Question of the day, #1

[mrissa]

So I was thinking about the recent rants from "oh noes, girl cooties in my SF" people. I was thinking about which traits of mine are most crucial to my reading experience when reflected in characters. I do not, for example, find it particularly difficult to care about male characters, or non-white characters, or homosexual characters. But I was pretty sure that if I thought about it, I would come up with some things where I really did want characters to be "like me."

What I came up with is loyalty.

I don't require a character with whom I can identify; caring is enough. But when a character is blithely disloyal to people who are showing them loyalty, I have a hard time not putting down the book and walking away.

How about you? What traits do you want to share--or at least not blatantly not share--with a character in order to care about their story?

Comments

[dd-b.livejournal.com]

I want to say I can't stand stupid characters; but that's not right exactly. I can certainly deal with ignorant characters. I can deal with characters not super-bright, or even fairly stupid. What I can't deal with is characters being stupid about being not too smart, if you see what I mean. They have to use what they've got in that area reasonably sanely.

I can't deal with characters with insane views of themselves.

And they all seem to be negative things -- flaws I can't stand, rather than characteristics I require.

[brooksmoses]

What's particularly bad is when characters are stupid only in ways that advance the plot, and smart otherwise. But I suppose that's really more a failing of plot and writing than of the character themselves.

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

Or stuid in ways that are like a B-grade horror movie: No! Don't go up those stairs!

The book I came closest to flinging recently was one I bought because the main character is a Philadelphia rower (a novice). The nearest approach to flinging was when she goes out in the middle of the night on the Schuylkill River in a single (repeat: she's a novice - and those things are extremely tippy) because her boyfriend has vanished after an argument and she figures he's gone off rowing to let off steam. And when she finds him unconscious and bleeding on an island, with a mysterious motorboat docked there, she gets *back in her boat* to row off and try to find help. Instead of in the motorboat, which the bad guy promptly uses to come after her.

(Also, I can speak from experience: the "finding help" bit is not so likely, because if you stand beside Kelly Drive, even if you're standing there bleeding, no motorist will stop. Even in daylight.) I will not be buying further books in the series.