Why all the angst?

[Trick]

I was reading this article on Springhole:

Basic Tips To Create Better Characters With Tragic & Traumatic Backstories - Springhole.net

I think I was surprised by this line because it felt like explaining the obvious:

"Although it varies from person to person, people generally have a limited capacity to care about your character's angst"

Did anyone else say duh? I fail to see the need for (given my own interpretation of the word) angst. I feel that 'wangst' and angst are rarely discernible from one another and can't consciously think of a time that I used it for POV character.

I tend to be on the less-emotional side of the spectrum though, so I would like other perspectives and some insight into when angst can be used to good effect and doesn't make a character seem like a... for lack of a better term... wimp.

Thanks all!

 

[Feo Takahari]

I don't think tragic backstory, in and of itself, makes readers care about characters. What creates interest or sympathy is how the character responds--turning inward, fighting back, failing to understand . . . If a character has a tragic backstory, but shows no signs of being affected by it, it might as well not exist.

 

[Devor]

Ah. Good question.

They talked about this in an episode of Writing Excuses, and if I recall right one of the opinions they kind of expressed was that your character's "angst," so to speak, should be tied to the decisions they have to make. We don't want to see characters whining about how bad the villain has made things, but about how all this badness influences their struggle to overcome it.

I think that's how I would put it. We don't want to see our characters in angst. We want to see them struggle.

 

[Trick]

I don't think tragic backstory, in and of itself, makes readers care about characters. What creates interest or sympathy is how the character responds--turning inward, fighting back, failing to understand . . . If a character has a tragic backstory, but shows no signs of being affected by it, it might as well not exist.

I agree they should be affected by it. But not with angst... at least not so much that it is even noticeable to the reader. I have no tolerance for characters (or real people) who whine about the past. Struggling, planning, taking action... hell, even drowning your sorrows in booze make me more interested. I suppose I might enjoy an angsty character who overcomes their wimpiness and get's something done but I might not make it that far in the book. I just have this feeling that angst belongs in a shrink's office. If that was the setting, I suppose I'd be more forgiving but I'd view the shrink as the MC...

Angst brings to mind an image of someone ringing their hands in indecision while events unfold around them... boring at best, infuriating more often.

 

[Julian S Bartz]

Tragic backstories make up the backbone of so many fantasy novels. At the end of the day I think every character will have things in their past which were not pleasant and result in their current outlook on life. It's all about whether the writing dwells to much on them at the expense of the story.

There is something to be said about an author being able to use a characters whining and tragic backstory as a key element to drive the plot. I agree with the article in that Harry Potter is a great example. I felt that the traumatic backstory is integral to the whole plot and, though constantly referred to, rarely stops you from enjoying the story.

 

[Jabrosky]

Tragic back-stories interest me most when they provide the characters with motivations for doing whatever they need to do in the story. For instance, a character may want revenge against whomever is responsible for their trauma. On the other hand, if the character is haunted by something they did themselves, they might seek redemption. This way the tragedy is less a source of angst than one of action.

That said, while I've read many books with characters experiencing traumatic events, I can't recall any that got too "angsty" about it. I'm inclined to think that the exaggerated angst that readers complain about is more common in certain sub-genres which aren't heavily represented on my bookshelf. Maybe you see it more in YA fiction since that's marketed towards teenagers with angst issues themselves?

 

[Incanus]

Exactly, Jabrosky. Whatever it is, it has to serve the story. The more it serves the story, the bigger the role it can (and probably should) have.

It depends on the nature of the story.

 

[Trick]

I think a tragic back story is perfectly acceptable and have one in my WIP for the MC. And for the villain, come to think of it. Neither of them has angst per se but they do have anger, hatred, resolve or some other adult emotion that can be identified with. My favorite characters are always the ones who overcome their difficulties, tragic back story or something else, and work at a goal.

I think the only example of an angst-filled character that I can think of is Fitz in Robin Hobb's Assassin series. I read them, liked lots of things about them but hated the angst and whining. It was like he was a six year old on and off throughout the book.

 

[Ryan_Crown]

Just finished reading Cabal, by Clive Barker. I'm a huge fan of Nightbreed, the movie version of the story, and with it getting a director's cut release next month, I decided I was long overdue to finally read the story that it's based on. And I have to admit, it was one of those rare times where the movie really outshines the book. And I think a big part of why is because of how angsty the characters in the book are (which I don't recall them being in the movie). You've got the MC constantly telling the love interest she has to leave him because of how terrible he is, and how she's better off without him, and her response, of course, is that she'd rather die than live without him.

Every time I read one of these scenes I just wanted to hit my head against the wall because of just how whiny the characters were. And I think it really highlights what other posters have been saying -- you can't have your characters constantly bemoaning their fates and feeling sorry for themselves. So you had a horrible childhood, or some terrible tragedy marred your past? Get over it! So yes, I would agree with Trick, saying that readers have little capacity to care about angst really is stating the obvious.

The MC of my current WIP is a character with a tragic past (he did something horrible and was cursed as a result). But I can't imagine ever writing a scene where he whined about his fate. I do have an almost running gag where he wakes from horrid nightmares (one of the aspects of his curse) and the first thing he says when he wakes up is "Damned gypsy curse." But that's as close to whining as he ever gets. Instead, both the curse and his guilt over what he did to earn the curse are what drive him to try and redeem himself (while at the same time never truly being able to forgive himself). My goal is (hopefully) to have a character that is engaging because of how he is shaped by his tragedy, but at no time does he feel sorry for himself, and at no time is the reader expected to feel sorry for him.