My Take on Writing Compelling Characters: Quirks and Attitude

You know what's compelling? New. Or revived, before it's trendy. Once anything goes trendy, it is no longer compelling. There are a million archetypes out there, and some of them are really popular. Popular is boring. I noticed recently that the same exact character seems to headline the most popular TV shows lately. He is:
- Uniquely genius in some way, and no one else can match him.
- Single
- A silver foxy type
- Sarcastic
- He seems to seduce all of the strong professional women he works with or for
- He is often European or Australian (and if not, the actor playing him is!)
- He is white
- He is a pessimist
- He is a loner
Can you guess who I'm referring to?? How about Gregory House (House), Dr. Lightman (Lie To Me), Patrick "Jane" Jane (The Mentalist), Dr. Paul Westin (In Treatment).... Feel free to keep listing them. Yea, they are funny, strangely sexy, and easy to watch week after week. But guess what? They are no longer compelling. They were... once upon a time. But not anymore. The current juggernauts will be fine, but new ones will not reach the peaks where House sits. So good luck with landing a deal with a knock off . [Although, I would sell my soul to Tom Cruise for a ticket to see Craig Ferguson do parodies for all of these shows.]

But you know who isn't so popular? (Women of the same description, for one!) Pissed off women. How about recreational drug users who are not junkies going to rehab? Female characters who are a bit rough around the edges, without a secret Betty Crocker side waiting to redeem her scandalous ways? What about people who have an attitude problem that we could actually relate to? (House and the like are not relateable characters, when was the last time you felt alone and misunderstood for your personal brand of moody/infallible genius?)

Which character have you seen more of:
A) Woman who is seen as sexy. She plays more than just hard to get, she never gives it up. She leaves just the right amount of allure to hook 'em, but never lures them in. All the men in her life wish they could tap that, but she doesn't realize that she is waiting for a man who is even more confident and elusive than her. Only he can pull the sword from the stone (uh, or the opposite in this case).
OR
B) Woman who is seen as sexy. She does what ever the hell works for her. She doesn't think much about the drooling guys at the office, yet they still drool. She hangs out with a few buddies, some men and some women, and the guys aren't trying bed her for the conquest. When she is interested in a man, she might pursue him, if she's in the mood. This woman actually knows what she wants without a man having to seduce her.

The latter may not sound much like women we see in the media. She isn't a big headliner. But who do most women rather aspire to? Who is more realistic? Who would people actually respect? Yea.

The point is we see a lot of female characters who have a soft core (when it all comes down to it), and a lot of male characters who have had their emotions removed and the void filled with sarcasm. Switch it up. People can still love a female character who is usually cheesed off and sarcastic. People will run with a guy who can't get the girl. Hell, break ALL the rules of what people expect in a character of a certain age, gender, profession. Bet you'll come up with someone who no one can stop reading about. We love new, weird, and strange. So bring it on!

P.S. yes, I know Jane had a sad family tragedy thing, House is disabled... blah blah blah. Still basically the same guy. Oh, and Brennen from "Bones" is an awesome example of the new and different I'm talking about.

This post is for the blogfest hosted by elana johnson, so go check it out and get in on it!