Beginners Guide: How to write a Cunning Character

Writing genius characters might sound sort of a daunting task, and it isn’t one to be taken lightly. If you can’t realistically convey the character’s genius, then your readers won't take your story seriously. a personality that's impossibly smart isn’t interesting or practical, while a personality that doesn’t properly convey how intelligent they're alleged to be isn’t getting to have the proper effect on your readers. How does one find a balance between those two extremes, and the way one write on a subject that you simply aren’t an expert in?

Contrary to what you would possibly think, you don’t need to be a genius to write down a genius character. There are many simple techniques you'll utilize to convey a character’s intelligence, albeit they're alleged to be an expert in something you barely understand. All it takes may be a little research and clever writing to form your readers to trust the brilliance of the character.

1. Avoid Stereotyping Your Character

The number one tip that I can offer you is to avoid any stereotypes. Don’t create a personality like Sheldon from the big band Theory. a sensible person doesn’t need to be socially removed (in fact, most of them tend to possess strong connections with other professionals), dorky, or hooked in to dressing well, correcting people, or taking note of serious music . Smart people are still unique individuals, so your character should reflect that with unique interests and quirks.

Just like when creating any character, you ought to not allow just one basic trait, even the foremost dominant trait, to represent the whole character. When making an intelligent character, you ought to strive to form them complex and interesting, or they risk becoming just a trope to maneuver the plot along. If you write a personality that acts during a way that folks are unacquainted just to form some extent about their intelligence, then likelihood is that your readers won’t ever connect with them emotionally.

2. Don’t Overcompensate with Vocabulary

 As a general rule, don't overdo it with the vocabulary. most of the people that use large words do so as a way of overcompensating for a scarcity of knowledge; they are doing it to sound smart because they really lack real intelligence. you'll not fool your readers in this manner .

Instead, attempt to believe your personal experiences. When was the last time you communicated personally with someone you think about a genius? they might be a professor or scholar, an accomplished entrepreneur, or somebody else . In most cases, apart from some industry jargon or scientific terms, geniuses are getting to speak like normal people.

Being intelligent isn't an equivalent as being well-spoken. Some brilliant individuals may stutter or be rather inarticulate. they'll ask objects as “thingies” or “stuff.” no matter their area of intelligence or expertise, a genius character is presumably getting to have a reasonably average vocabulary. Don’t be scared of keeping their dialogue simple, especially if they will show their intelligence through reasoning and strategy instead.

3. Never Take the straightforward Way

It might appear to be an honest idea to form the genius character seem smarter by reducing the intelligence and awareness of the opposite characters around them. don't do this; it'll never have the intended effect. instead of making the genius character seem smarter by comparison, you'll just make them appear as a totally average person surrounded by idiots. The conclusions they are available to during this quite scenario are never getting to be satisfying to your readers.

Not only does this make the “genius” character seem unremarkable, but you'll be compromising all the opposite characters within the story. Readers aren’t getting to be ready to take characters seriously if they need the reasoning abilities of youngsters . Instead, work to enhance the genius character instead of reducing the others to simpletons.

4. Know the various Breeds of Intelligence

There are many various ways in which intelligence are often expressed. Saying that a personality is just a “genius” isn't specific enough. Additionally, being considered a genius is more about other people’s perceptions and fewer about an actual quantifiable level of intelligence.

So, when creating a personality that you simply want others to perceive as a genius, you would like to make a decision how they got that reputation. Are they witty? Strategic? Well educated? Are they an expert during a particular field, like psychology, programming, or art? Are they a scholar who has spent decades building up their skills and intellect? Do they only seem to be good at whatever they attempt? Or, are they an empathetic person with a knack for understanding other people’s emotions?

5. Do Your Research

 Sometimes, you only can’t avoid having to find out new things. If it’s really important for a personality to display a deep understanding of folklore or something, then you'll got to do some research to be ready to write on the subject . which may sound daunting, but it’s okay! you've got all the time within the world to find out , so don’t desire you've got to rush.

Thankfully, you don’t got to know everything that your character knows. If they boast their knowledge on a specific topic, it are often easy to imply that the character knows more about the subject than what they're immediately talking about. If your genius character may be a historian, then don’t bother with trying to know the entire history of the planet . you only got to understand the parts of the subject that are getting to be relevant to the story.

6. Know the bounds of the Character’s Intelligence

No matter how smart your character is, they can’t know everything. the most important mistake you'll make when writing a genius character is to form them as a “jack of all trades.” If your character may be a brilliant hacker, then they probably won’t be an expert in marine biology too. Don’t be afraid to point out that the character doesn’t know everything. There are limits to everyone’s intelligence.

Being a genius isn’t about knowing everything. nobody has ever known everything. If an individual is actually intelligent, then they will learn anything they set their mind to. they will devour skills and retain knowledge easily, but they are do not know everything. there's a difference.

7. The Intelligent Perspective

When most of the people use the word “genius,” they're usually pertaining to an individual that exhibits extraordinary reasoning and observational skills. They notice things that people miss, and that they can come up with logical conclusions supported limited evidence. They observe the planet differently and may find order during a chaotic situation. Utilizing this intelligent perspective may be a good way to determine a genius character.

You’ve probably seen this system utilized in cheesy crime shows before, where a detective is in a position to work out who the killer is predicated on details the opposite characters all missed. Although that's an excellent example of how this system can fail , if utilized correctly it are often a simple thanks to set a genius character aside from the opposite characters in your story.

8. Make the Character Smarter than Your Readers (And You)

 As the writer of the story, you've got a dress up your sleeve. you've got the maximum amount time as you would like to find out and research something. you are doing not need to come up with an excellent solution on the spot like your characters do. If you would like a couple of days to return up with the right solution, then you'll set the story aside and take the time you would like . Your readers and your characters experience the story as a linear timeline, in order that they don't have an equivalent advantage of an endless amount of your time to believe things .

9. Convince Your Readers that Your Character may be a Genius

When writing a genius character, in my experience, it's just better to not ram the very fact that they’re smart down your reader’s throats. Show the character’s intelligence, rather than just having the opposite characters discuss it. It’s far more convincing and satisfying for readers to be awed by the character’s show of intellect, rather than being told before time what to expect. Sure, everyone loves an excellent old wizard, but I feel subverting expectations and showing genius in unexpected ways creates a much more interesting character dynamic.

When it involves writing genius characters, you don’t need to be a genius yourself to pull it off. you only got to have an honest strategy, and you would like to be willing to place within the work that it requires.