Today’s column is inspired (as so many are) by things lying around my desk.
Specifically, Season One of Ugly Betty, the TV show that revolved around an ugly duckling (the fabulous America Ferrara) who’s thrust into the high style world at a New York fashion magazine.
Since so many of us write MM sci fi with a dash of romance, there’s a pressure to write beautiful people. Tall, dark, and handsome, with piercing green or blue eyes, and sexy names like Liam, Adrian, or Declan.
But what about characters who are less than perfect> Characters like Ugly Betty, who may be rough around the edges but has a real heart?
In writing, it seems to me that the trick is to invest these characters with flaws but to still make the reader fall in love with them. Because a flawed multidimensional character is often much more interesting than a picture-perfect Ken doll.
What do y’all think?