*You are welcome to use my meme - just credit me please*Question: What personality trait(s) in a character do you find annoying?
My Answer: I normally don't get annoyed with characters unless they are either whiny or naive. For some reason I can't stand when a character complains about every little thing. It just makes me roll my eyes as I'm reading. Another trait that I find frustrating is when a character acts naive or lacks common sense. Besides those two issues it takes a lot for me to dislike a character. I always try to find a quality that I can relate with.
I'd love to know your thoughts, so leave me a comment :) Have a question idea? E-mail me at lafemmereaders@yahoo.com and I'll give you credit!
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12 comments:
Hi!
This is a great question. I was thinking about this as I did my final revisions last month on my novel TIGHTER (knopf 2011), which just went into copyediting. My character, Jamie, survived a lot of heartbreak in the beginning of the story, and as I went back through the pages, I realized that she was too sulky--that I was relying on heartbreak sulkiness, which is more like a mood, to define something about her character. And it made her a bit of a drag to be around.
So I really worked to overhaul this. And to answer the question, I don't like when authors (myself included :)) rely on the passing condition of mood to define the more substantive dimension of character.
Great Question!
I find characters that are naive and whinny to be highly annoying as well. Though overall, i think i would say female characters who are always depending upon someone else to save them are what annoy me most.
I agree with you naive and whiny are soooo annoying when I am reading from that character's view. I also dislike when characters don't seem to have their own original thoughts. Like they act like a sidekick and always follow what others are saying and you really can't distinguish them from other characters because they just follow!!!Its so annoying!!!
I agree with you. I'm always rolling my eyes at characters who complain a lot about how they look, why so and so doesn't love them, etc. I also can't stand characters who are all "OMG! I love you! I only need you to survive!" only after a week of knowing each other... Which is why I absolutely hate Romeo & Juliet.
Negativity bugs me ;) Great question!
Great question and answer! I think characters who are very dependent annoy me. I like characters who are independent and strong willed, like Bryn from Raised by Wolves. :)
There's really only one thing that bothers me in books,it's when the heroine hates her body yet the man loves it, and were talking sz 14's here usually. I think that's crazy. I now avoid books with supposed plus size women. I don't think a women has an ugly body even in a 16. I've been every size from 4-up and I like my body up to sz 16 and I looked good at every stage, until I got up over a 16 then I was very unhappy with my body. But I am 5'9" too. It just bugs me. I like the women to be confident!
I agree with Adrian I find Shakespeare annoying because he couldn't give some of his characters happy ending look what happen in Julius and caesar.
Whiny? Bad. Stupid? Bad. Whiny and stupid? Gimme the barf bucket!
Whining. Lack of common sense. Suicidal. Period.
Haha, I love complaining. ho hum. I'm skidaddling to go add your link to my debate post (was wondering where Monday's question was!) ~
Everything everyone else has mentioned! Whininess, stupidity, being dependent on other characters.
I like independent, strong characters. They don't have to be 'strong' per se in the beginning, but then, in books, it is important for me to see a growth in the main character from the beginning to the end.
Naivety bugs me to no end.
Also, when characters, typically female characters say something like 'Oh, I'm so ugly...I'm so plain, no one will like me, EVER' and then they have two or three guys after them! What's that about? That's called LYING. I don't like main characters who lie because how am I meant to trust anything else they say? (Even if they thought they were ugly, their good looks couldn't have come overnight which made people chase after them). Tell the truth, is my advice.
Also, I definitely like 'curiosity' in a character. Characters who seek out answers to the questions that spring up, even if there is some to huge amounts of risk in it, otherwise how will the story ever be interesting and get my heart racing?
I don't like main characters who I don't feel emotionally attached to. If I don't feel sad when say, they die, then that wouldn't be a successful character for me.
I can't lie, sometimes I just love that totally unlovable character! Of course, there must be actual intent behind that. Both a sympathetic and unlikable character? I'm in!
But I do have to say that, unless it's story driven, I dislike characters that dwell. I understand if there is a major event and it's used to illustrate a break in the character's psyche, but if every little interaction turns into a 3 page lamentation, I get pretty bored.
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