I Was Told I'm "Too Defensive" About My Characters — So What?

[SugarCube]

So apparently, caring too much about my characters is a problem now?

I got feedback recently that said, and I quote: “You’re too defensive about your characters. It makes it hard to give criticism.”
And like… yeah?? Of course I’m defensive. I birthed these goblins from the darkest depths of my imagination and emotionally raised them like my own kids. You don’t just stroll in and call them "flat" or "unlikeable" without me reacting.

Now that i got your attention, please give my web novel a read ^^

Read Atfal EL-Noor | Tapas Web Community

[Lensing]

Did you ask them for critique?

[SugarCube]

I did — but funny how people are quick to throw shade on characters like “ugh, so annoying” or “this one’s flat”, but the second you ask why, they vanish like they hit a stealth check.

[kyupol]

I know this is common with people and their ocs.

I got banned from a discord server for making someone's oc chatbot say totally weird and out of character things.

[SugarCube]

Haha, well I can’t ban you even if I wanted to — you’re safe here

But hey, how about you give my character a read and let me know what you think? I know there’s always room for improvement, and I’d love to hear your honest take.

[Lensing]

It really doesn´t matter what other people think, but you know that already
I´m writing a comic book series right now and I know 100% that people will
role their eyes and find the characters cringy, cliché or ridiculous.
I uploaded a cartoon story to facebook once and got memes similiar
to that. I find it hillarious

[thepenmonster]

It makes it hard to give criticism

They seem to be confused about what it is they're doing so it's time to bust out this clarification again;

1. Critique is a teaching tool. If they ain't teaching they ain't giving a critique. This is for the artist alone.

2. Criticism is consumer advocacy on how the public should spend its time and/or money. What Roger Ebert did. This is not for the artist and the artist who reads them is a fool.

3. Stating an opinion is what people online are actually doing when they think they're doing the first two. It doesn't matter if it's a 20 page essay, a 20 minute YouTube video, or a 20 word tweet. Two dollar words or ten dollar words. Opinions. And opinions are like assholes, as they say. The artist can accept or dismiss opinions as they see fit.

[CarltonIsaac]

Characters are expendable assets for a story. Getting attached to characters as a creator hinders the story telling for the reader.

For my stories, the hundreds I have written and sold over the years, I come up with a story idea, plot it all out, do chapter by chapter breakdowns and have place holders for characters.

Then I create the characters to fit into the requirement of the story and develop the characters along the story as it progresses down the preset path.

Works great for me, especially when the story requires to get rid of some of the characters.

[BoomerZ]

Characters are expendable assets for a story. Getting attached to characters as a creator hinders the story telling for the reader.

I would agree to this up to a point. You have to care about the characters otherwise why would I. That is my problem with stories like Game of Thrones. If everyone can be killed at any time, then I won't get invested by the story. Other than horror, which part of the fun is guessing who won't die, I don't think characters should be completely expendable.

As far as critique, if you put yourself out there, people will answer. You need to separate the comments from actual feedback. That character that is annoying might be the whole point of the character. It's part of the story. Usually if I read something to critique, I base it on what the creator is trying to do. If they succeed in doing that, they are doing a good job. If not, you give feedback on that. I don't critique styles of artwork and as I'm not a writer of novel/short stories I don't give feedback on sentence structure or grammar. So you have to know your limits.

[moontokkym]

There's a difference between being defensive about your characters and loving them.

To take a metaphor from my other work: I work in a school, so I see a bunch of parents and a bunch of kids. Some parents don't love their kids, some do, but whether or not they're defensive about their kids has nothing to do with that. Some of the parents are defensive about them because they take any critique of their kids as personal insults about their parenting skills, their beliefs, their morals, etc... When the critique is actually about their kids and their behaviour.

These defensive parents can't separate their own identity and self-worth from their kids' actions and percieved value, so any critique, even if it's legitimate and given to help the kids grow up into good well-rounded people, gets rejected and taken in anger by the parents. This usually means the kids won't get better, and the parents won't listen to good advice even more the next time: everyone loses.

Your characters are even more reliant on you as their "parent" to not be pig-headded and listen to critique, especially when you asked for it, so that you can improve as a writer and give them the wings they need to soar. By being like this, you are actively pushing your characters' noses into the mud.

Also: don't think we didn't notice the ragebait promotion thread. I'm answering just in case this situation actually happened to you and you actually do feel this way, but if you're just trolling you'll make no friends here.

[cherrystark]

That's when you come back and ask clarifying questions instead of going on the defense. I noticed that often with people giving critiques, they tend to be overly critical, as if they're trying to "prove" themselves as valid critics. There are also times when criticism like "flat" or "unlikeable" is them trying to give words to their first reactions.

I read your first chapter. I can give you feedback if you'd like, but from what I read, I can see where they were coming from. It's not an attack on you or your work. I see potential; it just needs work. You get to choose what feedback you take, but don't let pride stop you from making the best story you can.

[AmysGames]

Like @moontokkym said, there's nothing wrong with loving your characters—I would even argue that it's normal to be a little defensive of them—but you shouldn't let that defensiveness get in the way of accepting critique. If someone thinks your characters are annoying, there may be something you can adjust to make them less annoying... or you can embrace it and make them even more annoying if annoying is what you're going for.

I did — but funny how people are quick to throw shade on characters like “ugh, so annoying” or “this one’s flat”, but the second you ask why, they vanish like they hit a stealth check.

This sounds like an issue with the critique, if they're not able to identify the reasons why they don't like the characters. That doesn't necessarily mean their opinion is completely invalid, though, and it might be worth asking for a second opinion, to see if other people can identify what feels flat about them.

[skullforceagents]

So the answer is a little bit varied in terms of “who’s at fault”. On one hand, hurtful criticism is not very helpful. It only discourages the author. On the other hand, your defense level needs to be zero when taking criticism. Especially solicited criticism.

When I get critique, and this is just me, I listen to anything the critic has to say. I might ask questions to clarify, but I never ever argue. I’m there to gather opinions, not to win an argument.

After I get everyone’s feedback, I then go back and decide what to fix and what not to. You don’t have to implement everything you get for feedback. Some critics might miss the point of your novel, but there’s no point in arguing with them.

Hopefully this helps. I will take the time to read what you have and respond later.

[MelancholicOtaku]

I get it my characters are like my children. I care for them because I made them and am getting to know them on a chapter by chapter basis. But as long as the constructive criticism is valid and helpful then I am going to listen to it and apply it so my story can improve.

[yaziroburrows]

I guess I get getting defensive about characters. I love all of my characters a lot, but to me they are not characters. They are people of the world I created.

I always start with worldbuilding and then pull people who would exist in that world that I want to write about. Then I come up with a story about them. Therefore, when people critique them, I usually don't get worked up about it, because 90% of the time, that was the reaction I expected. Usually the opposite happens, where people will ignore character actions to flatten them XD

Cyran is a great example; he is dense, and ass and so emotional stunted by trauma it's amazing. So when people complain and say "He's an ass" or "He's so dumb" I go, "Yup, he is isn't he?"

[Mohini9000]

I can sorta relate!

Any character that I create is a kind of child of mine. I don't mind critiques, but only when they are constructive. If someone's being mean-spirited about it, that's where I have a problem.

[kyupol]

Funny story from my distant past...

Once upon a time, I had too much time on my hands and naturally, got sucked into online drama. I was arguing back and forth with this mentally ill dude and his crazier gf. He can't draw worth shit but she can draw really well.

So... one day, I was sent a drawing of Claudita (my oc) but drawn as an old used up crack whore. I laughed it off and made me realize how funny and stupid it all was.

"That was supposed to offend me.. oh..." I thought to myself

[SugarCube]

for critique, yeah, it’s all about the creator’s intentions. If they’re trying to create a specific vibe, like an annoying character for a reason, then they’re doing their thing right! If they fail at their intention, that’s where feedback can come in—especially when it comes to what they wanted to convey versus what ended up on the page.

[SugarCube]

Honestly, I’m lowkey jealous

[SugarCube]

By all means, I’d love to hear more from you! Seriously, if you leave comments on the episodes, it’ll help me a ton. I don’t have issues with critiques at all—I actually welcome them. What drives me nuts is when people just drop a “this is bad” and then bail without offering anything specific. That's just going rogue with no purpose, you know?