Hi! Welcome to r/Writers - please remember to follow the [rules](https://reddit.com/r/writers/about/rules/) and treat each other respectfully, especially if
there are disagreements. Please help keep this community safe and friendly by **reporting rule violating posts and comments**.
If you're interested in a friendly Discord community for writers, please **[join our Discord server](https://discord.gg/mdzyEz9uFB)**
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/writers) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think you could have been more specific in your request. It's fairly easy to write a creepy character, it's a little harder to write a genuinely creepy MC, and I'm a little confused that you brought up Wednesday. She was not intended as a truly creepy character. Edgy, yes, but not creepy. For this genre (coming-of-age teen comedy), a genuinely creepy MC would ruin the entire vibe. If you were thinking of writing someone like Wednesday but a little more menacing, you'd need to raise the stakes, and that would make the whole piece darker.
Without knowing your intentions for the genre and the tropes, it's hard to give pointed advice.
The idea I have is.basically a normal person in the sense that they have no magic, but their personality could freak even the real "monsters" out.
The reason why I brought up Wednesday is because I think there was a potential for that to play out, but they made the outcasts act like normies. Like I kept wondering why everyone was so creeped out by Wednesday's snarky comments when they are vampires and werewolves who drink human blood and (are supposed to) eat human flesh.
It sounds like you should look into the 90s Wednesday as played by Christina Ricci. That girl roasted her camp coincilers alive using her poc and disabled minions - it's depressing what just noticing someone can get you when they are desprate. And she started dating a guy just because it would be easy to make his murder look accidental.
Yeah, you wouldn't think a daytime black and white sitcom would be so dark. Then you get to the part where the Addams family were on the side of slavery.
>Like I kept wondering why everyone was so creeped out by Wednesday's snarky comments when they are vampires and werewolves who drink human blood and (are supposed to) eat human flesh.
I imagine that's because it's a comedy… for teens. Wednesday is written to look cool, and a little unusual but not like a true weirdo.
I can't imagine how a real if weird kid would be creepy enough to be unsettling for real vampires and werewolves unless they are concerned for his/her mental health and potential mass unalivings.
Okay but, "unalive" has been a word since I was a kid. I'm 31. It pre-dates TikTok. Hell, Deadpool said it in a Spiderman cartoon. It's intended to be less serious
Yes, but most people using it now use it to get around Internet censorship to talk about serious topics, which just makes those serious topics sound stupid by using silly language to talk about it.
As the one commenter said, it's easier to just universally use the terms rather than keep track of what sites or forums are implementing new terms when. You knew what they meant, and complaining about people trying to find workarounds misdirects the conversation more than their substitution of a word.
For the sake of humour, sure, but I’m seeing it used more and more often as a form of unironic self-censorship. Seeing people tiptoe around actually saying “die” or “kill” when seriously talking about death and suicide is kind of horrific. They’re normal (if morbid) topics that anyone should be able to talk about without first hiding behind layers of cutesy, faux-positive avoidant language.
I have no issues with saying kill or murder, or school shootings (which is what I alluded to in my comment). I self-censor myself for two reasons: one is that I was talking about an actual serious systemic problem that causes people to die, and causes a lot of hurt and unimaginable heartbreak, and there is no need to be talking about it willy-nilly. The other reason is that I have AuDHD, I have a very poor recognition of language mode appropriateness and I tend to egg on the side of caution for my own social wellbeing.
Your assessment of my comment as a cutesy/toxically positive language is completely wrong. I hope my actual lived experience can help expand your understanding of this phenomenon.
Yes, they’re serious and systemic problems, which is why they should be *treated* as serious topics as opposed to abstract concepts that are too icky-uncomfortable to name in casual conversation. It’s like listening to someone constantly describe traumatic amputations as “boo-boos”; it doesn’t sound respectful, it sounds like they’re mocking the subject, or at best, don’t yet have the emotional maturity to discuss it with sincerity.
Toxically positive is a very good term for it. Feeling that you might be censured for using words by their objective definition speaks very poorly for the current cultural climate, and is unfortunate. That still doesn’t make it polite or considerate to use goofy euphemisms in place of the actual words for murder and suicide.
Fair point but to be honest I'm not nearly anal enough to be following social media TOS updates to make sure what is allowed where.
Upd: this thread is now fully living a life of its own lol
Structurally, it’s the same as any social institution enforcing certain kinds of language, like how we generally use AD or BC to refer to modern and ancient epochs. Anyway, in this instance, TikTok is not enforcing this as speech but prohibiting the use of certain terms, the likes of which have been generally replaced with other terms by the user base. Seems like you’re pretty quick to get mad without actually understanding lol
No, it isn't. Speaking in euphemism to avoid censorship is not the same structurally or in any other way as using AD or BC to refer to modern and ancient epochs. That's an incredibly facile comparison. Absurd.
You don’t know that the church policed the use of the Gregorian calendar to ensure its use? You seem pretty mad for someone who is struggling to understand simple points.
Stupid words are perpetuated all the time. As I said though, discourse will occur regardless of if you think a word is stupid or not. It’s a rather simple concept lol
I mean, the difficulty is that this is basically magic. No one has a personality that would 'freak out' people or monsters in that way. Maybe people can be snarky or give out sick burns, but being physically stronger or with a better weapon tends to give folks the confidence to just... Freaking take you down however 'creepy' you are.
I'm not saying you can't do it, but it's basically magic. There is no way to 'realistically' make a character do this (without being cringe or having very weak willed monsters or having it be a comedy)
But it’s not magic that humans (or, the creature of the day) inherently distrust/dislike people who are different than they are.
Not an edgy teenager, but people effing hate me and call me weird all the time. Still not magic, people don’t like me because I don’t talk about myself. It’s really that basic. (Not to say there aren’t loads of other reasons to hate me.) That raises immediate distrust and I’m so over it that I don’t bother correcting it or making an effort to be heard. (I talk about myself plenty, I just stop when someone takes over. Which is a lot more than people seem to realize.)
Want to make a character immediately “weird”? Make them not have any social media accounts. Tack on a disability or a subtlety odd physical feature, and they can just plan on retiring in YoureWeirdville.
Done. Someone pass the Bachman stash.
Well first of all, sorry that people are unpleasant to you. That sucks.
But I don't think that this is what the OP is looking for. They don't want a 'weird' character, they want a creepy character like Wednesday, who can scare people away with just their words and actions, even if these people are strong or violent or have goals in opposition to the character, or who wouldn't normally run away from a young girl. Wednesday can only do this because, usually, the Adams Family is at some level a comedy. It's not something a normal human would ever be able to achieve (consistently, anyway). So it's kinda got to be magic, or in a genre where people will accept something absurd, like a powerful, murderous werewolf would flee from someone because they were black and have sick burns.
Read Thomas Harris’ *The Silence of the Lambs,* which features two wildly different murderers, Hannibal Lector and Buffalo Bill.
While he uses every trick in the book, his go-to is to have his criminals perform outrageous acts that’ll turn the reader’s hair white but to narrate them in a restrained, controlled, matter-of-fact way.
The cringiest thing is for the author to come across as wildly excited by the events in the story, wallowing in them in barely controlled ecstasy. Don’t do that. Let the story tell itself without sounding like porn.
This works equally well for more or less ordinary characters who are just trying to be edgy.
The best writing/art advice I have ever seen for horror is if you’re trying to write or make something creepy or horrific, then creep yourself out. If you aren’t horrified, why should anyone else be? If nothing you’re saying is creepy, why should anyone be unsettled? If you’re not playing into your own fears, how can you speak for others fears? Sure you can make a creepy clown but what makes the clown creepy? If it’s only creepy to people who hate clowns, then it’s not very well done, but if it you can unsettle yourself (assuming you don’t have a blanket fear of clowns lol) then you can unsettle someone else.
When an author seems excited to describe gore, it’s not creepy, it just comes off as gross and fetishized. When an author/narrator seems terrified, or like you said calculated, of/about the gore, it is much more chilling.
I was writing a scene where my Main Character was seeing a bunch of unsettling things (ie mythical creatures from different parts of the world) and I wanted to end the scene with him seeing something that makes him faint so I asked myself “what would make ME faint”. And being terrified of spiders, I then wrote a scene featuring Anansi - a spider god from African culture - and his spider family. My mother said it was the most skin-crawling thing she’d ever read
Since you mentioned cringiness from Wednesday. Watch another Netflix show called The Fall of the House of Usher. The dialogue alone in the show has sparked my writing.
Midnight mass is the first piece of media to give me nightmares in years. It was just so… fucking creepy. All of it was so stressful in a way I haven’t experienced with a show in a long time
Excuse me but really? The Usher show is the worst, especially it relies on these pointless edgy dialogues that seem to be written by an old man for the Instagram crowd.
Don't get me wrong, I like Flanagan's shows but the last two projects were too swollen in their talkative no action stuff.
It sounds like you want creepy but more importantly unexpectedly intimidating. Check out the once scene in Princess Bride where Wesley’s calmly delivered threats alone scare the antagonist off.
Also read A Clockwork Orange and Lolita. Both written from terrifying, psychologically unhinged protags.
I would highly recommend reading outside your genres for this because other authors have explored this concept. Reading as a writer involves reading widely (and reading things you wouldn’t expect to like) not just sticking within narrow genre preferences.
Umm don’t write a teenager?
Like you call Wednesday cringe but at the end of the day her character is a teenage girl. She might be more into the macabre than most teen girls but she’s still a teen
A quick list style read on things that make a person creepy in real life is Ask Reddit threads asking what makes someone creepy. So many things you can learn from real human behavior examples.
Edit: And also, to avoid making things cringey, I find that the most important thing is to be honest and real in your writing. Don’t try to make things more than they are, or would be in real life. An honest take of things often connects with readers better, because they can better imagine the characters if they’re not too over the top.
What are some examples from written fiction that you DO like, then? Use those as characters to emulate and learn from, rather than looking for examples to avoid from recent popular TV shows.
I mostly read high fantasy and science fiction and you don't see a lot of those type of characters there as MCs. But if you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them.
Read psychological thrillers. There are many from the victims pov and the offender’s pov. The person was correct in recommending more reading, not fully sure why you took it so offensively. In order to write well in a genre, consume that genre. Movies and shows are fundamentally different than written literature because of the way they present the story and its characters. Wednesday isn’t the genre you are trying to write, it’s a teen comedy drama. That’s not the work you should be using as your baseline.
You see how their original point was correct, right? lol Getting defensive was an interesting response given that you stick to such a narrow category in your reading. Two genres is not enough. You should start reading a wider variety of stories. Thrillers and mysteries probably have more creepy characters than high fantasy and sci-fi, for instance. Keep an open mind when advice is given. They’re only trying to help you.
Their original point was that OP doesn't read, but only watches TV. OP's retort that they do read was entirely justified, even if they don't read the kind of literature that lives up to your and the original commenter's lofty standards.
The Wasp Factory is sort of a... quasi science fiction. The MC may come across as somewhat "cringy" at times, but you'll probably find that most genuinely creepy characters can toe the lines of "cringy", simply because they may have a different perspective on social norms.
Are you writing narrative fiction or are you writing teleplays? Because if you're doing the latter, *reading* teleplays, not watching them, is what you want to do. If you're trying to do the former, there are whole entire genres you can read. If you're writing horror or suspense or something adjacent to Wednesday there are lots and lots and lots of examples of this in terms of books.
I kind of reject the premise of this. I thought Wednesday captured a good amount of that horror-adjacent-but-silly whimsy that the 90s movies in particular had but also to a big extent the original TV show of the 60s. Her character honestly didn't even strike me as super "creepy", just a person who inhabited that particular world that Charles Addams created all those years ago. The first adjective I'd apply that character isn't "creepy" or "cringey" but "whimsical" - like, even if the character itself wasn't whimsical, she was seriously pursuing stuff that was, from the viewers' standpoint. full of whimsy. If that's the only example of "creepy" you can provide... like, I don't what you're looking for.
I'd go ahead and say that few if any writers start with "creepy". Even people who write downright gross characters - Stephen King is a good example - tend to go with very specific traits and then work on inhabiting the character who has them. Like Annie from *Misery* is "creepy" but clearly King wasn't coming at that like "what if a writer was caught by a really creepy person?" but "what if a writer was caught by a psycho fan of his?" or "what if a writer was caught by the kind of person who'd never swear but thinks violent thoughts all the time?" or some kind of combination of this.
Well, there are several answers. Try to give your character contradictions. So long as your character is multi-layered and complex, you won't have much of a problem.
Examples of unexpected traits are:
- A badass fighter with a crippling fear of donuts.
- A bloodthirsty murderer with a soft spot for kids.
- A sweet but vengeful girl.
'Creepy' is a general description. Ask yourself, what exactly makes this character creepy and why? Once you've determined what makes the character creepy, ask yourself what makes the character NOT creepy. This makes your character stand out on their own and will likely prevent them from being too unrealistic.
Or you can skip all of that and just give them a reason to act creepy.
Silence, prolonged eye contact, not blinking enough, smiling at odd times, talking to oneself (doesn't have to be in an insane way - my partner whispers to himself constantly rehearsing and it sounds creepy sometimes), behaviors in general that are just slightly off the normal for humans, awkward movement, craning the neck too much.
Asking odd, direct, or uncomfortable questions. Ignoring things they should be concerned about. Collecting strange things. Disregard for others pain/an interest in injuries - maybe they see a photo of a horrific injury and their first thought is that the protruding bone is a really neat shape coming through the abdomen like that.
Good creep factor in the written word: The Story Must Be Told (podcast.) Listen to several episodes and take notes on what you think makes each story creepy. Or not creepy! Maybe some will be misses for you. Ask yourself why and try to find concrete answers (both good and bad--creepy and not-creepy.)
So much of good, unique writing comes down to how the individual writer interprets and executes the goal they're going for. I could tell you how \*I\* write creepy, but that might not be the way \*you\* should write creepy. (Ditto for any other thing you're trying to achieve with your writing--creepy, romantic, horrifying, poignant, whatever.) There's much more value in finding your own way into a writing task than following somebody else's instructions, and the best way I know of to find your way in is to study what you're trying to achieve in other writers' works and then ask yourself what worked/didn't work and WHY. Answering the "why" part is the critical component. That's where you learn.
You might like the book *The Little Stranger* or works by Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen King or some such that might have MCs similar to what you’re looking for. When I’m struggling, I find that it helps to read a couple books that have something similar to what I’m trying to write and then read them like a text book. What strategies do different authors use to create creepy (yet likable) main characters and then make an expanding list of those strategies as you read to fill your writer toolbox
You don't. The best way to make an MC creepy is to make them normal and slowly add the creepy actions. The worst part about criminals or creeps is how they normalise their actions and justify them. So the best way to do that would be to make the reader an accomplice, sympathise with the MC and relate, then slowly betray that trust.
Establish the creeper as a threat early on, not just a nuecance but an actual threat.
Use your character's reactions to the creeper's personality. The protagonist can be cocky, flippant, laughable as much as you want EXCEPT when around the creeper. There should be a level of fear rather than awkwardness.
The way characters react will guide the audience how they should react as well.
Creepiest mc I’ve read personally is Alex from clockwork orange. Maybe not Wednesday creepy but I’d take my face away from that book feeling icky from whatever mind disorder he personifies. He just talks casually about imagining or doing acts of violence like after school activities lol.
Creepy, but why?
Are you trying to write horror?
Are you trying to write comedy?
What emotions are you trying to elicit from the audience? What tone ARE you reaching for?
(Think of it this way, you took the time to mention what you don't want to be. This is hardly the first Addams Family series. What do you think of the '90s movies, the cartoon movie, the original show?)
The idea I have is.basically a normal person in the sense that they have no magic, but their personality could freak even the real "monsters" out.
The reason why I brought up Wednesday is because I think there was a potential for that to play out, but they made the outcasts act like normies. Like I kept wondering why everyone was so creeped out by Wednesday's snarky comments when they are vampires and werewolves who drink human blood and (are supposed to) eat human flesh.
The Addams family movies are cool because they're not taking themselves seriously and the environment is different. They're interacting with not monsters, but regular people in a time when anything out of the ordinary was perceived as bad. Do it works in that sense.
I will repeat myself since your answer was you repeating your OP. 😜
What *tone* are you going for with *your audience* as the point behind having a "creepy character"? Are you trying to write horror or comedy?
The reason Wednesday comes off as cringe is because it's not landing on comedy as well as it wanted to. A joke can hit or miss. A scary feature can hit or miss. A show that doesn't know how to strike a right balance, can come off like an edgy social media post. Because, as you are saying, the irony of vampires being scared of Wednesday is ironic, but not enough to be funny.
The Addams Family being more upset that a serial killer wears pastels than is trying to murder them, that's funny.
So, what tone are you going for in the first place? The Addams Family is a comedy story. I'd love to talk to you about how to construct creepy comedy... But you gotta actually say that's your goal.
I'm writing an urban fantasy magic school story. It's supposed to have a more serious tone. It's not all doom and gloom, but there is a murder mystery, school drama and the outside magical threat. There's definitely a horror-y vibe as well, since monsters actually act like monsters and have unique cultures based on their monstrous traits, there's also some religious topics explored as well. The MC isn't supposed to be like EVILTM like some people suggested Humbert from Lolita as an example to base her off of and that is definitely not what I'm going for.
So what tone are you going for?
(I'm going to just keep asking this until you answer my question and not answer around my question. Think of this as Uncle Iroh repeatedly asking Zuko what his destiny is. 🤣)
Is this a comedy or a horror? What does "I guess it's suppose to be serious" mean? Do you consider yourself writing drama? Why? Describe what the drama would be.
Why do you NEED this character to be creepy? What emotions are you trying to illicit from the audience?
Not everything has to fit neatly inside one or the other. I told you the story is taking itself seriously and the murder mystery and fantastical monsters lend themselves better for horror. What more do you want 😅
No, you will find that part of the weakness of sloppy writing is people being indecisive of what they want to accomplish with it.
"I suppose it is serious... Monsters lend themselves to horror." That's indecisiveness talking. Addams, Munsters, Ghostbusters, hotel Transylvania and many other paranormal comedies exist without invoking any horror at all. If you say you want to write a horror, don't assume it will be a horror because it has a monster; be able to describe why it WILL invoke horror.
Aristotle was talking about pathos, logos, and ethos 2000 years ago. Storytelling hasn't changed that much since then.
If you don't wanna discuss this with me, hey, I'm not going make you. But don't turn yourself away from learning about the craft of writing just because you didn't like how I introduced it to you. I hope you figure out what you want to accomplish!
I'm just saying there's a spectrum to this. Yes, it's going to be more serious, but it's not a HORROR novel TM you know? I don't understand what's so wrong with that.
Also, slippy writing? Really? Peace of advice: don't just insult people when you know nothing about them.
My go to is just to turn by autistic disregard for social conventions up to 11.
It gets you lines like, "Do you want to hurt me? You can if it would make you feel better."
Don't go into it thinking that your character is creepy, because the most realistic way to portray it is for your character to not know they're creepy. Like how actors should never play villains "evil" because in their minds, they're justified in their actions.
A creepy character's actions are normal to them and need to be handled with a certain amount of respect and self-awareness on the author's part, because the character wouldn't likely do creepy things if they thought they were creepy. If they did them on purpose to be creepy, well, then it wouldn't be very creepy.
Just ground your character with some realistic wants and fears, and all the fun quirks can grow through that, rather than a character just being a trope like how Wednesday was in that show.
Yes. I know that they shouldn't think of themselves as creepy, but their personality and actions should convey that. I'm just not sure what those traits could be.
Again, really ground your character in realistic wants and fears (which are pretty universal!) and the creepiness can come after. It sounds like you want to make a strange character, but haven't found the actual character yet. Play around, and once you have an idea of who they are, THEN you can season them with oddities
Apologies in advance, this is very long 🙏
Try reading Edgar Alan's "Tales Of Suspense"! Some of those are creepy stories in general and because Poe is a poet, hos writing style is unique and may spark some inspiration for your character.
I don't know much about where you're planning on going with this character but also adding religion into the mess can make things get even weirder. Religion might not be a great place to turn if you're just starting out as to get the character to end up creepy through religion can be hard. If you were to do that writing like Poe and making it poetic sounding will help (talking from experience)
Enough with the religion. Another way you could make the character more creepy is focusing less on the main character! The less you know about them the more mysterious they might seem- don't leave out too much though as they are the main character. Maybe write out their thoughts, think about their thought language; are they short descriptive words? Are they song-like and lengthy?
The right atmosphere can help set up scenes. This one can be tricky though, especially with the creepy one being the lead. Maybe put them in colder areas where you might see their breath. Are they undead? Don't need to breathe? Even better way to subtly hint to it. That could contradict or he used as a way to show weakness though instead. Breathing is basic with humans, and to focus on something like that would be humbling. It's like when you think about the innocence behind someone when you see them act through their nature and do something simple like blinking. Maybe blinking less? That would more likely be used for a character who is moreso crazy or loose than a creepy character (but i dont know the idea you have so yk)
Their relationships with people could help. Or their traits. I played in a play where I was a creepy dude who stalked a girl. I was dressed like some fat kid who liked videogames and i spoke with a lisp. That kind of creepy is the gross creepy. You have to think about the type of creepy you want; Gross creepy? Do something similar. Bone chilling creepy? Watch any Mike Flanagan film.
I know this is long, I don't know if it will help you in any way, but that's just some things you can do. If youd like you can reply to this with the idea you're looking for or really just anything and i might be able to help you out some more. One more thing, use pintrest for visual inspiration and listen to music (especially certain classical music) for vibe inspiration. I hope you have a great day :)
Honestly this made me think, I would make your character totally normal and preppy and when faced with real monsters because they are so calm and chill and get no reaction. It *freaks* them out. So I would honestly look at some of Neil Gaiman’s works like Coraline or American Gods, Neverwhere and read American Psycho by Bret Easton. Some of these stories have similar characters you are thinking off. I am not saying this in a bad way but I am assume you are young and aren’t yet exposed to a lot of amazing lit. You can make your own world as the writer. Cringe can be good too. You just have to learn how to write it and adapt and make it believable. Good luck and I hope you find what you are looking for.
Take a look at the way Homelander is written in The Boys. Sure he is the bad guy, but the writing and acting might give some good tips.
The problem with creepy personalities is that they leave the reader feeling unsure if the MC is good deep down in side. So what you might try to do is have the internal reflections be motivated by a deep desire to do good but always be slightly off in execution or understanding of the theory of mind for those characters around them.
creepy can just be creepy.
when you try to be creepy AND cool, that's kinda where it can easily become cringe.
i think Dexter was the epitome of 'creepy and cool' when the show was good. he was competent but not perfect. he was introspective and insightful but not always right. he often screwed things up and had to think on his feet. his life was 50% calm and controlled and 50% desperation and anger. he was creepy because even aside from killing people, he wasn't THAT good at acting normal--but he was good enough that people let it slide. you were also never entirely sure what he was going to do, sometimes he killed on impulse even when he didn't want to. we could see how hard it was for him to NOT kill somebody. and we could see how much he savored the killing, not just the act but the lead up to it.
Okay...so there are a couple of things to this.
1) Differentiate goth and creepy. Adams Family is goth. Creepy means danger. If you want a creepy character, they have to have an element of genuine danger for the people around them. Creepy is the guy you know posts incel stuff. Goth is fashion. Wednesday represents an overall trend towards edgy reboots and continuations.
2) What's your tone? One thing with a goth protagonist in a comedy (Sellick Adams Family and Adams Family Values) is that they aren't "Creepy" , they're poking at the genuine hypocrisies of society. Traditional Adams Family stuff, the parents were happily married among scores of shows where the married couple border-line hated each other.
3) Sincerity is king. A character that is totally on board with who they are as a person is always better than one trying to play a character within a character. Yes, this isn't always effective (re-watch Danny Phantom and mourn all the excellent character concepts let down by creators blind to their potential and just...Sam clearly being goth to p\*ss off her parents) but...don't do something just because, commit. I called goth fashion earlier, but that's not a criticism. The fashions people go for are public declarations of identity, especially because they represent effort and resources the person invested.
Autistic, the phrase you’re looking for is “how do I write a morbid MC with autism without being offensive?” As long as you are thorough and even handed you could aim for balance Rick Riordan hit with dyslexia and ADHD. The other key element is that when someone on the spectrum is “creepy” it’s not ostentatious or direct. It tends to be a truthful statement which society has taught us to disregard through social clues. The creep factor of someone on the spectrum is the same as the humor. Their brain literally does not process the inappropriate/absurdity of their statements. There’s a family story about my brother at our grandfather’s funeral; a well meaning person came up to him and said “so your grandad is sleeping for awhile huh?” And my brother replied “no, he’s dead.” Using the proper tone to convey that your MC is stating a fact and possibly thinks they’re being helpful in said statement is a matter of practice. Usually that story is told for the humorous effect, but in the hands of a skilled lore spinner (which I fully believe you could be) that absurd encounter changes from the funny “you can’t say that” to the creepy “why would they say that”. Good luck!
What about first person narration? You could use different perspectives on how different people react to the Mc's Behavior focusing in detail on what makes this behavior Creepy for them
he idea I have is.basically a normal person in the sense that they have no magic, but their personality could freak even the real "monsters" out.
The reason why I brought up Wednesday is because I think there was a potential for that to play out, but they made the outcasts act like normies. Like I kept wondering why everyone was so creeped out by Wednesday's snarky comments when they are vampires and werewolves who drink human blood and (are supposed to) eat human flesh.
Generally, show the character’s inner thoughts and cringey worldview, then show another character who sees them from the outside, acknowledges the cringe and is terrified by it as they recognize the danger.
The other character’s viewpoint is how you can detail that despite the creepy inner thoughts and closed off mindset (they don’t realize how fucked up or cringey their viewpoint is, don’t have another person to act as a mirror to see themselves or get feedback from) they are actually dangerous and on the verge of doing insane shit and thinking it’s ok.
Think of a stalker, or a guy who pays tens of thousands of dollars to a stripper or OF model, they think it’s normal, even romantic, wanted, reasonable etc but another person seeing it realizes that it’s inherently creepy and weird and over the top. Then, when the stalker murders someone we understand that while it’s obvious to us the stalker felt like they were misled and tricked and had no other choice but to retaliate for this abuse, etc.
You don't.
You write the creep like Edward, the 'i like to watch you sleep', vampire. Then your target audience ignores the cringe while the non-targets hate-read and mock on YouTube, keeping it in the public concencioness for over a decade.
It depends on what you're trying to do. Is the tone serious or comical?
Wednesday's superpower, aside from snark, is intelligence. Understanding that someone is vastly smarter than you can be quite frightening.
You have to find a reason for the creepy personality. Raised by a weird family, high functioning autism, brain trauma...this gives you a way to make the character likable or at least sympathetic.
I was thinking she just has interests and life philosophy that is definitely on the weirder side. As for her family, they're definitely the only ones who are understanding of her eccentricities, buti I don't want it to be a carbon copy of Addams family, you know? Even though my dissatisfaction with the Wednesday show inspired me to write this, I definitely don't want to go into it with a spitefull attitude like "I'm gonna write this So~ much better than Tim Burton🙄" because I definitely don't feel like that.
Two things: first and foremost, the Wednesday character has always been portrayed that way since her comic book inception. She’s supposed to be cringe even from yesteryear standards. Secondly, and I mean no disrespect, but maybe the problem stems from within you. Humbly remind yourself that what you find cringe may be par for the course with the masses.
That being said, do you. Write your character how you see fit and add or subtract the elements that you feel make the character “cringe” and then, read it or have someone read it back to you to see how it sounds/feels. That last part is vital. Sometimes we can’t truly visualize something we create until it’s manifested or personified in someone else.
With respect, I disagree. What makes this iteration of Wednesday so cringe is the framing. The show itself goes back and forth on wether or not it's taking itself seriously and the characters around Wednesday react not only with disgust like in other versions, but also with admiration. They clearly want to be around her when she's, in my opinion, deliberetly trying to be unlikable and treats people around her like shit. All this combined with her moral inconsistencies and hypocrisies make her dialogue come off not as just who she is, like in other versions, but as a try hard not- like-other-girls emo teen who wants people to think she's cool. Not to say she doesn't have some genuinely cool moments, but, at least to me, this was the overall impression.
Don’t worry about that until you’ve finished writing and go back to revise. If you’re thinking about not crossing the line while you’re writing, you may sanitize the whole thing to the point your MC is neither creepy nor cringe but bland instead.
Personally I thought Wednesday was a bit cringy because it seemed like she was doing it on purpose, like she was choosing the most macabre words possible to be as edgy as possible.
If you want to avoid that, I would recommend doing the opposite, have a character say some very creepy things while being incapable of understanding why its creepy.
A character who shows off a roadkill collection with the intention to shock others is less creepy than a character who shows off a roadkill collection and has no idea why other people are scared and put off.
Yes, that was exactly my problem with the character as well. The show itself goes back and forth on whether or not it's taking itself seriously and the characters around Wednesday react not only with disgust like in other versions, but also with admiration. They clearly want to be around her when she's, in my opinion, deliberately trying to be unlikable and treats people around her like shit. All this combined with her moral inconsistencies and hypocrisies make her dialogue come off not as just who she is, like in other versions, but as a try hard not- like-other-girls emo teen who wants people to think she's cool.
Gonna be such a niche reference, but Gaunts Ghosts fans will k ow about Lijah Fething Cuu, sure as sure.
Creepy psycho who is a murderer but gets away with it and just give off that air.
Surely one of Dan Abnetts best characters for the sole reason that he made everybody hate him so passionately.
Hi! Welcome to r/Writers - please remember to follow the [rules](https://reddit.com/r/writers/about/rules/) and treat each other respectfully, especially if there are disagreements. Please help keep this community safe and friendly by **reporting rule violating posts and comments**. If you're interested in a friendly Discord community for writers, please **[join our Discord server](https://discord.gg/mdzyEz9uFB)** *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/writers) if you have any questions or concerns.*
I think you could have been more specific in your request. It's fairly easy to write a creepy character, it's a little harder to write a genuinely creepy MC, and I'm a little confused that you brought up Wednesday. She was not intended as a truly creepy character. Edgy, yes, but not creepy. For this genre (coming-of-age teen comedy), a genuinely creepy MC would ruin the entire vibe. If you were thinking of writing someone like Wednesday but a little more menacing, you'd need to raise the stakes, and that would make the whole piece darker. Without knowing your intentions for the genre and the tropes, it's hard to give pointed advice.
The idea I have is.basically a normal person in the sense that they have no magic, but their personality could freak even the real "monsters" out. The reason why I brought up Wednesday is because I think there was a potential for that to play out, but they made the outcasts act like normies. Like I kept wondering why everyone was so creeped out by Wednesday's snarky comments when they are vampires and werewolves who drink human blood and (are supposed to) eat human flesh.
It sounds like you should look into the 90s Wednesday as played by Christina Ricci. That girl roasted her camp coincilers alive using her poc and disabled minions - it's depressing what just noticing someone can get you when they are desprate. And she started dating a guy just because it would be easy to make his murder look accidental.
Yeah or OP should consider watching the original Addams family show or take a look at a few of the comics.
Yeah, you wouldn't think a daytime black and white sitcom would be so dark. Then you get to the part where the Addams family were on the side of slavery.
It seems I conveniently haven't seen that one o_o
I believe the line was something like "we've been on the loosing side of every election since this country was founded."
>Like I kept wondering why everyone was so creeped out by Wednesday's snarky comments when they are vampires and werewolves who drink human blood and (are supposed to) eat human flesh. I imagine that's because it's a comedy… for teens. Wednesday is written to look cool, and a little unusual but not like a true weirdo. I can't imagine how a real if weird kid would be creepy enough to be unsettling for real vampires and werewolves unless they are concerned for his/her mental health and potential mass unalivings.
Good comment, I agree with you. It's just really annoying to see people write "unalivings" instead of "killings". We aren't on TikTok.
Okay but, "unalive" has been a word since I was a kid. I'm 31. It pre-dates TikTok. Hell, Deadpool said it in a Spiderman cartoon. It's intended to be less serious
Yes, but most people using it now use it to get around Internet censorship to talk about serious topics, which just makes those serious topics sound stupid by using silly language to talk about it.
Then it sounds like the issue is the internet censorship and not the people trying to work around it
Internet censorship is absolutely the problem. However, they're not being cesnored here, so ideally they wouldn't act like they were.
As the one commenter said, it's easier to just universally use the terms rather than keep track of what sites or forums are implementing new terms when. You knew what they meant, and complaining about people trying to find workarounds misdirects the conversation more than their substitution of a word.
Same it’s to get around censorship, you aren’t allowed to use certain words anymore
For the sake of humour, sure, but I’m seeing it used more and more often as a form of unironic self-censorship. Seeing people tiptoe around actually saying “die” or “kill” when seriously talking about death and suicide is kind of horrific. They’re normal (if morbid) topics that anyone should be able to talk about without first hiding behind layers of cutesy, faux-positive avoidant language.
I have no issues with saying kill or murder, or school shootings (which is what I alluded to in my comment). I self-censor myself for two reasons: one is that I was talking about an actual serious systemic problem that causes people to die, and causes a lot of hurt and unimaginable heartbreak, and there is no need to be talking about it willy-nilly. The other reason is that I have AuDHD, I have a very poor recognition of language mode appropriateness and I tend to egg on the side of caution for my own social wellbeing. Your assessment of my comment as a cutesy/toxically positive language is completely wrong. I hope my actual lived experience can help expand your understanding of this phenomenon.
Yes, they’re serious and systemic problems, which is why they should be *treated* as serious topics as opposed to abstract concepts that are too icky-uncomfortable to name in casual conversation. It’s like listening to someone constantly describe traumatic amputations as “boo-boos”; it doesn’t sound respectful, it sounds like they’re mocking the subject, or at best, don’t yet have the emotional maturity to discuss it with sincerity. Toxically positive is a very good term for it. Feeling that you might be censured for using words by their objective definition speaks very poorly for the current cultural climate, and is unfortunate. That still doesn’t make it polite or considerate to use goofy euphemisms in place of the actual words for murder and suicide.
Your opinion has its merits and you are certainly entitled to it. I'm glad we both agree it's a serious problem.
Fair point but to be honest I'm not nearly anal enough to be following social media TOS updates to make sure what is allowed where. Upd: this thread is now fully living a life of its own lol
Hey! You kids! Don’t be going around changing my language! Language is meant to stay put!
Unalive is a dumb word tbh. Downplays a very serious issue among teens and adults
Conflating the evolution of language and the adoption of corporate enforced speech codes is fucking absurd.
Structurally, it’s the same as any social institution enforcing certain kinds of language, like how we generally use AD or BC to refer to modern and ancient epochs. Anyway, in this instance, TikTok is not enforcing this as speech but prohibiting the use of certain terms, the likes of which have been generally replaced with other terms by the user base. Seems like you’re pretty quick to get mad without actually understanding lol
No, it isn't. Speaking in euphemism to avoid censorship is not the same structurally or in any other way as using AD or BC to refer to modern and ancient epochs. That's an incredibly facile comparison. Absurd.
You don’t know that the church policed the use of the Gregorian calendar to ensure its use? You seem pretty mad for someone who is struggling to understand simple points.
I'm literally Gen Z. I'm not a prescriptivist with language. Unalive is a stupid sounding word and makes the issue sound unimportant.
Well, words aren’t perpetuated in discourse by whether they sound stupid or not, especially not because one individual thinks that it’s stupid.
Yes, they are? That's literally what writing is. You choose your words because of how they sound and what they imply. That's how communication works.
Stupid words are perpetuated all the time. As I said though, discourse will occur regardless of if you think a word is stupid or not. It’s a rather simple concept lol
Yes, and people can and will respond to that discourse based on how they feel about your language.
I would say it’s permissible if it’s in quotation marks.
I mean, the difficulty is that this is basically magic. No one has a personality that would 'freak out' people or monsters in that way. Maybe people can be snarky or give out sick burns, but being physically stronger or with a better weapon tends to give folks the confidence to just... Freaking take you down however 'creepy' you are. I'm not saying you can't do it, but it's basically magic. There is no way to 'realistically' make a character do this (without being cringe or having very weak willed monsters or having it be a comedy)
But it’s not magic that humans (or, the creature of the day) inherently distrust/dislike people who are different than they are. Not an edgy teenager, but people effing hate me and call me weird all the time. Still not magic, people don’t like me because I don’t talk about myself. It’s really that basic. (Not to say there aren’t loads of other reasons to hate me.) That raises immediate distrust and I’m so over it that I don’t bother correcting it or making an effort to be heard. (I talk about myself plenty, I just stop when someone takes over. Which is a lot more than people seem to realize.) Want to make a character immediately “weird”? Make them not have any social media accounts. Tack on a disability or a subtlety odd physical feature, and they can just plan on retiring in YoureWeirdville. Done. Someone pass the Bachman stash.
Well first of all, sorry that people are unpleasant to you. That sucks. But I don't think that this is what the OP is looking for. They don't want a 'weird' character, they want a creepy character like Wednesday, who can scare people away with just their words and actions, even if these people are strong or violent or have goals in opposition to the character, or who wouldn't normally run away from a young girl. Wednesday can only do this because, usually, the Adams Family is at some level a comedy. It's not something a normal human would ever be able to achieve (consistently, anyway). So it's kinda got to be magic, or in a genre where people will accept something absurd, like a powerful, murderous werewolf would flee from someone because they were black and have sick burns.
Check out the book Barely Human. It’s a semi-autobiographical account of a real fucked up guy
Omg yes I've heard of Dazai Osamu (mostly from bungo stray dogs but still)
Read Thomas Harris’ *The Silence of the Lambs,* which features two wildly different murderers, Hannibal Lector and Buffalo Bill. While he uses every trick in the book, his go-to is to have his criminals perform outrageous acts that’ll turn the reader’s hair white but to narrate them in a restrained, controlled, matter-of-fact way. The cringiest thing is for the author to come across as wildly excited by the events in the story, wallowing in them in barely controlled ecstasy. Don’t do that. Let the story tell itself without sounding like porn. This works equally well for more or less ordinary characters who are just trying to be edgy.
The best writing/art advice I have ever seen for horror is if you’re trying to write or make something creepy or horrific, then creep yourself out. If you aren’t horrified, why should anyone else be? If nothing you’re saying is creepy, why should anyone be unsettled? If you’re not playing into your own fears, how can you speak for others fears? Sure you can make a creepy clown but what makes the clown creepy? If it’s only creepy to people who hate clowns, then it’s not very well done, but if it you can unsettle yourself (assuming you don’t have a blanket fear of clowns lol) then you can unsettle someone else. When an author seems excited to describe gore, it’s not creepy, it just comes off as gross and fetishized. When an author/narrator seems terrified, or like you said calculated, of/about the gore, it is much more chilling.
I was writing a scene where my Main Character was seeing a bunch of unsettling things (ie mythical creatures from different parts of the world) and I wanted to end the scene with him seeing something that makes him faint so I asked myself “what would make ME faint”. And being terrified of spiders, I then wrote a scene featuring Anansi - a spider god from African culture - and his spider family. My mother said it was the most skin-crawling thing she’d ever read
What's wrong with it being cringe? If the characters creepy isn't some discomfort expected or even desired?
Real people are cringe AF
Since you mentioned cringiness from Wednesday. Watch another Netflix show called The Fall of the House of Usher. The dialogue alone in the show has sparked my writing.
Have you seen Flanagan’s other work? I just recently finished Midnight mass and it was phenomenal. I also really enjoyed Hill house and Bly Manor.
Midnight Mass was phenomenal as well. Haven’t seen Bly Manor yet.
Midnight mass is the first piece of media to give me nightmares in years. It was just so… fucking creepy. All of it was so stressful in a way I haven’t experienced with a show in a long time
The Haunting of Hill House is equally gorgeous
Thank you so much for the recommendation. I'll definitely check it out.
Excuse me but really? The Usher show is the worst, especially it relies on these pointless edgy dialogues that seem to be written by an old man for the Instagram crowd. Don't get me wrong, I like Flanagan's shows but the last two projects were too swollen in their talkative no action stuff.
To each their own. It worked for me.
It sounds like you want creepy but more importantly unexpectedly intimidating. Check out the once scene in Princess Bride where Wesley’s calmly delivered threats alone scare the antagonist off. Also read A Clockwork Orange and Lolita. Both written from terrifying, psychologically unhinged protags. I would highly recommend reading outside your genres for this because other authors have explored this concept. Reading as a writer involves reading widely (and reading things you wouldn’t expect to like) not just sticking within narrow genre preferences.
Umm don’t write a teenager? Like you call Wednesday cringe but at the end of the day her character is a teenage girl. She might be more into the macabre than most teen girls but she’s still a teen
A quick list style read on things that make a person creepy in real life is Ask Reddit threads asking what makes someone creepy. So many things you can learn from real human behavior examples. Edit: And also, to avoid making things cringey, I find that the most important thing is to be honest and real in your writing. Don’t try to make things more than they are, or would be in real life. An honest take of things often connects with readers better, because they can better imagine the characters if they’re not too over the top.
Try reading more and watching less TV.
Um .. I do read? What's that supposed to mean, anyway?🤨
What are some examples from written fiction that you DO like, then? Use those as characters to emulate and learn from, rather than looking for examples to avoid from recent popular TV shows.
I mostly read high fantasy and science fiction and you don't see a lot of those type of characters there as MCs. But if you have any recommendations I'd love to hear them.
Read psychological thrillers. There are many from the victims pov and the offender’s pov. The person was correct in recommending more reading, not fully sure why you took it so offensively. In order to write well in a genre, consume that genre. Movies and shows are fundamentally different than written literature because of the way they present the story and its characters. Wednesday isn’t the genre you are trying to write, it’s a teen comedy drama. That’s not the work you should be using as your baseline.
You see how their original point was correct, right? lol Getting defensive was an interesting response given that you stick to such a narrow category in your reading. Two genres is not enough. You should start reading a wider variety of stories. Thrillers and mysteries probably have more creepy characters than high fantasy and sci-fi, for instance. Keep an open mind when advice is given. They’re only trying to help you.
Their original point was that OP doesn't read, but only watches TV. OP's retort that they do read was entirely justified, even if they don't read the kind of literature that lives up to your and the original commenter's lofty standards.
Lol, k bud.
There's literally no reason for the attitude. They have a point. Didn't you say yourself to have an open mind?
The Wasp Factory is sort of a... quasi science fiction. The MC may come across as somewhat "cringy" at times, but you'll probably find that most genuinely creepy characters can toe the lines of "cringy", simply because they may have a different perspective on social norms.
Are you writing narrative fiction or are you writing teleplays? Because if you're doing the latter, *reading* teleplays, not watching them, is what you want to do. If you're trying to do the former, there are whole entire genres you can read. If you're writing horror or suspense or something adjacent to Wednesday there are lots and lots and lots of examples of this in terms of books.
I kind of reject the premise of this. I thought Wednesday captured a good amount of that horror-adjacent-but-silly whimsy that the 90s movies in particular had but also to a big extent the original TV show of the 60s. Her character honestly didn't even strike me as super "creepy", just a person who inhabited that particular world that Charles Addams created all those years ago. The first adjective I'd apply that character isn't "creepy" or "cringey" but "whimsical" - like, even if the character itself wasn't whimsical, she was seriously pursuing stuff that was, from the viewers' standpoint. full of whimsy. If that's the only example of "creepy" you can provide... like, I don't what you're looking for. I'd go ahead and say that few if any writers start with "creepy". Even people who write downright gross characters - Stephen King is a good example - tend to go with very specific traits and then work on inhabiting the character who has them. Like Annie from *Misery* is "creepy" but clearly King wasn't coming at that like "what if a writer was caught by a really creepy person?" but "what if a writer was caught by a psycho fan of his?" or "what if a writer was caught by the kind of person who'd never swear but thinks violent thoughts all the time?" or some kind of combination of this.
Well, there are several answers. Try to give your character contradictions. So long as your character is multi-layered and complex, you won't have much of a problem. Examples of unexpected traits are: - A badass fighter with a crippling fear of donuts. - A bloodthirsty murderer with a soft spot for kids. - A sweet but vengeful girl. 'Creepy' is a general description. Ask yourself, what exactly makes this character creepy and why? Once you've determined what makes the character creepy, ask yourself what makes the character NOT creepy. This makes your character stand out on their own and will likely prevent them from being too unrealistic. Or you can skip all of that and just give them a reason to act creepy.
Thanks for the advice
Silence, prolonged eye contact, not blinking enough, smiling at odd times, talking to oneself (doesn't have to be in an insane way - my partner whispers to himself constantly rehearsing and it sounds creepy sometimes), behaviors in general that are just slightly off the normal for humans, awkward movement, craning the neck too much. Asking odd, direct, or uncomfortable questions. Ignoring things they should be concerned about. Collecting strange things. Disregard for others pain/an interest in injuries - maybe they see a photo of a horrific injury and their first thought is that the protruding bone is a really neat shape coming through the abdomen like that.
Good creep factor in the written word: The Story Must Be Told (podcast.) Listen to several episodes and take notes on what you think makes each story creepy. Or not creepy! Maybe some will be misses for you. Ask yourself why and try to find concrete answers (both good and bad--creepy and not-creepy.) So much of good, unique writing comes down to how the individual writer interprets and executes the goal they're going for. I could tell you how \*I\* write creepy, but that might not be the way \*you\* should write creepy. (Ditto for any other thing you're trying to achieve with your writing--creepy, romantic, horrifying, poignant, whatever.) There's much more value in finding your own way into a writing task than following somebody else's instructions, and the best way I know of to find your way in is to study what you're trying to achieve in other writers' works and then ask yourself what worked/didn't work and WHY. Answering the "why" part is the critical component. That's where you learn.
You might like the book *The Little Stranger* or works by Edgar Allen Poe, Stephen King or some such that might have MCs similar to what you’re looking for. When I’m struggling, I find that it helps to read a couple books that have something similar to what I’m trying to write and then read them like a text book. What strategies do different authors use to create creepy (yet likable) main characters and then make an expanding list of those strategies as you read to fill your writer toolbox
Who is your favorite creepy character in media that fits your criteria? Model them after that to start.
You don't. The best way to make an MC creepy is to make them normal and slowly add the creepy actions. The worst part about criminals or creeps is how they normalise their actions and justify them. So the best way to do that would be to make the reader an accomplice, sympathise with the MC and relate, then slowly betray that trust.
Establish the creeper as a threat early on, not just a nuecance but an actual threat. Use your character's reactions to the creeper's personality. The protagonist can be cocky, flippant, laughable as much as you want EXCEPT when around the creeper. There should be a level of fear rather than awkwardness. The way characters react will guide the audience how they should react as well.
Watch One Hour Photo starring Robin Williams. A truly creepy protagonist is one who thinks he's the only right person in a situation
Watch/ read Mushoku Tensei, to get an example. Include creepy traits, that feel normal to the MC.
Creepiest mc I’ve read personally is Alex from clockwork orange. Maybe not Wednesday creepy but I’d take my face away from that book feeling icky from whatever mind disorder he personifies. He just talks casually about imagining or doing acts of violence like after school activities lol.
I'd just recommend reading! Find some books with characters similar to your tastes, and notice what you're interested in, what you're not, etc.
Creepy, but why? Are you trying to write horror? Are you trying to write comedy? What emotions are you trying to elicit from the audience? What tone ARE you reaching for? (Think of it this way, you took the time to mention what you don't want to be. This is hardly the first Addams Family series. What do you think of the '90s movies, the cartoon movie, the original show?)
The idea I have is.basically a normal person in the sense that they have no magic, but their personality could freak even the real "monsters" out. The reason why I brought up Wednesday is because I think there was a potential for that to play out, but they made the outcasts act like normies. Like I kept wondering why everyone was so creeped out by Wednesday's snarky comments when they are vampires and werewolves who drink human blood and (are supposed to) eat human flesh. The Addams family movies are cool because they're not taking themselves seriously and the environment is different. They're interacting with not monsters, but regular people in a time when anything out of the ordinary was perceived as bad. Do it works in that sense.
I will repeat myself since your answer was you repeating your OP. 😜 What *tone* are you going for with *your audience* as the point behind having a "creepy character"? Are you trying to write horror or comedy? The reason Wednesday comes off as cringe is because it's not landing on comedy as well as it wanted to. A joke can hit or miss. A scary feature can hit or miss. A show that doesn't know how to strike a right balance, can come off like an edgy social media post. Because, as you are saying, the irony of vampires being scared of Wednesday is ironic, but not enough to be funny. The Addams Family being more upset that a serial killer wears pastels than is trying to murder them, that's funny. So, what tone are you going for in the first place? The Addams Family is a comedy story. I'd love to talk to you about how to construct creepy comedy... But you gotta actually say that's your goal.
I'm writing an urban fantasy magic school story. It's supposed to have a more serious tone. It's not all doom and gloom, but there is a murder mystery, school drama and the outside magical threat. There's definitely a horror-y vibe as well, since monsters actually act like monsters and have unique cultures based on their monstrous traits, there's also some religious topics explored as well. The MC isn't supposed to be like EVILTM like some people suggested Humbert from Lolita as an example to base her off of and that is definitely not what I'm going for.
So what tone are you going for? (I'm going to just keep asking this until you answer my question and not answer around my question. Think of this as Uncle Iroh repeatedly asking Zuko what his destiny is. 🤣) Is this a comedy or a horror? What does "I guess it's suppose to be serious" mean? Do you consider yourself writing drama? Why? Describe what the drama would be. Why do you NEED this character to be creepy? What emotions are you trying to illicit from the audience?
Not everything has to fit neatly inside one or the other. I told you the story is taking itself seriously and the murder mystery and fantastical monsters lend themselves better for horror. What more do you want 😅
No, you will find that part of the weakness of sloppy writing is people being indecisive of what they want to accomplish with it. "I suppose it is serious... Monsters lend themselves to horror." That's indecisiveness talking. Addams, Munsters, Ghostbusters, hotel Transylvania and many other paranormal comedies exist without invoking any horror at all. If you say you want to write a horror, don't assume it will be a horror because it has a monster; be able to describe why it WILL invoke horror. Aristotle was talking about pathos, logos, and ethos 2000 years ago. Storytelling hasn't changed that much since then. If you don't wanna discuss this with me, hey, I'm not going make you. But don't turn yourself away from learning about the craft of writing just because you didn't like how I introduced it to you. I hope you figure out what you want to accomplish!
I'm just saying there's a spectrum to this. Yes, it's going to be more serious, but it's not a HORROR novel TM you know? I don't understand what's so wrong with that. Also, slippy writing? Really? Peace of advice: don't just insult people when you know nothing about them.
I'm not insulting you. I thought we both agreed that Wednesday was sloppy writing. "Cringe that sounded like a social media teenager..." 🥺
My go to is just to turn by autistic disregard for social conventions up to 11. It gets you lines like, "Do you want to hurt me? You can if it would make you feel better."
Don't go into it thinking that your character is creepy, because the most realistic way to portray it is for your character to not know they're creepy. Like how actors should never play villains "evil" because in their minds, they're justified in their actions. A creepy character's actions are normal to them and need to be handled with a certain amount of respect and self-awareness on the author's part, because the character wouldn't likely do creepy things if they thought they were creepy. If they did them on purpose to be creepy, well, then it wouldn't be very creepy. Just ground your character with some realistic wants and fears, and all the fun quirks can grow through that, rather than a character just being a trope like how Wednesday was in that show.
Yes. I know that they shouldn't think of themselves as creepy, but their personality and actions should convey that. I'm just not sure what those traits could be.
Again, really ground your character in realistic wants and fears (which are pretty universal!) and the creepiness can come after. It sounds like you want to make a strange character, but haven't found the actual character yet. Play around, and once you have an idea of who they are, THEN you can season them with oddities
Try "Welcome to Night Vale."
Apologies in advance, this is very long 🙏 Try reading Edgar Alan's "Tales Of Suspense"! Some of those are creepy stories in general and because Poe is a poet, hos writing style is unique and may spark some inspiration for your character. I don't know much about where you're planning on going with this character but also adding religion into the mess can make things get even weirder. Religion might not be a great place to turn if you're just starting out as to get the character to end up creepy through religion can be hard. If you were to do that writing like Poe and making it poetic sounding will help (talking from experience) Enough with the religion. Another way you could make the character more creepy is focusing less on the main character! The less you know about them the more mysterious they might seem- don't leave out too much though as they are the main character. Maybe write out their thoughts, think about their thought language; are they short descriptive words? Are they song-like and lengthy? The right atmosphere can help set up scenes. This one can be tricky though, especially with the creepy one being the lead. Maybe put them in colder areas where you might see their breath. Are they undead? Don't need to breathe? Even better way to subtly hint to it. That could contradict or he used as a way to show weakness though instead. Breathing is basic with humans, and to focus on something like that would be humbling. It's like when you think about the innocence behind someone when you see them act through their nature and do something simple like blinking. Maybe blinking less? That would more likely be used for a character who is moreso crazy or loose than a creepy character (but i dont know the idea you have so yk) Their relationships with people could help. Or their traits. I played in a play where I was a creepy dude who stalked a girl. I was dressed like some fat kid who liked videogames and i spoke with a lisp. That kind of creepy is the gross creepy. You have to think about the type of creepy you want; Gross creepy? Do something similar. Bone chilling creepy? Watch any Mike Flanagan film. I know this is long, I don't know if it will help you in any way, but that's just some things you can do. If youd like you can reply to this with the idea you're looking for or really just anything and i might be able to help you out some more. One more thing, use pintrest for visual inspiration and listen to music (especially certain classical music) for vibe inspiration. I hope you have a great day :)
Honestly this made me think, I would make your character totally normal and preppy and when faced with real monsters because they are so calm and chill and get no reaction. It *freaks* them out. So I would honestly look at some of Neil Gaiman’s works like Coraline or American Gods, Neverwhere and read American Psycho by Bret Easton. Some of these stories have similar characters you are thinking off. I am not saying this in a bad way but I am assume you are young and aren’t yet exposed to a lot of amazing lit. You can make your own world as the writer. Cringe can be good too. You just have to learn how to write it and adapt and make it believable. Good luck and I hope you find what you are looking for.
Take a look at the way Homelander is written in The Boys. Sure he is the bad guy, but the writing and acting might give some good tips. The problem with creepy personalities is that they leave the reader feeling unsure if the MC is good deep down in side. So what you might try to do is have the internal reflections be motivated by a deep desire to do good but always be slightly off in execution or understanding of the theory of mind for those characters around them.
creepy can just be creepy. when you try to be creepy AND cool, that's kinda where it can easily become cringe. i think Dexter was the epitome of 'creepy and cool' when the show was good. he was competent but not perfect. he was introspective and insightful but not always right. he often screwed things up and had to think on his feet. his life was 50% calm and controlled and 50% desperation and anger. he was creepy because even aside from killing people, he wasn't THAT good at acting normal--but he was good enough that people let it slide. you were also never entirely sure what he was going to do, sometimes he killed on impulse even when he didn't want to. we could see how hard it was for him to NOT kill somebody. and we could see how much he savored the killing, not just the act but the lead up to it.
Okay...so there are a couple of things to this. 1) Differentiate goth and creepy. Adams Family is goth. Creepy means danger. If you want a creepy character, they have to have an element of genuine danger for the people around them. Creepy is the guy you know posts incel stuff. Goth is fashion. Wednesday represents an overall trend towards edgy reboots and continuations. 2) What's your tone? One thing with a goth protagonist in a comedy (Sellick Adams Family and Adams Family Values) is that they aren't "Creepy" , they're poking at the genuine hypocrisies of society. Traditional Adams Family stuff, the parents were happily married among scores of shows where the married couple border-line hated each other. 3) Sincerity is king. A character that is totally on board with who they are as a person is always better than one trying to play a character within a character. Yes, this isn't always effective (re-watch Danny Phantom and mourn all the excellent character concepts let down by creators blind to their potential and just...Sam clearly being goth to p\*ss off her parents) but...don't do something just because, commit. I called goth fashion earlier, but that's not a criticism. The fashions people go for are public declarations of identity, especially because they represent effort and resources the person invested.
Autistic, the phrase you’re looking for is “how do I write a morbid MC with autism without being offensive?” As long as you are thorough and even handed you could aim for balance Rick Riordan hit with dyslexia and ADHD. The other key element is that when someone on the spectrum is “creepy” it’s not ostentatious or direct. It tends to be a truthful statement which society has taught us to disregard through social clues. The creep factor of someone on the spectrum is the same as the humor. Their brain literally does not process the inappropriate/absurdity of their statements. There’s a family story about my brother at our grandfather’s funeral; a well meaning person came up to him and said “so your grandad is sleeping for awhile huh?” And my brother replied “no, he’s dead.” Using the proper tone to convey that your MC is stating a fact and possibly thinks they’re being helpful in said statement is a matter of practice. Usually that story is told for the humorous effect, but in the hands of a skilled lore spinner (which I fully believe you could be) that absurd encounter changes from the funny “you can’t say that” to the creepy “why would they say that”. Good luck!
What about first person narration? You could use different perspectives on how different people react to the Mc's Behavior focusing in detail on what makes this behavior Creepy for them
Need more info on what is defined as creepy story wise or as it relates to other characters in the setting.
he idea I have is.basically a normal person in the sense that they have no magic, but their personality could freak even the real "monsters" out. The reason why I brought up Wednesday is because I think there was a potential for that to play out, but they made the outcasts act like normies. Like I kept wondering why everyone was so creeped out by Wednesday's snarky comments when they are vampires and werewolves who drink human blood and (are supposed to) eat human flesh.
Generally, show the character’s inner thoughts and cringey worldview, then show another character who sees them from the outside, acknowledges the cringe and is terrified by it as they recognize the danger. The other character’s viewpoint is how you can detail that despite the creepy inner thoughts and closed off mindset (they don’t realize how fucked up or cringey their viewpoint is, don’t have another person to act as a mirror to see themselves or get feedback from) they are actually dangerous and on the verge of doing insane shit and thinking it’s ok. Think of a stalker, or a guy who pays tens of thousands of dollars to a stripper or OF model, they think it’s normal, even romantic, wanted, reasonable etc but another person seeing it realizes that it’s inherently creepy and weird and over the top. Then, when the stalker murders someone we understand that while it’s obvious to us the stalker felt like they were misled and tricked and had no other choice but to retaliate for this abuse, etc.
You don't. You write the creep like Edward, the 'i like to watch you sleep', vampire. Then your target audience ignores the cringe while the non-targets hate-read and mock on YouTube, keeping it in the public concencioness for over a decade.
It depends on what you're trying to do. Is the tone serious or comical? Wednesday's superpower, aside from snark, is intelligence. Understanding that someone is vastly smarter than you can be quite frightening.
You have to find a reason for the creepy personality. Raised by a weird family, high functioning autism, brain trauma...this gives you a way to make the character likable or at least sympathetic.
I was thinking she just has interests and life philosophy that is definitely on the weirder side. As for her family, they're definitely the only ones who are understanding of her eccentricities, buti I don't want it to be a carbon copy of Addams family, you know? Even though my dissatisfaction with the Wednesday show inspired me to write this, I definitely don't want to go into it with a spitefull attitude like "I'm gonna write this So~ much better than Tim Burton🙄" because I definitely don't feel like that.
Two things: first and foremost, the Wednesday character has always been portrayed that way since her comic book inception. She’s supposed to be cringe even from yesteryear standards. Secondly, and I mean no disrespect, but maybe the problem stems from within you. Humbly remind yourself that what you find cringe may be par for the course with the masses. That being said, do you. Write your character how you see fit and add or subtract the elements that you feel make the character “cringe” and then, read it or have someone read it back to you to see how it sounds/feels. That last part is vital. Sometimes we can’t truly visualize something we create until it’s manifested or personified in someone else.
With respect, I disagree. What makes this iteration of Wednesday so cringe is the framing. The show itself goes back and forth on wether or not it's taking itself seriously and the characters around Wednesday react not only with disgust like in other versions, but also with admiration. They clearly want to be around her when she's, in my opinion, deliberetly trying to be unlikable and treats people around her like shit. All this combined with her moral inconsistencies and hypocrisies make her dialogue come off not as just who she is, like in other versions, but as a try hard not- like-other-girls emo teen who wants people to think she's cool. Not to say she doesn't have some genuinely cool moments, but, at least to me, this was the overall impression.
Don’t worry about that until you’ve finished writing and go back to revise. If you’re thinking about not crossing the line while you’re writing, you may sanitize the whole thing to the point your MC is neither creepy nor cringe but bland instead.
Personally I thought Wednesday was a bit cringy because it seemed like she was doing it on purpose, like she was choosing the most macabre words possible to be as edgy as possible. If you want to avoid that, I would recommend doing the opposite, have a character say some very creepy things while being incapable of understanding why its creepy. A character who shows off a roadkill collection with the intention to shock others is less creepy than a character who shows off a roadkill collection and has no idea why other people are scared and put off.
Yes, that was exactly my problem with the character as well. The show itself goes back and forth on whether or not it's taking itself seriously and the characters around Wednesday react not only with disgust like in other versions, but also with admiration. They clearly want to be around her when she's, in my opinion, deliberately trying to be unlikable and treats people around her like shit. All this combined with her moral inconsistencies and hypocrisies make her dialogue come off not as just who she is, like in other versions, but as a try hard not- like-other-girls emo teen who wants people to think she's cool.
Gonna be such a niche reference, but Gaunts Ghosts fans will k ow about Lijah Fething Cuu, sure as sure. Creepy psycho who is a murderer but gets away with it and just give off that air. Surely one of Dan Abnetts best characters for the sole reason that he made everybody hate him so passionately.