Comments on: Damaged characters by Tracy Grant

By: Rona Panama

Rona Panama — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 09:48:27 +0000

Thank you very much for your help, this has been a great relief from the books,

By: Damaged Characters « Tracy Grant – Novelist

Damaged Characters « Tracy Grant – Novelist — Sun, 31 May 2009 02:54:33 +0000

[...] Trek, The Language of Bees, The X-Files, Tracy Grant No Comments I blogged recently on both Jaunty Quills and History Hoydens about Damaged Characters. By which, as I said, I wasn’t talking about the [...]

By: Tracy Grant

Tracy Grant — Wed, 13 May 2009 06:40:58 +0000

Thank you all for having me, Anne! This is a wonderful place to hang out. You’ve hit on one of the reasons I love reading about damaged characters–it makes the happy ending that much more powerful, because these are people you really root for and worry about. That’s why I think declaration scenes between damaged characters are so powerful and satisfying–like the one I mentioned from the Russell & Holmes series, or the end of Barbara Hambly’s Darwath Trilogy, or Harriet Vane finally letting herself accept Peter Wimsey…

Fedora, I think the fact that those happy endings gives us hope for ourselves is another reason they’re so satisfying!

By: Fedora

Fedora — Wed, 13 May 2009 05:37:33 +0000

Hi, Tracy, like many of the earlier commenters, I do enjoy damaged characters–often I feel I can better relate because they’re imperfect and more real and human in having pasts and weaknesses and/or failings. And of course, seeing them overcome this gives us hope for our own imperfect selves!

By: Anne

Anne — Wed, 13 May 2009 02:40:59 +0000

Thank you for visiting with us, Tracy!!! I love damaged characters — and I don’t mind which or both have the damage. So nice to see them get their happy endings!!!

By: Tracy Grant

Tracy Grant — Tue, 12 May 2009 22:30:15 +0000

Solveig, I think it can be very interesting when inner damage is reflected by physical scars. That’s definitely true of Mary Russell, who I mentioned in the post. The car accident that killed her family left her with physical scars, and she acquires more scars in the course of a traumatic event in the first book in the series (The Beekeeper’s Apprentice).

Catslady, I so agree–characters with baggage and flaws seem much more human and believable!

By: catslady

catslady — Tue, 12 May 2009 20:13:20 +0000

It can be either the hero or the heroine or both at the same time. I think it makes a character more believeable because don’t we all have scars of some kind?

By: Solveig

Solveig — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:53:30 +0000

I LOVE damaged characters :Ö) I just finished reading To beguile a beast where the main character, Sir Alistair, is damaged both in appearance and in his soul, it was glorious :Ö) It makes the happy ending even better

By: Tracy Grant

Tracy Grant — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:29:03 +0000

Robyn, I loved Morning Glory. Actually Ellie was pretty damaged to. From that opening scene where she serves Will breakfast, and he’s so happy to have real, good food, I desperately wanted the two of them to have a happy ending.

Ellie, I love plots in which the past influences present events (I pretty much always write books in which the back story plays an important role).

Good point, Quilt Lady. Those past secrets (a heightened version of the secrets we all carry around, as you say) can make for great drama and conflict. And I think it’s the connection with the past hurts we all have that gives us empathy for such characters.

By: RachieG

RachieG — Tue, 12 May 2009 17:24:05 +0000

Damaged characters are so more realistic to actual people…Honestly, who isn’t a little damaged???

Great to read about a writer writing realistically about people!! So many have the super hot guy and the perfect woman…and bam suddenly they love eachother.

Keep up the great work!!