I'm currently reading Writing the Blockbuster Novel by Al Zuckerman. He analyzes four books throughout the book and one of them is Gone with the Wind. He has some great points about Scarlett. He calls her a "larger than life character." She sets out to marry Ashley Wilks--at all costs--and nothing works out for her. I couldn't help but think of her while watching Leap Year tonight. "Anna is just like Scarlett!" I exclaimed to my husband and two friends. I explained the similarity, that Anna would do anything to get to Dublin to propose to her boyfriend on leap year since it's a romantic tradition in Ireland, but everything gets in her way. Of course, nobody cared that Anna was like Scarlett, so I thought I would share it here.
We need to write larger than life characters. Characters who desperately WANT something and won't give up.
Remember, remember. This is a likeable trait we must write.
Very true! My characters are always too perfect and then people can't identify with them. It's hard for me to give them flaws. Flaws actually make a character likeable if they're not too big.
ReplyDeleteInsightful of you to recognize the similarities between Scarlett and Anna. I will have to think how I can employ that kind of desire in my WIP.
ReplyDeleteAubrie, aww. You make perfect characters. It's cuz you love them. I always love endearing flaws like cockiness or clumsiness.
ReplyDeleteRebecca, thanks! I'm thinking on it, too.
I've heard of this movie. thinking I need to check it out.
ReplyDeleteHi, Mary. One of the cardinal principles of screenwriting is creating characters who want/need something. And this is at the heart of the entire movie. And books. If we think about the books we like, don't we remember the characters? I read Gone with the Wind in 1958, when I was 18. Stayed up all night outside on my mother's back lawn in a tent obsessively finishing it (I'd already seen the movie).
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting on my post about clotheslines. Just an ordinary thing, and yet I got a lot of lovely comments on it. Everyone seems to relate to freshly laundered clothes flapping in (hopefully) a breeze, not tumbling around in a dryer that's raising the electric bill!
As I said, I'll give you a call Thursday evening about dropping by on Friday.
Tamara, I didn't like the hero at the beginning, but by the end I did.
ReplyDeleteAnn, I have Gone with the Wind on hold at the library. I love the movie and thought I should read the book. I look forward to your call.
I loved Leap Year - so cute!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reminder. Everything needs to get in our characters way. You're so right.
I'm glad you liked it too, MT!
ReplyDeleteI never would have picked up on this similarity since Anna and Scarlett's personalities are so different, but you're right. I LOVE Amy Adams! She's so adorable.
ReplyDeleteMe, too, KM. She was hilarious in Enchanted.
ReplyDeleteI love this! I love your post about writing larger than life characters. I've always loved books that have characters that know what they want and then they go after it. I especially love books with strong female characters that are confident in who they are and are compassionate and care more for the welfare of others than about themselves. I've always been drawn to those women.
ReplyDeleteSee, Melissa, I need to write characters that you like!!
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