Contradiction When Writing Characters

Among all the traits, features, and appearances you give your character when writing your story or novel, one of the things you have to worry about is contradiction. You want them to seem real, unless you are writing intentionally against this (an artistic stance we will discuss later). Yet, believe it or not, characters without a little sense of contradiction seems absurd in and of itself.

Take a step away from writing and look at your own life, or the lives of people you know. I know for myself there are times when I feel one way, and when presented with the same situation by another person, or in another place, I act completely different. We, as people, have a sense of contradiction within all of us.

For example, let’s look at someone you meet at a party. He’s real nice, entertaining and funny, and seems full of energy. Look at his home life, and the sparkle may fade quickly. You could find there he is ill-attentive, boring, talks monotonously, and ignores both wife and kids.

Seemingly these contradict, yet we have all heard of situations just like this (or similar ones). While writing, remember that some, not all, people do act in ways that go completely against themselves.

For a literary example, we could talk about Edith Wharton’s, “House of Mirth.” Her main character, Lily Bart, wants to marry a rich husband. With all her grace, charm, beauty, and ability to attain the limelight of parties, this seems less than simple and more like inevitable. However, whenever she becomes close to a rich and eligible bachelor, she does something to shatter the relationship.

But, also keep in mind there are blatant contradictions that should not be written. Don’t have an accountant who cannot do math, yet we see a scene where they clearly are doing math. This writing will not go far, and unless for comedic purposes will drive your readers away (or unless you can build up extraordinary circumstances where this can work both ways).

So remember, the big C word is not a bad thing to implement when writing characters, it often leads to someone more real and less contrived.

Genre fiction versus Literary

What is the difference between the two? While there are many answers, hardly any really combat the entire issue. Genre has more guidelines, the characters are thin, literary is real, and so on.

To some extent those claims are true, genre tends to have guidelines and parameters that literary fiction does not. However, at the same time, they are a facilitator of imagination and can enhance your fiction higher than the more realistic terms imposed by literary stories.

The characters are thin is another true claim, for the most part. However, it’s more than poor writing, but a loss of focus. Writing should appeal and feature the characters as fully formed and interesting people. However, genre tends rather to steer its focus on the magical or scientific wonders spun from the writer’s imagination.

No one is saying to get rid of your gizmotron (coined by the best writing teacher I’ve ever had), because it probably has a lot going for it. But, instead of long expositions and a story entirely about the machine or magic, with characters simply as thin plot ciphers speaking dialogue that sounds choked from a cadaver’s throat, show the gizmotron and it’s glory so you can allow the characters to wander and develop.

Genre fiction seems to always get stuck on this concept, leaving the reader with an incredibly substantial and well thought out world, and at the same time a sense of being cheated with poor characters that can barely be considered realistic or consistent.

What many people do not recognize is genre fiction that can transcend these problems is regularly considered literary. “Lord of the Rings” is regarded more as a literary piece than pure fantasy. “Dante’s Inferno,” another canonical piece of fantasy called literary. Look at “Brave New World” and “1984,” both are light SF novels.

THEY HAVE BREATHING PEOPLE

So continue writing genre, and don’t be scared or ashamed to admit the fact. They are legitimate writing styles and should be regarded as such. However, don’t put all the proverbial eggs in your gizmotron, spread them around the magic/machine and your characters as well.