Everyone likes her, she learns how to do things very quickly, she is always at ease, yadda yadda yadda… You get the gist. A Mary Sue character is one to whom no trouble comes. Most of us are familiar with the term “Mary Sue,” so I’ll be brief. With some analysis and work (and a blessing from Muse Calliope), your scenes will spring back to life in no time. This is by no means a comprehensive list, but identifying flat characters is the first step to getting your story back on track. Then they keep making that decision until the book ends or they die, whichever comes first.īelow, I’ve listed five common types of flat female leads (don’t worry, I’ve covered male leads right here), including why they’re flat and possible ways to fix them. Sometimes, flat characters play tricks on unsuspecting writers. However, while these characters look good on paper, not enough of those details are present within the story to flesh them out as decision-making and influential characters. On a more serious note, flat characters often appear fully developed to the writer, smiling up at them through their character charts detailing everything from height to fatal flaw to favorite kind of pie. (I have a whole post on character-driven stories here.) Flat characters crush these stories into teeny-tiny pieces that fly off into the night in a gust of smoke while dramatically sobbing, “ I could have been so much moooooooore!“ These are stories that revolve around characters who are fully fleshed out as living, breathing, decision-making human beings to keep things rolling. But, barring that-are your characters flat?įlat characters are the bane of every writer’s existence, especially writers who rely heavily on character-driven stories. Your problem could, of course, be the plot maybe the scene really has happened before. The scene feels flat-worse, it feels like it’s happened before. Picture this: You’ve just written a scene, slaving away at your keyboard or notebook for hours, and all your characters have done exactly as you told them-hallelujah, right?īut wait-something feels… wrong.
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