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Writing characters I do not like. Anyone else have this problem?

Amorus

Dreamer
Giddeon Braddock is a character I created several years ago. We have a "love hate" relationship meaning that Giddeon loves himself and I hate him (strong statement I know). I sigh when I know it's time to work on a "Giddeon file" because I know it will be difficult for me to get anywhere with that one. It's almost as if he comes off the page, sits on my shoulder, ready to criticize every sentence that is written about him. Here is an example that I once wrote about after loading a "Giddeon" file. "As soon as the file loaded Giddeon squeezed his broad shoulders through the monitor screen, stepped through, and stood tall on my desk with his arms folded. (Note: That was after he brushed the dirt off of his coat, the dust and debris going all over the place). He didn't say anything at first, just stared hard into my eyes, a very stern, angered look on his face. Then he pointed sharply at the computer screen. "What am I supposed to do about that!” He sounded very frustrated. I didn't want to tell him I hadn't gotten that far, but fear of having my eye gauged out left me a bit speechless. I knew he was angry (as usual) so I gentle shooed him away from the screen so I could read what he was pointing at. " the darkness…blah blah blah…….this was not the first time he had felt the unnatural cold, harsh against his skin……blah blah blah.” *Sigh* "I don't know Giddeon. You're the general. You figure it out.” (Kris picks Giddeon up and pushes him through the screen ignoring the yelling and cursing.) He actually threw a rock at me at one point. File close. Save Changes? No…..moving on."
Has anyone ever encountered this type of character or a character that you really didn't enjoy writing eventhough they played a very vital role in your story...........or am I the only crazy one? :p
 
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Ravana

Istar
Not really. If it's a character your readers are supposed to dislike, odds are you won't like him either. I have a bigger problem with writing characters I can't respect–that is, ones who have no redeeming features whatsoever. Simpering toadies, spineless weaklings, doormats, emotional leeches, extreme co-dependents, misogynists, blindly intolerant characters of any stripe… those are the ones I have trouble with. Not only do I not like them, I have so much trouble getting inside their heads that I have trouble bringing them to life at all: they end up being artificial, two-(or even one-)dimensional.

By comparison, I have far less difficulty with total scum or outright psychotic characters, as long as I can see into their heads enough that I can see why they might be that way.

(Well, that might not be completely true, depending on what you mean by "having problems." I do have one character I created in the past–initially for an RPG–who I have been forbidden, by friends and family, to recur to: he falls into the "outright psychotic" category… and I was so good at becoming him that I started creeping the hell out of people when I was playing him. The mere mention of his name is still sufficient, years later, to evoke wails of terror from those who "knew" him.…)
 
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Kelise

Maester
Many authors say you need to be able to get inside the head of all of your characters - even, or especially the antagonists. So while you don't have to like them, you simply must be able to understand and believe in their cause, otherwise you won't be able to write it seriously, and the readers won't believe the characters are real, or they'll be bored by them, or see no danger in the baddie, etc etc

So I would agree with both Ravana and Ophiucha. Change the character until you're able to understand them, until you find a way to enjoy writing their parts. You have to be able to feel them - you don't have to agree with them, as long as you can get inside their head and write them in a believable way.
 

Ravana

Istar
Doesn't sound like Amorous is having a problem writing the character; if anything, it's coming too easily–and that's what the author finds disturbing. We all know that the best characters tend to write themselves. When it happens to be a character we don't like, we wonder what it is within us that we're accessing.

Basically, you need to decide if the character is worth keeping… and if it is, whether you're willing to put up with him for the sake of getting the story told. If you aren't, yeah, you're going to need to find a way to change him–though in this case, it sounds more like you'd need to dump him altogether and come up with someone else who can fulfill the same role; I think that this character will assert his unpleasant aspects no matter what changes you (try to) make to him.
 
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Late to the party once again. Oh well, I'll make an exhibition of myself in the kitchen as I usually do. For what it's worth, I find the most unsympathetic characters I've ever created are also the most interesting. They do things I'd never dream of doing, they say things I'd never dream of saying, and generally get away with the kind of things I'm far too timid to attempt in real life. As my protagonist is to some degree a conduit for my belief system, it's actually quite liberating to stray outside the norm, if only as an intellectual exercise.
 
I have a couple of characters I can't stand.. but I know they're needed attitudes and temperments included... So I simply tolerate it when they decide to put their put two cents in where it doesn't belong >.<
 

Amorus

Dreamer
It's really great to hear how everyone approaches this situation. My character is very important to my story and I don't necessarily want to change him, but he is the one of the characters that "I love to hate" so to speak. However, in the realm of writing this character.....well, he and I butt heads most days.
 

Sammy

Acolyte
Why not have someone else write that character? Lots of really great films have multiple writers and that's because each writer brings his or her own perspective and way of thinking into it.
 

Ophiucha

Auror
Why not have someone else write that character? Lots of really great films have multiple writers and that's because each writer brings his or her own perspective and way of thinking into it.

Not the OP, but I have never had a good experience collaborating on a novel (and I am pretty sure most of the users here are novelists, not screenwriters). I've tried with relative strangers, my best friend, and another close friend and none of them have ever worked out. Too much conflict of style (syntax, diction, etc.), in every case. And having read collaborative works, I tend to find they are rarely, rarely good. The only ones I can think of worth reading are The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub (and I honestly don't think the best elements of that came from anyone but King) and The Strain by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan. I've heard good things about Interface, as well, but that's about it.
 

Ravana

Istar
Ophiucha: given your general tastes, I strongly suspect you'd love Freedom and Necessity by Steven Brust and Emma Bull. (Which, oddly, I just finished mentioning in another thread.…)

I agree that I've seen few collaborations that I didn't think would have been better had they been written by just one of the authors. (Sometimes by either one.) On the other hand, I personally enjoy working in collaboration… I find it easier to bring out the best in someone else's writing than I do in my own. Maybe we'll have to try something some time.

And while lots of great films have multiple writers, it's as often because they keep getting fired as it is due to any actual collaboration.… :p
 
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