In the middle of the chaos that passed for my life last week, I screwed something up royally.
I have the absolute worst memory of anyone I know. I can blame it both on genetics (thanks Daddy) and the writing fog that permeates my brain most of the day.
I write everything down. The dog’s heartworm pill. The items I need at the store. What I like to put in my children’s lunchboxes (I could forget, over the course of a long weekend.) I even make step-by-step reminders for things: RSVP for the birthday party, buy gift, buy card, wrap gift, Mapquest directions….
But last Monday, in the midst of Doctor Mom duty, I didn’t look at my appointment book. See, that’s the inherent problem with lists. You must look at the list to remember what you’re supposed to do.
So I stood my daughter’s teacher up. It was parent conference day and she waited for me to come to the school and talk with her about my child for our 20 minute spot. Yes, she stayed after school was out, when she could have been on her way home or doing other things.
ARGH! It was a horrible screw up and I felt terrible. My daughter’s teacher was very nice, though, and we rescheduled for another day.
Isn’t it awful when we do things like that?
Do our characters do things like that?
I have one series where my protagonist, Myrtle Clover, messes up all the time. She burns dinners, forgets things, creates awkward moments in conversations…the works. My other series has a protagonist, Lulu Taylor, who hasn’t actually made any mistakes. She’s dealt admirably with what she’s confronted with. She makes good decisions. She’s cautious.
I think I’m going to have to mess with Lulu a little bit.
I don’t have to make Lulu as mistake-prone as poor Myrtle, but I’m ready for her to make an error in judgment. Or forget an appointment. She’s definitely wasn’t this perfect person in my first book, but she was very well-behaved. This may change a little in book two.
Do your protagonists make mistakes, either accidentally or by using poor judgment? What’s the right balance for successes and screw-ups, or is there one?
Oh, what an interesting question, Elizabeth! We all screw up (you would have no room left for more comments if I gave you my list!). It’s a human thing. So if our characters are going to be human, they have to screw up, too.
My own Joel Williams isn’t perfect, but I don’t make special mention of his screw-ups (although after reading your post, it’s worth mentioning some of them). That whole idea of being all-too-human is what makes protagonists like Laurien Berenson’s Melanie Travis so likeable.
As I’m thinking about protagonists and screwing up, I wonder whether we feel uncomfortable when our protagonists screw up because we like them – they are our creations – and we don’t want to see them mess up…
We missed one of our daughters parent teacher conference a week ago. Yeah, we felt really stupid when we figured it our yesterday. No wonder the teacher’s been giving me funny looks.
Stephen Tremp
Yes, definitely mess with Lulu.
It’s the flaws in our protagonists that endear the reader. My protag Forte has obvious public personal disasters to overcome (he’s a recovering addict). Readers root for him to rescue himself daily.
By the way, I’m taking notes on how you approach your blog. When I start my blog, I’m swiping some of your technique. And you owe me a guest blog one day. Aww, you didn’t think I’d forget that now, did you?
My main characters for this ms are teenagers. They’ve been taking turns making messes of things. It’s been fun :)
Have fun with Lulu! I wonder how she’ll take it??
From a reader’s standpoint, not a writer’s, it’s good that the characters we read about screw up. It makes us see a little of ourselves in them, helps us relate better to both the good and bad characters.
Elizabeth it also good to know that someone else makes as many lists as I do.
You mentioned even writing down the dog’s heart worm medicine so I have to ask – have you ever gone back to see when the last date given was only to find you forgot to write down. Then after several days of searching for something that would remind you when you did, you find that you had started a entirely new place to write it down? Lists are a wonderful thing if I could just keep up with my list to tell me where all my other lists where.
Great topic. I have screwed up on many occasion and it’s interesting how my kids like to remind me of some of my biggest blunders. My characters tend to be very human.
People love characters who screw up. Lucy Ricardo screwed up every episode!
Oh my! my memory is sooo bad. How about forgetting to pick up your middle school child after school? Oh yeah did that.
I love this, “See, that’s the inherent problem with lists. You must look at the list to remember what you’re supposed to do.” I am a list maker, but not so much a list looker. Because I too am always in a fog- NOW I will call it my writer’S fog.
I am too easy on characters, especially the main characters. I will work on making he or she much more human. -Teresa
Ha, Elizabeth, I can see you now with little notes pinned to your shirt and stickies all over your house. Still, it’s not so funny when something important slips through the crack.
Yeah, I think your sense is correct, characters gotta be flawed, makes them more connected to readers like me who have plenty of our own shortcommings.
Best,Galen.
I used to have a great memory. Now, not so much. Like you, everything gets written down. My appointment book is my bible. If that got lost, oy.
When I read, I love characters that have very human character flaws. Especially ones that do and say things I’d never do or say.
Karen
What a great post. This is something I need to do with my protag. I need to write it down. And tape it to the monitor so I see it while I’m writing. Thank you.
Carol the List Maker
http://www.otherwisei‘dgocrazy.com
They could definitely stand to make more, then I wouldn’t feel like such a screw up!
I never actually thought about that aspect of the personalities.
Good point. Let us know how LuLu holds up under fire!
That’s really hard when it’s you. It’s fun to play around with our characters though. Kind of cathartic!
Elizabeth, my dear, give yourself a break. You’re human. You had many things going on. Missing a parent-teacher conference is not the end of the world; especially when it could easily be re-scheduled! I’m sure the teacher was grateful for the time to catch up on paper work!
Letting your character make a mistake can serve two purposes; it can add humour and it can humanize them. Both equally good, in my opinion.
Elspeth
Gotta hand it to ya, you DO bring up very good subtle nuances of writing character development. I think even the most perfect of perfect people “screw up” in real life, so yeah … characters should too.
Marvin D Wilson
Margot–I think you’re absolutely right. We hate our protagonists to mess up because we love them and don’t want them to suffer through mistakes. Except I do torture poor Myrtle. She’s ‘me’ though, in so many ways that I like to poke fun at her screw-ups.
Stephen–Isn’t it the WORST feeling? I brought her gifts for the classroom (books on CD) to make up for it. I really felt horrid about it.
Elizabeth–Yes, isn’t it interesting how our children like to remind us of it!? Sigh.
Glen–I’ll definitely guest blog for you when you roll out the new blog. It’s the least I can do! You helped out during flu week and did a great job. :)
Jemi–I think Lulu will be horrified. She likes to do a Good Job.
Teenagers…wow. They screw up all the time, but they don’t want to admit to it!
Canyon–You’ve nailed it! Oh my word. I finally, with the dog pill, had to put the reminder on the computer and hit the “remind again in 30 days option.” I twice forgot to write down the reminder and was *convinced* the poor corgi had heartworms. I’m glad to see I’m not the only memory-challenged person out there.
By the way, your blog ROCKS. It’s beautiful. When I see blogs like yours, I think that I really *should* do something with my minimalist Blogger theme. But I never seem to…You must know some HTML?
Marvin–Makes no sense, really, for our characters to be the center of the storm and handle it all perfectly. Although I’ve written a book that way myself. It read well…but now the character needs some screwing up.
Alan–I LOVE Lucy. :) Ricky, as the straight man, was funny, too but not nearly as entertaining because he didn’t make many mistakes.
JW–Oh my gosh…I’ve done that, too! He called me from school, “Mom? Wasn’t it your day to drive carpool?” And it was a whole carload of boys I was supposed to drive. Gah! All the moms just shook their heads when I finally showed up in their driveways. SEE–I’m not the only one! I’m so glad you shared. Yes, let’s mess with our protags today. (Insert evil laugh…)
LOL! My YA series is all about making mistakes! (And fixing them, of course.)
I’m guess I’m fortunate – if I write it down, it doesn’t matter if I don’t look at the list again. I will remember.
It’s when I forget to write something down that I get into trouble!
Most definitely give Lulu a quirk or two! Readers definitely identify with that human element.
Lists. I would be completely lost without them. And if I happen to misplace my list? Panic.
I may have to either pin it on myself or make a note reminding me where my list is.
Diane–You’re the second YA author to mention screwing up and teens. I think they go hand in hand! :) I mean that in the nicest possible way, actually–that they have to experiment to figure out the right way to handle situations.
Now to apply that concept to my elderly protagonists.
Crystal–LOL! I’ve actually written important things down on my hand before so I wouldn’t lose the list. I’m going to end up in an assisted living facility years before my time…
Brilliant question. My characters screw up all the time. They always misundestand each other, shoot off at the mouth, or blow up with that temper of theirs (I don’t know where they get it…)
I like charcters that make mistakes. It makes them human. My favorite characters make bad choices, mess up, pay for their mistakes. But it makes them believable, makes me sympathize and want to continue reading with hope that they sort it all out in the end.
Jen
Galen–I have *some* days where I need to have my *name* pinned on my shirt. :) And a phone number in case I get lost.
The Queen of Sticky Notes! Rah-rah! My desk is covered in them too.
I loved Myrtle because she was flawed. If Myrtle had been perfect, the story would’ve been less humorous and less adventurous. Rock on, Myrtle! :)
Can’t wait to see what she does next!
You’ve got such a great point here! I always remember to give my characters personality flaws, but the little mistakes that are so normal… I seem to only remember when they have big consequences, and that isn’t always the case!
I’d put it on my list, but of course I NEVER remember to check my list (even though I have them everywhere). If I want to remember something, I have to tell my husband to remind me.
I don’t think I consciously write my protagonist to make a mistake, but clearly I should. It would certainly make her/him more “human.”
I am like you. I make lists. Ongoing, ever growing lists. Then I get satisfaction in marking things off.
Helen
Straight From Hel
Screw ups are normal. Characters who never make mistakes are boring. Only caveat — don’t have the screwup/mistake be forced or stand out as a plot device. Give the character a history of similar mistakes. Not big ones, not a whole lot, but enough for the reader to accept them. And then, be sure you pull it off so it’s not a red flag saying, “Oh, that’s going to get someone killed/arrested/whatever.” Hey, nobody said this gig was easy.
Karen–I like characters like that, too!
I’ve lost my appointment book 2 times and both times my ENTIRE day shut down for hours until I found it. I called every business I’d gone to on my errand day, went through every room of the house…I went nuts. Then I found it in my laptop bag one time. Nuts. It was where it should have been.
Hart–Little mistakes can turn into big ones, of course! Mine certainly do. Sort of a domino effect. But the little mess ups make us human.
I’m my husband’s reminder service. The poor thing.
Carol–Oh! Windows 7 has an actual Sticky Note thing that will open in a window and stay as a reminder until you click it off. I’m loving it!
Helen–So there are things actually coming OFF your list? That you’re finishing? See, this is where I think I’m messing up…
Tamika–Thanks for visiting! I’ll let y’all know how Lulu handles the pressure. :)
Kristen–Definitely cathartic. :) I like to put them through their paces…
Elspeth–I think I would have if it hadn’t been a *teacher*. If I’d stood my doctor up? Meh! Who cares about that?! :)
I like your idea about using the mistake in a humorous way. That’s what I do with Myrtle, but I haven’t tried it yet with Lulu. I may have to give it a go.
Yep. Once reviewer said that it was a good thing my protagonist Sylvia Thorn had a sensible brother to look out for her since she tended to do really stupid things.
IMHO, if our characters are too perfect and never make mistakes, they also tend to be boring.
Jen–I agree! Much nicer to see some character growth and watch them learn from their mistakes.
Stacy–Thanks! Poor Myrtle. She keeps on trying, though. :)
Terry–Now that IS a challenge! We don’t want to give away the solution to our puzzle in the process.
Patricia–Too funny! Always good to have someone playing a responsible support role for our challenged protags!
I loved Delicious and Suspicious and I love Lulu. I can’t think of anything you can do to her that would make me love her any less. So whatever you decide to do to Lulu, I will still be her biggest fan. Besides everyone around her seems to make big mistakes, you have to have at least one level headed person in town.
Annette–Thanks so much! I think Lulu has good, common sense–that’s really what I think of when I think of her. I think she *could* possibly be such a loyal friend that she doesn’t want to think her friend is guilty of a crime–but she always seems to reluctantly have to consider the possibility as I write her stories. :)