Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

Post History

60%
+1 −0
Q&A How can I make a character who isn't a jerk seem like one?

I like this version of the question better than the last one. There are many ways to be considered a jerk. The most common is someone who deliberately says or does things that are cruel or obnoxi...

posted 5y ago by Cyn‭  ·  last activity 4y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-20T00:40:32Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/39882
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T10:05:40Z (over 4 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/39882
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T10:05:40Z (over 4 years ago)
I like this version of the question better than the last one.

There are many ways to be considered a jerk. The most common is someone who deliberately says or does things that are cruel or obnoxious. But another is to be unthinking about people around you. You might be off in your own head, or have difficulty hearing or seeing so you just nod along, or have a disability that interferes with your ability to connect, or just distracted. These things don't make you a jerk, but they can lead other people to think you are.

Your character might not pick up on subtleties very well. This can make him sound harsh when he's only answering a question or stating something that is factual.

He may have been raised with harshness so he echoes the language.

He may, as you suggested elsewhere, be struggling with a trauma that is blunting his emotional response and/or making him unaware of other peoples' difficulties or reactions.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2018-11-05T03:23:20Z (over 5 years ago)
Original score: 6