larger than life

i am reading Donald Maass' Writing the Breakout Novel. something he said really struck me because i had never thought of it before.

he said that readers like "larger than life" characters. i, who have been striving for "realistic" characters, was taken aback. but then i started thinking about my favorite characters and how they can do things that none of my friends or family members can do. they say things i would never dare to say, just as Donald Maass explained.

and the really great characters, the ones who have that unshakable moral integrity and the desire to do right even at high personal cost, who nobly sacrifice themselves for the greater good--they are the best because we can always rely on them, even when people in our own lives let us down or fall short of our expectations.

these, and not "ordinary" characters, are the kinds of people i want living in my stories.

how about you?


*unrelated update: YA Highway is hosting yet another giveaway! be sure to stop by for your chance to win one of four awesome books!!