[CupcakeDolly]

Originally Posted by Suzerain of Sheol

29. "Relatable" Characters

I think I may be in the minority on this one, but I do not understand the need to be able to identify or empathize with a protagonist or any other character in a work of fiction. Maybe there's something wrong with my concept of escapism, but I'm generally not thinking about myself at all when I'm reading. Whether *I* personally would like a character in fiction is an absurdly meaningless proposition to me. I care if they're interesting to read about, that's pretty much it.

As an aside, audience-proxy characters need to go die in a fire. I'll flounder about in new fictional worlds all on my own, thank you; I don't need a doltish dunce of a protagonist asking idiotic questions at every turn for me to figure things out. Give me characters who've actually lived in the world they inhabit, kthxbai.

I agree, although I understand that from the authoring/publishing perspective it's easier to sell books if the protagonist is likable. Nowadays I feel like that's only relevant in romance novels, since most of the time the reader is putting themselves in the main character's place. As far as other fiction goes, some of my favorite main characters have been truly horrible people, but I still cheer them on and keep turning the pages to see what they'll do next.

30. Unnecessary Descriptions
I like to think of myself as a somewhat literate lady, but my attention will wander if a book is going on and on describing the trees, the individual colors of the setting sun, the twitching of each muscle moved by each character... I don't care. Don't write five paragraphs about the damn trees. Is this book called "Trees"? No? Then get to the relevant stuff. I don't care about the trees. Nobody cares about the trees!