Stephanie O'Brien
  • Home
    • About Stephanie
    • Privacy Policy
  • Stories
    • Novels >
      • The Silent Fugitive Series >
        • My Fugitive
        • Voice of a Silent Fugitive
        • Silent Fugitive: The Complete Series
      • Heroic Lies
      • Catgirl Roommate
    • Short Stories >
      • The Aristocrats and the Beasts
      • Upholding the Covenant
      • The Echoes In Our Heart
      • Living Through You
    • Fanfiction >
      • Undertale - Just Cause >
        • Just Cause, Chapter 2
        • Just Cause, Chapter 3
        • Just Cause, Chapter 4
        • Just Cause, Chapter 5
        • Just Cause, Chapter 6
        • Just Cause, Chapter 7
        • Just Cause, Chapter 8
        • Just Cause, Chapter 9
        • Just Cause, Chapter 10
        • Just Cause, Chapter 11
        • Just Cause, Chapter 12
        • Just Cause, Chapter 13
        • Just Cause, Chapter 14
        • Just Cause, Chapter 15
        • Just Cause, Chapter 16
        • Just Cause, Chapter 17
        • Just Cause, Chapter 18
      • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand >
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 2
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 3
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 4
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 5
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 6
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 7
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 8
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 8
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 9
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 10
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 11
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 12
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 13
        • Skyrim - Your Truth Cannot Stand, Chapter 14
      • Farscape - Means to an End
      • Don't Starve - Four Times I Begged Them
      • Avengers Endgame - Baby Pictures: How Endgame Should Have Ended
      • Subnautica Below Zero - It Will Be Okay
      • Subnautica Below Zero - Regrets of Sellswords and Scientists
      • Subnautica Below Zero - Naked Secrecy
      • Subnautica Below Zero - I Wish You Were​
      • Wakfu - Echoes of Bitter Comfort
    • Undertale Webcomic - Just Cause
  • Art & Commissions
    • Commissions
    • NFTs
    • Undertale Fan Art
    • Farscape pictures
  • Merch
    • Pride flag art
    • Abstract art
    • Symmetrical art
    • Floral art
    • Animal and People Art
    • Text Art
  • Videos
    • Art Videos
    • All Farscape Videos
    • Funny Farscape Videos
    • Peaceful Farscape Videos
    • Energetic Farscape Videos
    • Farscape Songs
    • Undertale Videos
    • Extended Songs
  • Patreon & Ko-Fi
    • Patreon
    • Ko-Fi
  • Contact
  • Blog

7 Tips for Writing Characters Who are Smarter Than You

8/12/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Writing smart characters can be hard. Especially if they're noticeably smarter or more knowledgeable than the person writing them.

To meet this challenge, some writers resort to pseudo-intelligence in an effort to make their characters seem clever.

Technobabble, long words, and inscrutable offerings of wisdom that don't actually mean jack are all classic fallbacks.

Unfortunately, they're also rather unconvincing ones, at least in my mind.

So how do you CONVINCINGLY write a character who's mentally brilliant?
Here are a few methods I've seen that really worked, some of which I've used in my own writing:

1. Making accurate deductions from fleetingly mentioned facts


If a fact is prominently mentioned and clearly emphasized, it's easy for the audience to realize that it's obviously relevant.

​When this happens, the reader will pay more attention to this fact, and might very well make the needed deductions before the characters do, thus making the cast look slow instead of smart.

But when a character can notice and remember things that the narrative mentions only in passing, and form accurate deductions from them, it shows that they're a highly observant individual who notices things that ​others don't, and who can use the data they collect more effectively than the people around them.

Picture
You see, but you do not observe. I, on the other hand...
Personally, I find this technique to be at its most convincing when a lot of the data is stuff that the average person COULD notice and draw conclusions from, but DOESN'T.

Obscure knowledge can make a character look smart, but it's also easy to falsify - at least until your readers check Google. Above-average use of readily available knowledge, however, proves itself immediately, and it also makes me admire the character more because they put it all together so quickly.

2. Thinking of tactical considerations that the audience hasn't thought of

The story is nearing a battle scene. You're pretty sure you know what the characters are going to do, at least at the outset of the fight - after all, no plan survives first contact.

But then a character stands up and says, "Due to these attributes of our enemy's abilities, this aspect of the terrain, and these powers that our team has, why don't we do it this way instead?" And I find myself thinking, Why didn't I think of that?

As with #1, this is most effective when the data they're using is available to everyone. When a character draws a conclusion from information that was never mentioned, it feels more like a deus ex machina or a cheat than clever cred fairly earned.

But when a character can look at the same information I'm looking at, and come up with plans and strategies that are better than the ones I thought of, then I am genuinely impressed.

3. Defeat is all part of the plan

​Any character can use victory to their advantage. But when their enemies defeat them, only to discover that the defeat itself was part of their plan, THEN you know that it's time to start taking that character seriously. If you weren't already.


Picture
It's bad enough that you let him let you jail him. Don't give him that phone call.
Even if the defeat wasn't part of the original plan, if the character can adapt and take advantage of it, it's still a credit to their cleverness and flexibility.

4. Extreme multitasking

Farscape's Stark looks, sounds, and acts like his brain has been badly fried. Given his backstory, it arguably has been.

But as the following bit of dialogue reveals, underneath the surface of that fractured mind, he has mental capabilities beyond the limits of normal people.

Accomplice 1: "How will I know when to start burning the generator?"

Stark: "I TOLD YOU! We'll all be on a silent count for the entire battle!"

Accomplice 2: "A silent count? While we're fighting?"

Stark: "Yes! It's easy!"


Obviously, keeping an accurate silent count during a firefight is not easy. Unless, of course, you have the ability to follow multiple trains of thought simultaneously, and to do so effectively, even if one of them is hard and complex.

So if a character can do this, even if they aren't that smart in other areas, they clearly have a pretty powerful brain.

5. Predicting other characters' actions

Some characters have a hard time figuring out what they are going to do next, never mind everybody else.

And then there are the characters who have other people figured out so well that they know what those people are going to do before the people themselves decide.

Their opponents think they're being clever, only to discover that every move they made was already factored in, and both they and the audience realize that they're dealing with a genius.

​6. Thinking fast

Almost any reasonably smart character can solve a complex problem, come up with a clever strategy, or put the facts together into a deduction if they're given enough time.

But when a character can do it in the time it takes for a glass to fall or an opponent to reach for their weapon, you know you're looking at a very sharp mind.

Picture

​7. Having a big, long list of good reasons

Some characters make an important or crazy decision on a hunch, and look like they're either intuitive, crazy, or blessed by cheating plot gods.

Some characters have one or two good reasons, and most of the cast and audience is convinced.

Then there are the characters who have a list of reasons as long as their arm.

​They can name every single one of the problems that their crazy action solves, the benefits it provides, the reasons why the alternatives aren't as good, and the long-term advantages to doing things their way.

When a character can justify their actions that thoroughly, they may risk coming across as a windbag, but it definitely shows that they've thought their decision through.

What makes YOU think a character is smart?

Do you have any tips to share about writing smart characters?
​Feel free to share your ideas in the comments!
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    Stephanie is the author of My Fugitive, Voice of a Silent Fugitive, Heroic Lies, and Catgirl Roommate, as well as the artist behind the Undertale webcomic Just Cause.

    This blog often updates with new stories and artwork, so please keep checking in!

    Categories

    All
    Art
    Art Tips
    Behind The Scenes
    Comic Dubs
    Don't Starve
    Excerpt
    Fan Art
    Fanfiction
    Farscape
    Flash Fiction
    Humor
    Interactive
    Just Cause
    Madoka Magica
    MCU
    Music
    Music Videos
    Observations And Opinions
    Other People's Blog Posts
    Personal Stories
    Poetry
    Print On Demand
    Reviews
    Romance Writing Tips
    Special Opportunities
    Subnautica
    The Elder Scrolls
    Underfell
    Undertale Fan Art
    Updates About My Novels
    Videos
    Wakfu
    Works In Progress
    Writing Tips

    Archive

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly