What does Jack Reacher have in common with Holden
Caulfield? On the surface not very much. One is young, inexperienced, gets
himself into circumstances he can’t handle; the other, cynical and older resolves
difficult situations. What they do share is they both see themselves as alone,
and apart from what is considered mainstream society.
Both are regarded as anti-heroes.
An anti-hero is a protagonist who displays a different
set of characteristics to those normally seen in a traditional protagonist. A classical
hero/heroine is portrayed as having courage, moral strength, idealism, and who
overcomes their internal and external challenges.
An anti-hero is a protagonist who doesn’t display such
noble characteristics, but instead has a flawed nature. They may, like Holden, have unresolved issues, have a criminal past as does Jay Gatsby, or take the
law into their own hands. The glamour of a Robin Hood, with his means justifies
the ends scenario, even though outside the law and performing criminal acts, shows
the enduring attraction of an anti-hero.
Traditional heroes are bigger than life, whereas
anti-heroes display more unattractive personality traits. One of my favourite
anti-heroes is Alec Leamus, from The Spy
Who Came in from the Cold, where the protagonist is a whisky drinking, introverted and
disillusioned spy.
Yet we are drawn to the rebel, the loner, the knight in shining armour who arrives, deals with the problem, and departs. The advantage of an anti-hero is that we can not only
identify with their flaws, self-doubt, jealousy - for we have them too - but, as writers, we can take those weaknesses and use them as a tool for shaping a story.
Writing
Update
I’m in the final stages of finishing up this year’s nano
novel. I had hoped to strengthen my writing muscle and up my daily word
count, but at the moment I'm taking it a bit slower than in November, returning to my normal writing pattern. But I am happy to have the first draft of something I
really like – only time (plus more writing, and - slush pile alert - let's not forget the editing) will reveal if anyone else
feels the same.
Next week, I’ll return to my novel, with completion of
final revision, enquiry letter etc., and sending off to agents/publishers etc. This is a goal I creep towards at an infinitesimally slow pace, but which nonetheless hope
to achieve by December 31st.
Due to the nano, I’ve been less active on Google+ and
Twitter, though I hope to get back up to speed soon. I have contradictory
feelings about social media. On the one hand I enjoy interacting with other
writers – that’s a real bonus – and love it when I discover a post I learn
something from; on the other hand, I sometimes resent how much of my time it takes, and wonder will it make any real difference in terms of books
bought; and to cap it off, I miss it when I’m not participating!
Today’s
Haiku
OBSERVED
she waits outside, cold,
ire builds, yet when he arrives -
she fakes a sweet smile
Useful Links
A post with some good practical advice on rule breaking:
http://lialondon.net/writing-rules-in-fiction
Good old Wikipedia:
always worth checking out what they have on a subject.
Join me on Twitter at: teagankearney@modhaiku
To all story lovers out there, good reading, and to
those of you who write, good writing.
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment