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Anti-heroes extend back in literature about as far as you can go. Why are they so appealing? Because they are the most like the rest of us. We make mistakes. We have flaws. We do things because we think they will benefit us. It's part of the human experience. Reading about or watching anti-heroes is one thing, but writing about them can be a hassle. It's difficult to abstain from polarizing these characters, but their motives cannot be simple. Their personalities also are not streamlined into a "type". An anti-hero can be anybody. They can be male or female, old or young, human or non-human, social butterfly or loner, wealthy or poor, book-smart or street-smart. With that being said, here are my tips for adding some flair to your anti-hero. 1. Make Motives Complex Anti-heroes are motivated to act when they can somehow benefit from fighting for a cause. They might even flip-flop between self-serving and others-serving motives if the ends justifies the means. 2. Moral Compasses Anti-heroes have moral guidelines, though they might be rather fluid. Which morals guide your anti-hero, and which might change over time? 3. Sex Appeal Isn't Required Anti-heroes don't have to be sexy. They aren't all dark and brooding, either. They can be totally average-looking! 4. Secondary Characters Some anti-heroes aren't main characters, and that's okay! Your MC might be a straight-up hero or villain, and your anti-hero can be a secondary character. 5. Balance Their Qualities Anti-heroes are both "good" and "bad". They toe the line and occasionally step over it onto either side. Balance their qualities to keep them realistic. 6. Don't Justify Bad Behaviors Your readers won't always agree with the behaviors and choices your anti-hero makes, so refrain from justifying their actions and ideas. 7. Change Their Outlooks Anti-heroes are interesting because of how they change. What perspectives and morals of theirs will shift by the end of the story? Famous Anti-heroes
So, what are you waiting for? Let's see what kind of traits and morals you come up with for your anti-hero and how you can make them change over time!
We all use them. Crutch words. In fact, I might end up using one of mine while writing the initial draft of this blog entry.
"What are crutch words, Jen?" you might wonder. To that, I must reply: Crutch words are those that tend to crop up in your writing multiple times. They aren't exactly your "favourite" words, but they are your defaults. They're also not simple fillers like "just" and "that", but they, too, create repetition issues. One of my crutch words is "tend". And, look, I have already used it in this blog entry! See how easy it is to insert these words without really thinking about it? I tend to not be conscious of my overuse of crutch words until I am in full-on editing mode. Even then, crutch words can be missed when they're moderately sprinkled throughout the text. They aren't words that your average reader might pick up on in terms of overuse, but a stealthy ninja of a reviewer might. So, how can you identify and rectify this issue? 1. Separate your mere filler words from your crutches. Your filler words will appear quite frequently, and you'll notice them within a quick read-through. Your crutch words, however, will be a little bit more difficult to suss out. Look at your dialogue tags. How often are you using "said"? "Said" isn't exactly a filler word, but it is one we often default to when crafting dialogue tags. You might also find your characters using "So,..." and "Well,..." frequently in their dialogue. Yes, these are crutch words. Crutch words tend to occur in batches and within phrases, too. "You know" and "Like I was saying" are examples of crutch phrases. While these can be generously spread out in actual dialogue (to make it sound more natural), these should appear quite infrequently within the narrative. First-person narratives are a bit of a struggle when it comes to using these crutch words, so be extra mindful of these when writing in first-person. If you're feeling lost, give WordCounter a try! 2. Find other means of creating emphasis. When we speak and write, we tend to use crutch words to indicate emphasis. If you suddenly find yourself using "suddenly" a lot, come up with a clever and catchy way to rephrase it. Example: Crutch: Suddenly, the serene night sky became engulfed in vicious orange-yellow flames. (Ugh, I hate to admit that this is from something I wrote...) Revised: The night sky, serene just moments before, became engulfed in vicious orange-yellow flames. Eliminating this crutch word allows you to play with sentence structure and create vivid imagery without shoving emphasized words into your readers' eyes. 3. Eliminate excessive adverbs. Basically, you might you these frequently in dialogue. Adverbs are wonderful methods of modification, but they can become overly abundant. If you find yourself using "very" to modify a word, search for a more descriptive synonym. You want words that will catch your reader's attention, and picking the right adverbs can help. 4. Understand why you rely on these crutches. When we speak, we often need to pause in order to articulate our thoughts. Thoughts and their resulting actions can occur in less than 150 milliseconds. However, when we write, we need to slow our thoughts down so that our fingers can type or write out words. Since we tend to speak and think more quickly than we type, we might be simply defaulting to our crutches without much cognitive processing. We also rely on crutches when we simply cannot find a better-fitting word. This is why a crucial step in self-revising is to pay attention to repetitive and redundant words and phrases. If you catch yourself doing this while you are writing but don't want to pause to search for a synonym, highlight your crutch and return to it while editing. 5. Sometimes, less is more! I tend to lurk in Facebook writers' groups. I do this so that I can pay close attention to the issues writers face on a regular basis and offer up solutions. One of the most troubling things I have seen lately is writers bemoaning their one-star reviews. While some one-star reviews are truly unfounded (for example, when a reviewer doesn't even read the book), many of them hold lessons for us on what we could be doing better.
Engaging your audience is critical and multi-faceted. You might have an excellent story within you, but if it comes out as a jumbled mess of words, who is going to enjoy reading it? Hell, who would even enjoy trying to write it? Before you even sit down to write out your story, think about your audience. Who are you writing for? If you're writing for publication, you simply are not writing strictly for yourself. Unfortunately, that seems to be a critical mistake that many first-time authors make. During your writing process, keep asking yourself important questions. Who is going to want to read my book, and why will it intrigue them? Who might not respond well to what I'm writing? What kind of emotion might this scene/character/dialogue going to inspire in my reader? Being mindful of your words is as crucial in your writing as it is in your everyday life. If your writing seems overly self-indulgent, readers are going to notice, and that will factor into their reviews. If your work has a good plot but lacks editing, reviewers will comment on this. I have seen perfectly engaging stories get ripped to shreds by influential reviewers just for having grammatical and spelling mistakes. I have also seen authors get quite defensive over the one-star reviews. While your work is like your baby and you want to protect it, it is important to keep your mind open to what your readers are telling you. If you have already published something that has received one-star reviews, take those comments into consideration for your next work. Don't shy away from asking beta (or even alpha) readers for help. Also, regardless of which publishing route you go, don't assume that you can get away with not hiring an editor. Even the best writers (and editors!) make mistakes. Remember, when life gets tough - when those reviews overwhelm you - pause. Reconnect with your breath. Drop your shoulders down, away from your ears. Return to your process with a clearer mind. You've got this. |
JenYour friendly editor and founder of Treasured Tomes Editing Services. ArchivesCategories |