How I Write - Inside the Worst of Them (Draco Malfoy)

[butterfly]

The important thing about making a character you write feel real is by loving them for who they are, not who you want them to be. Even if it is just for the moments that you write in their point of view - you need to care about their ugly bits, or you're including a note of bias

Comments

[butterfly]

Yes, that kind of Draco is annoying because, as far as the other Slytherins go, we generally have far more evidence that Draco is a total brat than we do that they are. Because Harry and Co. pretty much absolutely ignore everything that isn't right in their faces (I can definitely see why Snape and Draco probably think of Harry as snobby and thinking of himself as better, even though Harry generally doesn't notice because he's so closed in on himself - he's been trained to be small and not pay attention to people that wouldn't be allowed to like him in any case).

And yeah, it's rarer to see Draco's actual good qualities on display in stories than it is to see a Gryffindorified Draco. Which is a shame, because he does have them - he's loyal, he's funny, he's creative, he's smart, and he's talented. It just isn't focused in a direction that Harry finds acceptable.

[butterfly]

Harry turns to violence fairly quickly really. Kid has a hair-trigger at times.

But yeah, totally agree with all that.

[butterfly]

Thanks. And yeah, that's always the most important question when writing - how does this character view things? Because you can't treat their relationships and feelings lightly or you're just writing an original character in that character's skin.

[polichinelle]

This was a wonderfully thoughtful breakdown of Draco's character, one I hope any writer would keep in mind.

[butterfly]

Thank you.

Amusingly enough, it actually did just start out as an example and then I just got involved in exploring him.

It's a favorite thing for me - exploring why characters act the way they do - because every character is the good guy in his own head.