Five Things to Think about If You Include Rebellious Characters in Your Fiction

The PekoeBlaze blog reports:

"Let’s face it, the most memorable types of characters are the ones who don’t follow the rules. They’re the kind[s] of characters who think for [themselves] and seem to be able to get away with saying things that most people wouldn’t dare to say and doing things most people wouldn’t dare to do. Let’s face it, rebels are just a lot more memorable and compelling than ordinary and unremarkable characters...Chances are, when you read about these characters, there’s at least a small part of your soul that wishes that you were more like them. And, if you don’t 'fit in'...with the society around you in any way, then it can be refreshing to see a positively-portrayed character who doesn’t fit in...Anyway, these kind[s] of characters tend to be very slightly more common in comics than in prose fiction...but they appear in pretty much any medium which can be used to tell a story. They’re that cool. So, how do you create a character like this?...If someone is rebelling against something...then there’s usually a reason for it. So, if you’re writing a rebellious character, make sure you know why they’re rebelling. This may be due to their experiences and/or it may just be due to their personality and worldview – whatever it is, make sure you know what it is before you start your story...Creating a two-dimensional character who exists purely to rebel against things just for the sake of it may work in a comedy story or as a background character who only appears briefly, but your character will probably be fairly two-dimensional in any other context. So, if one of your main characters is a 'rebel', then you should work out why they’re rebelling against everything and you should show your readers why they’re rebelling too...Sometimes the most compelling and inspiring 'rebel' characters...They’re the ones who are more quietly subversive, the kind[s] of people who don’t fit in...They’re the kind[s] of people who have unusual interests or unorthodox lives and yet still seem to somehow survive and thrive in this stiflingly conformist world. Sometimes it might even seem like they live in their own world. In many ways, this is probably more of an introverted form of rebellion than an extroverted form of rebellion. These kinds of characters might seem a lot harder to write than more outwardly-rebellious characters, but they’re not too difficult to write. Basically, just make your character into someone who isn’t afraid to be herself or himself regardless of what anyone else thinks. It’s that simple...[Y]our character isn’t inherently rebellious just because they use a lot of four-letter words...Plus, using the same word repeatedly in your character’s dialogue can also get kind of dull and repetitive after a while...So, either save all of the best words in the English language for special occasions in your story and/or give your character’s dialogue a highly-descriptive and almost poetic feel...The best 'rebel' characters usually end up illustrating some fundamental truth or other about either the society they live in or the human condition in general. They make people question the structures, society and cultural narratives surrounding them. In other words, they’re honest characters who think...[T]hey see the world in a more honest way or they speak truths about the world that those in power would rather everyone didn’t really think about. At the same time, don’t make your 'rebel' character too heavily political either. After all, political fanatics (of all types) usually end up being as bad, despotic, flawed and/or annoying as the people they’re opposing...If you’re a lazy writer, then you’ll probably try to make your character a 'rebel' by putting them into one of the cooler subcultures in the world...Now, whilst [sic] it’s likely that your character might be drawn to these subcultures because they value independent thought and looking at the world in a slightly different way, your character will probably already have these qualities before they discover the subculture. They don’t suddenly magically become 'rebellious' just because they wear a particular type of clothes or listen to a particular type of music – all of these things should just be expressions of your character’s unique personality and not a substitute for it. If someone tries really hard to 'perfectly' fit into a subculture, then they aren’t a rebel. They’re fashionable. And fashion is the opposite of rebellion. Think about it."