Writing Larger than Life Characters
We read to escape, and when we read, we put ourselves into the roles of the characters we’re reading about. In a sense, we become them. This is why it is so important for hero characters to be relatable in some way. It’s hard to connect with characters who are not likable. In short, we can’t realistically insert ourselves into the stories and become those characters in our imaginations. Let’s look at the idea of Larger than Life characters. By definition, these people are perceived as bigger, better, more powerful, more magnetic, having more gravitas, and generally being loved, admired, feared, respected to a greater degree than the normal person. When you create your characters, particularly a ‘hero’ character, don’t set out with the intention of creating a Larger than Life character. By doing that, you’re creating a caricature of what you perceive to a Larger than Life character to be. You may end up creating a Superhero or Supervillain. …
