tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37180398.post8778655994275638725..comments2024-02-12T02:28:12.317-05:00Comments on The Writers' Group: Likable CharactersLynne Griffin and Amy MacKinnonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11107479565926998943noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37180398.post-76834486378297667482008-02-03T20:45:00.000-05:002008-02-03T20:45:00.000-05:00Thanks for a useful and thought-provoking post. I ...Thanks for a useful and thought-provoking post.<BR/><BR/> I never understood what it meant when an agent said my characters needed to be more likable or sympathetic. I greatly softened their rough edges and met with the same response. <BR/><BR/>I'm taking from your post that what people mean by "likable" is "intriguing" or "gut-grabbing." Or am I still not getting it?Shauna Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03871768714926149114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37180398.post-38406467324315963262008-02-01T08:25:00.000-05:002008-02-01T08:25:00.000-05:00Thanks, Hannah!That's interest, Trish. The memoir ...Thanks, Hannah!<BR/><BR/>That's interest, Trish. The memoir must offer a unique dynamic to capturing "character". I'd love to hear more about that.<BR/><BR/>You're right, Usman. Loving them when you read them, and capturing them on the page is a huge chasm to conquer.<BR/><BR/>Thanks for your comments, one and all.<BR/><BR/>LynneLynne Griffin and Amy MacKinnonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11107479565926998943noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37180398.post-31468737502134907422008-02-01T01:39:00.000-05:002008-02-01T01:39:00.000-05:00Interesting characters are out there; we see them ...Interesting characters are out there; we see them every day of our lives, meet them and talk with them.<BR/>Yet it is so difficult to put them into paper, in a situation that meets the needs of the novel.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37180398.post-84555339421013677102008-01-31T19:26:00.000-05:002008-01-31T19:26:00.000-05:00It's such a challenge, even as a memoirist. At a ...It's such a challenge, even as a memoirist. At a certain point, the you on the page actually starts to feel like a character, and capturing the right balance of good/bad/somewhere in-between qualities is way more challenging that I anticipated.Trish Ryanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18038324441006141430noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-37180398.post-42745097070991392882008-01-31T11:43:00.000-05:002008-01-31T11:43:00.000-05:00You've nailed the characterization issue perfectly...You've nailed the characterization issue perfectly, especially in saying that when writers are told to write likeable characters, it doesn't mean that the characters should be nice, or likeable as though you'd met them on the street. Ignatius Reilly in A Confederacy of Dunces is not someone you wouldn't want to sit next to on the train, but he will live forever as a favorite!<BR/><BR/>HannahLynne Griffin and Amy MacKinnonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11107479565926998943noreply@blogger.com