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I am sick and tired of characters not communicating for the sake of drama (lemmy.world)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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Something bad happens, and instead of talking about it or taking action, they just brush it under the rug, causing tensions to rise until the person who wasn't supposed to find out eventually does. Seriously, can't anyone have a mature conversation?

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Idiots are way too easy to write, but it takes a genius to write a genius. That’s why we have so many idiots in books and TV…

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I mean, one can definitely write a character who is smarter than them, employing legit intelligence when the writer doesn't technically have or use it. And one can definitely write a character that's wiser than them. I have a few of those in my novel with a premise about a universe where people are encouraged to heal and become kinder, better people. I wish I was as wise as Lu or Tony or Senna.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

There was a quote from Dan Brown (sorry, couldn't find it after a few minutes of googling) where he explains how to write characters smarter than yourself. Brown would spend days -- sometimes even weeks -- coming up with an explanation for how his characters would realize something in a matter of minutes.

Writing brilliant characters is hard. But that's part of what makes good writing so worth reading.