- #1
Food for thought- even if a writer wishes to write a clever character he/she is limited by their own intellect before resorting to deus ex machina or ending up with a Gary/Mary sue.
Your opinions pls
Your opinions pls
A protagonist's intelligence is limited to that of the author?
- Thread starter I_am_UNKNOWN01
- Start date
- #2
Yes and no.
It's possible for an author to portray a characters as highly intelligent without themselves being anywhere near the same level. That isn't even particularly hard, given that they not only create that character, but also create every other character and the world itself in their story. They know everything there is to know about their own novel, so it's not hard to help the "intelligent" character cheat a little and blur things up so they look almost omniscient. Clues to a murder can be fabricated, if your Sherlock needs something to spot. Who's to say there isn't some particular color to the stain on a shirt that leads down a deductive chain of reasoning to the killer's identity? Who can argue with Sherlock's observational and deductive skill when it's demonstrated so plainly?
There's an important distinction to be made, however, between a character that is portrayed to be highly intelligent, and an intelligent story. An intelligent, or rational, story is one in which the thoughts and behavior of characters, and the plot, make sense. It's a story in which characters behave rationally, or intelligently.
An author's ability to write rational fiction is definitely going to be limited by their intelligence.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RationalFic
Note the initial quote regarding Sherlock Holmes:
It's possible for an author to portray a characters as highly intelligent without themselves being anywhere near the same level. That isn't even particularly hard, given that they not only create that character, but also create every other character and the world itself in their story. They know everything there is to know about their own novel, so it's not hard to help the "intelligent" character cheat a little and blur things up so they look almost omniscient. Clues to a murder can be fabricated, if your Sherlock needs something to spot. Who's to say there isn't some particular color to the stain on a shirt that leads down a deductive chain of reasoning to the killer's identity? Who can argue with Sherlock's observational and deductive skill when it's demonstrated so plainly?
There's an important distinction to be made, however, between a character that is portrayed to be highly intelligent, and an intelligent story. An intelligent, or rational, story is one in which the thoughts and behavior of characters, and the plot, make sense. It's a story in which characters behave rationally, or intelligently.
An author's ability to write rational fiction is definitely going to be limited by their intelligence.
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RationalFic
Note the initial quote regarding Sherlock Holmes:
- #3
When you want to plant a beautiful red oak, you need to consider the forest around it, the land surrounding it, the trial and tribulation it will face to become a giant red oak and the view the people will see it from. The tree cannot support itself with its own vanity forever, ya know.
tldr; A beautiful mind - watch it if you want an example.
tldr; A beautiful mind - watch it if you want an example.
- #4
Not true , the author can make characters that are more intelligent than himself in a sense that, The viewer is in the dark , while the author knows everything about the story. This fact alone if used properly can make a character seem more intelligent.
Take J.K Rowling , Ron Hermione and Harry are very intelligent for their age and have to face adversities that should never be posed to children, then you take one look at Rowling's twitter history.
Take J.K Rowling , Ron Hermione and Harry are very intelligent for their age and have to face adversities that should never be posed to children, then you take one look at Rowling's twitter history.
- #6
Well, not necessarily. The author has total control over the setting of the story. So, if say you took the author and put him in a dangerous situation where he has to solve a riddle he knows nothing about, he'll be at a loss. But in his story, he can create the perfect setting to which he already knows the solution.
Like, the character in his story is able to come up with an algorithm to solve a Rubik's cube, and the author can solve a Rubik's cube with that same algorithm, but he would never be able to come up with a new algorithm by himself.
Like, the character in his story is able to come up with an algorithm to solve a Rubik's cube, and the author can solve a Rubik's cube with that same algorithm, but he would never be able to come up with a new algorithm by himself.
- #7
I would say any character in your book will be limited by either your intellect or your research and amount of thought put into it.
Most detective novels like sherlock holmes or hercule poirot for example succeed in portraying their characters far more intelligent than their actual author may be, but they rely on the fact that the author does tons of analysis before they follow a story, hide details from you or create misdirects for the reader which the intelligent character would simply avoid, culminating in an aha! moment that provides the illusion of a superior intellect.
Most detective novels like sherlock holmes or hercule poirot for example succeed in portraying their characters far more intelligent than their actual author may be, but they rely on the fact that the author does tons of analysis before they follow a story, hide details from you or create misdirects for the reader which the intelligent character would simply avoid, culminating in an aha! moment that provides the illusion of a superior intellect.
- #8
Not really. The main problem for many protagonists is that they act like their targeted auditory. Or they just simply lack situational awareness.
The most easy to understand example would be probably Mile from Average Abilities. She sure is intelligent and smart. The problem for her is that she is plain brainbird at the same time.
The most easy to understand example would be probably Mile from Average Abilities. She sure is intelligent and smart. The problem for her is that she is plain brainbird at the same time.
- #9
While I agree that an authors intelligence do to a degree limit what he can do with his characters, that is still by no means the only factor, and I'm not even sure that it is the most important one.
Discipline and willingness to spend time researching, planning and even asking more knowledgeable people for advice are all things that can be used to make up for any lack of the authors own intelligence if given enough time and motivation.
I can bet you that a moderately intelligent but highly disciplined and motivated author with plenty of spare time can write smarter characters than a highly intelligent author that lack the time, discipline and motivation.
Discipline and willingness to spend time researching, planning and even asking more knowledgeable people for advice are all things that can be used to make up for any lack of the authors own intelligence if given enough time and motivation.
I can bet you that a moderately intelligent but highly disciplined and motivated author with plenty of spare time can write smarter characters than a highly intelligent author that lack the time, discipline and motivation.
- #10
Semi-true.
It depends ob the type of intelligence that the author wants to show.
Split second decisions, intuitivel knowing something or quick wit are easier to do than some scheming, strategic thing.
Simply because rhe author has longer to think about it than character, so as long as they put the thought in, they can come up with something.
But strategy and schemes directly rely on the authors ideas no matter what
It depends ob the type of intelligence that the author wants to show.
Split second decisions, intuitivel knowing something or quick wit are easier to do than some scheming, strategic thing.
Simply because rhe author has longer to think about it than character, so as long as they put the thought in, they can come up with something.
But strategy and schemes directly rely on the authors ideas no matter what
- #12
An argument can be made that the author can bypass the intelligence needed to make intricate schemes if they have read enough stories. Just find schemes that were not simple but also not convoluted in the stories they read and alter them enough to fit their story. or they can simply use them as something to base off of. neither choice needs high intelligence just enough creativity to make it work.
