching BtVS or The West Wing or something, there's a certain degree of not-realism you have to expect re: witty dialogue. :D
You're talking good words!