: Re: How to make a character that doesn't speak about himself relatable? I have a character in my novel, De-Shi, who's the mentor and love interest of the protagonist, Li-Mei (nicknamed Hanging Pup).

@Megan928

Vote Up Vote Down

If you're insistent upon keeping his past and emotions a secret early on, one option might be to have the environment around De-Shi fill that void. Let the people around him give the reader clues as to his other side or true nature (depending on whether De-Shi always was like he is). This is of course assuming either exists, and if not there is little that can be done to relate a robot to anyone.

As the reader you quoted said, De-Shi comes off a little too stiff, even from just those two passages you provided. More details, maybe not even personal, might help. Sure, there are some people out there who really are as limited emotionally and fixated upon facts, but they tend to not have romantic relationships, at least not one solid enough for a book. Therefore, I'm going to assume there's much more to this character, and this side is what you have to hint at in the way his friends/family/acquaintances behave around him, what they say about him, what he does when no one is looking, the little things Li-Mei notices when he lets his guard down etc.

You might be able to take advantage of facial expressions, various cues or just a break every now and then from the thesis quoting. Of course, I don't think I know enough to say whether any of that is appropriate, so just take the suggestions under consideration.

(0)

Login to post a comment!