HippoHead

this is the wrong place for this question, but i dont care.

how do you make characters interesting and stuff without making them look cardboard?
surely the only way of doing this is to make them all boring? now, that really sucks, so someone tell me how to give characters an edge without them looking unbelievable or 'cardboard'

DO IT NOW!

please

Noirllyn

I guess you do it the same way real people are made interesting.

Give them a hobby, an interest, or a philosophy.

Typically you ought to give them skin and eyes and such things, as well.

Having flesh and beliefs and a life that would presumably exist if the story were removed helps bundles to keep the cardboard to the boxes.

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Ungood

I am confused by this question...

Wish I could help you more... I am very sorry.

Ungood.

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CodeRed

As a general rule, what makes a character interesting are all the little flaws humans are subject to have, and can therefore relate to. The hero of a story doesn't have to be perfect in every way - that would be boring. I'm not quite sure what your question is specifically referring to, but I think that applies to physical appearance as well as the personality of characters.

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Wallmaker

Code Red is right, characters need problems. We all have problems. More importantly, your character should be tied to your central story's problem. Characters also have WANTS and... uh, super wants, and unconcious wants and this is all very interesting.
You can also have character want something that is not what they do not need!

There's a book out I really like called psychology for screenwriters. (Yeah yeah, I'm screenwriter). It's really great for all writers to get into the different types of people there are in the world and also show movie examples of where we might have seen a character with those psychological elements. I also recommend Linda Seger's Creating Unforgettable Characters (it's for screenwriters, short storie writers, and novelists... says so on the cover).

Cheers,
Kay

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Ungood

Quite the opposite actually.

Allow me to explain. Anyone can be this "Unstoppable Tough Guy that does not give a crap about anyone" that guy is a cardboard drop off (yah, I said drop off) and something that should get kicked to the curb with last weeks news where he belongs.

If you are trying to build that, or have set that as your foundation then. It does not matter how much an "Edge" you give them, or how "Tough" you try to make them. They Suck, they are lame, and no one really wants to give up the time out of their life reading about them.

In truth that makes them stale, predictable, and in many cases because authors try to "push the edge" they go "Over the Top".

The reader can't associate with them and thus loose interest and/or they get that sickening "Gary Stu" smell about them.

That smell never comes off, it's like puke on cloth interiors, it never seems to go away and makes everyone feel nauseated.

Well the best first step is to NOT go look at someone else's MC that has this "EDGE" and go... "OOOOOO I WANT TO COPY THAT!" mainly because that is what EVERYONE is thinking!

Ever since "Dritz" EVERYONE who wants to write fantasy has to have this "Drow come to the surface and become a good guy fighting the evil of his people"

Sure, is sounded cool, THE FIRST TIME!

After a million and one knocks offs. It becomes lame (Unless the Author is R.A. Salvatore of course, then I am drooling over his next book).

The best you can do for yourself is ask this one single question.

"What makes my MC different then all the others like him" and if your answer is "He can kick their ass" (or anything along those lines) throw your piece of crap away.

No one is going to take your MC serious. It is another tired, lame, knock off of what they have read before.

You're not "Better" even if you think your MC is, trust me, it just makes them lamer.

Did that help?

Ungood.

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astralis

I agree with the responses and I'm only elaborating.

Our characters are revealed in the decisions they make in duress. The decisions should flood the reader with insight into the character, and that includes contradictions in their philosophy and relationships with other characters.

Take a look at Frodo in "Lord of the Rings". He's all good but he grows when he makes decisions that are contradictory to his nature: Hobbits don't go into danger. Frodo goes into danger. Hobbits also are very communal but he succumbs to the selfishness by the power of the ring. Yet he realizes it's wrong and fights on to destroy the very thing that can give him power. These decisions reveal his character and he's no longer a cardboard character. He is motivated with real motivation that has meaning: he wants to save the world! And we know if he fails, that it has real consequences. We also know that if he succeeds, the real consequences are ironic because there are hints that something bad is going to happen to him regardless of his success or failure.

Your characters should make tough, motivated decisions that are the created out of dilemma (whether your character is a slacker in "Catcher in the Rye" or an action hero in "Lord of the Rings") and we need to see the consequences of those decisions.

Stories are about drama -- they're not real life. The dilemmas you make for your characters will help to reveal their true character. The dilemma is the choice between two irreconcilable goods. In "Lord of the Rings", Frodo must make a decision when his friend, Sam, takes the ring from him: he has to get it back and the consequences of this are that he's going to hurt his friend and also he has to carry the burden of the very thing he wants back. But also he gets to feel the power of the ring and might get to keep it or if he succeeds in destroying it he can save the world. If he lets Sam take the ring, he won't have to carry the burden but he also puts his friend in danger, a burden that he doesn't think Sam can carry. All of this insight is revealed in Frodo's decision.

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