About a year back, perhaps a little more, I was having a discussion with a friend of mine about the styles of several well-known authors and he brought up a point that I had never really consciously considered before. I’d like to pass that on now as I think it’s something that has helped me a lot.

Let’s take a look at Stephen King and his style for a moment. Now whether you like his books or not, you have to admit that to be as popular as he is and to sell as many books as he has, his has to be doing something right. So what is it that makes King’s books so appealing? What is it that keeps his fans coming back over and over? Even I will admit that I like the guy’s books. I own probably 60% of them and have read about 90% of the ones I don’t own.

The thing that makes King’s stories so appealing is that the readers can connect with his characters. Not always emotionally…because I do feel that is one of the areas where King lacks. But the readers can connect in that most of King’s protagonists are ordinary Joe’s. There’s really nothing special about them. There are some things that they can do fairly well, but not a whole lot worth mention.

So here’s this ordinary person who’s suddenly and unexpectedly thrown into a battle with an element of the supernatural that they hardly even know about, not to mention understand. They have no superpowers, they have nothing to fight with (at least at first), and they are just generally finding themselves in way over their heads. And yet they always seem to fight back to win the battle…most often broken, bruised, and bloody, but they triumph.

Reader’s love this. Anyone who can do everything can overcome a struggle. But when you get someone who’s a middle-class, average schmo, then the situation becomes different.

This brings up another point. Something that I like to call the “superman complex.” This is the character that has no flaws whatsoever. This is the character that can’t go wrong. It’s like McGyver to the n^th degree. You send him into the desert with a pocketknife and a book of matches and he builds the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, finds T.J. Beale’s Lost Treasure of Virginia, and unlocks the secret to cold fusion.

Okay, I hate to break it to you…but even if a lot of emotion has been put into this character, he’s going to be static. If you want a good example of that, I would point you to a fanfic by Dream Tiger. Now don’t get me wrong…I’m not dissing the kitty. I think he’s a great writer and an even greater friend. But in this particular RR fanfic, his main character, Wayne, just can’t go wrong. There’s nothing this guy can’t do. He suffers greatly from the “superman complex.” And because of this, it keeps a potentially great story at the level of a good story. And DT is one of the few that I’ve seen that’s able to pull even that much off. He’s got a good bit of experience behind him (and a good piece of tail behind him too, but that’s another topic *smirks*). Most inexperienced writers would have their story crumble if they made such a mistake. (Note: Note: I have included the aforementioned story with permission from Dream Tiger. Click the back button on your browser to get to the links.)

So summing up, unless you’re consciously trying to write a superhero type story, avoid the “superman complex” at all costs. Even if you are writing a superhero type story, giving your characters some weaknesses will make the story much more believable and much more enjoyable. And when at all possible, keep your characters average and down to earth. Give your reader something to connect with. They’ll enjoy your writing much more for it.