How can I create a character that is relatable, but not cliched? What is the difference?

Question

Recently, I was showing some of my writing to teachers, proofreaders, and just basically putting it online (bad idea, I know, but no one was really helping me...) A general response that I got was that my main character was the epitome of teenage angst. That I knew. But I wanted readers to be able to relate to her. Because doesn't everyone go through that teenage angst thing at some time in their lives? But is 'relatable' essentially the same thing as 'cliched'? Is there a difference? If so, what is it? Please help!



Oh, and I saw that whathaveyoudone654 is having the same problem as me, it seems! So help us both please!

Answer 1

writers rule of thumb number 1 -- never listen to input from your english teachers. they are usually failed writers so expecting them to offer valid criticism is kind of worthless. they might be great at grammar but they don't know how to put life into written words.

many writers base their characters in cliche -- faulkner and fitzgerald just to name 2 little guys you might know. cliches are a valuable writing tool. every character in steven king is a cliche -- its the way he twists them through the book that makes him a writer. so really its what you do with the cliches that counts.

huck finn is a shining example of cliche -- you have the slave jim who is drawn as a cliche -- a dumb slave -- through the book you realize he is the only sane and intelligent character. its your opinion that changes though -- he doesn't really change -- that is what makes a good read.

#2 -- don't bother with peer review. most people that read it are going to say you suck mostly because you don't write like them -- which goes back to point #1 -- why take the advice of failed writers? lots of real writers write books on how to write. find sources that inspire you and not museless nobodies that just put you down.

my best advice is don't bother with help -- just submit your writing to publishers. if they don't like it they send it back. you can do this as many times as you like and there are lots of publishers out there. if they do like it they will assign you an editor and proofreaders and stuff to work for you -- not the other way around.

Answer 2

Cliches are a double-edged sword, I've found.

On the one hand, something becomes a cliche because it works so so well that everybody does it. I happen to think in this instance if your character is a "cliche" so long as your story itself is original and well-written it is easily overlooked.

On the other hand, if you feel the need to avoid cliches you can find yourself not being able to come up with a believable, or in your case, relatable character or plot.

Also, you can easily add some layers of depth to your characters to bring them from run of the mill to unique.

And for the record, there is nothing wrong with your character representing an angsting teenager, as every single story with a teenager has that teen angsting. It's just what teens do so I can't really call it a cliche.

Answer 3

Oh my goodness. Listen to your teachers and peer reviews are helpful when you need focused input.
Now on to your question...
There is a difference between cliche and relating. By creating a cliche character, you've taken a stereotypical personality that was created somewhere down the line in Hollywood and well..... that's sort of boring to people when they see it over and over again.
Relating on the other hand is where you create a character that has simple personality traits but seem to be blown out of proportion by the character. For example... when you are speaking of teenage angst, are you saying that your character always seems depressed, moody, withdrawn and practically spits at people? Does the character lash out constantly to the parents and yell "You just don't get it!" all the time? (Sorry... there's lots of years between me and my last teenage angst meltdown).
If you want someone to relate to your character, you have to be able to do emotion well. "Crying as if their heart was broken" won't cut it. "There was a pain deep in her chest, a feeling of pressure as if her heart and lungs were going to burst. Breathing became difficult, yet it was managed as huge sobs escaped her and as she cried, her throat became raw with the effort..."
Do you see the difference? You have to be able to explain in detail what the emotions feel like and then some where down the line someone will read it and say to themselves, "Wow... that is exactly how it feels, I know what this character is going through!"
By offering up a cliche character, you are just lending your story to the reader and not letting them get deep into the story. But by offering up a character people can relate to, you are bringing them into a different place.
Give the character traits that you see in people on a daily basis, yet you know aren't cliche.
As for everyone going through teenage angst at some time in their life... not really. I knew some teens who pretty much had their heads screwed on the right way and didn't have much of that ol' angst thing going on.

Anyway, good luck to you and I hope that this helps.

Answer 4

I'm not an expert at all (I'm just a 14 year old writing junkie!) but I would try and mix the two.
Basically, create a character that is cliche. For example, if you are creating a teenage angsty girl, make her cliche, THEN make her have complex issues underlying, such as key personality traits. This way she will be relateable but not cliche.
It's really hard to explain, but I hope this helps!

Answer 5

Yeah, I think G's got a point--it's a tough call. Really these things are all just word games, and if you want to have a character who's going to live and breathe they have to be more than a collection of jotted-down attributes. Maybe if you try to imagine them as real people rather than a bunch of abstract qualities...then they can do all the crazy contradictory unpindownable things that real people do. And yeah I know, it's tough--like the teenage-angst thing: what is it about Holden Caulfield that makes him somebody real, who you can identify with? He's both just like everybody else, and like no one you've ever met before. Somehow that happens--and works.

Answer 6

I'm thinking that you should delete a few of the stereotypes that your characters have, those are basically the cliches that your characters possess. Another way is to make your characters realistic, i mean no one person embodies all the stereotypes or generalizations that are bestowed upon people.

Answer 7

That is completely relatable! Practically every body needs to be judged on who they are, now not what they look like or their tradition. One factor to be certain of even though is to show why the individual needs reputation.

Answer 8

No. Showing it ONLINE is a *good idea*! How else are you and what's-his-name going to learn?

How you can create a character that is relatable to you and to your prospective reader is quite simple: YOU BUILD YOUR CHARACTER TEMPLATE USING YOURSELF AS BASE MATERIAL.

Example:

Isis McGowan in my STARCHILD novel. A 14-year-old teenage girl with problems of her own. She lives with her mother and brother--having lost her father to the Praetorial Guard at the age of six. (Jail time for a crime he didn't commit--but was framed for an accident which cost 12 people their lives.)

Now...

What's so special about her? The fact that she's *me*. In many ways, we both share similar problems growing up as teenagers: Being the eldest in the family, having to take on the lion's share of the burden, and also having to live without your father. (I barely knew mine. I never saw him after I was 3 or 4-years-old.)

So I used my own life experience and myself as a model template for Isis. Most people don't understand what I went through as a child growing up. Nor did they understand the hell I was going through as a teenager.

And many of Isis's behavior and blatant attitude towards some people and subjects--can be traced to *me*.

Because I had the same exact problems as she does.

In my ongoing PRICE OF FREEDOM novel, I used my own 6-year marriage as a template for the relationship for Kenneth Sparks and Kayla Sorenson. (Minus the sex. That--was a bit of imagination on my part. (*blush*) )

The ups and downs of a relationship was vital for Kayla's growth as an artificial construct. I wanted to see how she could handle it--using elements of my own real-life marriage as source material.

Some of the things going on in the book are comical and ironic. But it shows that everyone goes through similar things being together.

I just couldn't create a fictional world entirely on its own. That's not how you do books these days. If you want to make things realistic for your readers, then you better be prepared to expose yourself (and your life) to them.

It's the only way you can draw them in.