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What about antagonists who do the wrong thing, but for a good reason? Or who have a realistic backstory that makes you feel sorry for them, or at the least, understand why they do what they do? Do you just not like characters like that in general?
I guess I should rephrase what I meant because looking back, I actually do enjoy sympathetic villains. However, I can’t stand when those same villains are portrayed as being justified for their actions, because they’re not. Also, while writing that I had a few villains in mind that were already established as evil but then someone wrote them as good (i.e Maleficent, Cruella, the Wicked Witch of the West, Satan). I probably should have clarified that, my bad. I myself have written a villain who can be seen as pitiable, but I find if a villain is portrayed as justified for his or her actions and the hero is somehow “in the wrong” as highly overdone (especially in modern secular writing). Last though on this, but this is something remake writers really like to do.
But I don’t like villains or antagonists that have no good reason for what they do, either.
I agree with this. Although, if it’s something simpler written like a fairytale or a story that’s still well written (like It’s A Wonderful Life) but its villains aren’t that in depth, I still enjoy them.
“Our house is full of ducks!!!!”
So many. Especially from modern stuff.
1. Strong independent woman who doesn’t need help from anyone unless it’s another woman because men are lame anyway. Seriously, this one is so annoying. I can understand writing a woman who is physically capable of taking on tasks, but I hate it when said woman is basically written as a man but is meant to be a “strong, female character” while simultaneously bashing on men and “traditional” women.
2. Bland YA protagonists. This is another blight upon most YA. The main character is incredibly bland, but also the most unique person in the universe. Typically I’ve noticed female protagonists are like this, and they’re usually super insecure about their looks but are actually pretty. Additionally, the protagonist has some special ability that makes them stand out and is caught up in a love triangle with either their childhood best friend or some attractive guy they met an hour ago.
3. YA novels with superficial characters, generic evil governments and rising up against said government, negative comments about religion, and lastly, gratuitous immoral scenes. It is very hard to find a well written secular YA that does not have this.
4. Portraying villains as good or “not that bad.” So, so many modern things do this, especially with portraying evil as good and good as evil. A lot of things portray demons or evil people as “sympathetic” or misunderstood, and good people are actually self righteous villains that don’t “understand” the bad guys. This isn’t the same as sympathetic villains, but that is something I’m not a fan of either. Anyway, something that goes hand in hand with this is portraying the evil as bigger than good.
Oof, sorry this is long.
“Our house is full of ducks!!!!”
Sorry this took so long to get to. Everything’s looking good (although Hallie is frustrating me a little bit rn). Seriously Hallie, don’t fall for the trap!!
Anyway, the part in chapter 19 when Easton is doing all that stuff over the months, it feels a bit impersonal. Maybe if you wanted to show his character more you could have a scene or two of those months going by. Idk, that’s just a suggestion though. Also, is Patrick going to turn out to be not that great? I have a bad feeling about him…
“Our house is full of ducks!!!!”
Elina, what do you value most in a friend/friendship? What would break a friendship for you?
“Authenticity. If your not authentic, your not my friend. I had one friend I broke the relationship off with because she was only being my friend out of sympathy. I hate sympathy. It’s like knowing something, but not really understanding, you know?”
I have a few questions for Hallie. What are your future goals in life? What is the one thing you’ll always love no matter what?
“Our house is full of ducks!!!!”
This is cool, thanks for tagging me!
1. What is your full name?
“Elina Aurelia Miller. My family and friends… whoops, sorry, just my family, call me El.”
2. What is the most important thing the average person should know about you?
“That I don’t care what you think or what other people think. Ever.”
3. What is your body language right now? [Describe them in the interview, sitting/standing, fidgeting, etc.]
Elina is sitting in a causal manner, with arms folded and frowning slightly.
4. How would other people describe you?
“Definitely as a loner or maybe ‘weird.’ You know, because of my scar and that’s all people look at anyway. I don’t care though, I think my family would describe me as empathetic and hardworking.”
5. Where do you live? What is your race/ethnicity?
“I live in Rosen, Maine. You’ve probably never heard of it though, most people haven’t. My dad is American Irish, but my mom is Polish, so I’m Caucasian and a mix of American, Irish and Polish.”
6. What do you contribute to your world?
“I don’t know. I actually think I make things worse, if that’s possible. I guess I’m okay at trying to understand other people?”
7. What kind of struggles do you face in your everyday life?
“Let’s see… besides these two girls that pick on me, Olivia and Adaline, I have to deal with looks from people at my scar. It’s kind of annoying.”
8. What motivates you?
“I suppose… getting away. I’d love to get away from Rosen and find some other place, somewhere alone.”
“Our house is full of ducks!!!!”
Praying for you all ❤️
“Our house is full of ducks!!!!”
– What did/do you enjoy about your favorite MG novels?
Characters and plot. One of my favorite MG’s is Sew Zoey and I enjoyed the characters a lot, as well as sewing being a big factor for each book. The Flashback Four and The Genius Files were also quite good with the plot, though they’re more action focused.
– What do you think the MG category needs more of?
Involved parents. With Flashback Four and Genius Files, while they were good, I did not appreciate the parents at all. They did not believe their kids whatsoever and it was really frustrating. It would be nice to have a whole family where everyone loved each other despite their differences or annoying aspects of family members.
– What do you think it needs less of?
As others mentioned, the romantic aspect. These kids are still growing up, and while some do have crushes and that sort of thing, a lot of others don’t. It could also use less broken families.
– If you have any plot or character ideas that you won’t use, I’d love to hear them!!
Hmm, I’ll have to get back to you on that. None come to mind rn.
“Our house is full of ducks!!!!”
I am so so so sorry for not getting back to you sooner!!
That’s alright!
Oooh, I really like this one! This is totally a book I would read!
Thank you, that’s very encouraging!
Then start building the plot points around that, because internal conflicts drives the story and external conflict carries it along. Think of ways that situations around your character can play into their character development, either showing a truth or sinking your character deeper into the lie they’ve been believing.
Good advice, thanks!
I wish I could have given you better ideas than that, but I normally start with characters rather than plot, so that’s just my auto response, if you know what i mean. 😛
Lol, I get it.
I’ll be using these to come up with some more ideas and get back to you on them, if you’re willing to read them and give feedback. I understand if your not able too though, and thanks again for the advice!
“Our house is full of ducks!!!!”
Thanks! I might switch over to Reedsey though, considering Ellette’s post now.
Oh goodness, thanks for telling me. That’s really scary, I knew Google wasn’t great but that seems much too far.
“Our house is full of ducks!!!!”
(yep I’m leaning fully into it now)
Oh boy XD
What have I done lol“Our house is full of ducks!!!!”
@keilah-h @hybridlore @ellette-giselle @the_lost-journal @liberty @whalekeeper @linus-smallprint
As of right now, I have re-done parts of The Woods of Rosen which are now integral to where the story is headed (this is because I realized they would work better for the story and characters). So, I’m thinking instead of posting the chapters of the books on KP, that instead I’ll put a link to a google doc and put the chapters there for critiques. This is just mainly because, taking these new additions into account, it would be confusing for you guys to read the next parts without the context of the additions to the pre-posted chapters. If you guys are willing to, could you re-read the first two or three chapters once I post the link because I’ve added new stuff to them? You don’t have to if you don’t want to or have time to, it’s really only to add context to events in the future chapters.
Whoops. That was a long ramble, wasn’t it?
“Our house is full of ducks!!!!”
look what you’ve done you’ve encouraged my obsession lollllllll
Wait, nooo!! I take it back, is it too late?! lol
Also it’s a-okay, I think this topic is kind dead anyway XD
“Our house is full of ducks!!!!”
Hard to follow the rule of staying on the path when the path itself won’t cooperate.
Yep lol.
Nice!
You guys really like the slap part huh? XD
Looks good! Waiting for the next part.
Thanks!
“Our house is full of ducks!!!!”