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Q&A Could the cast of my book be more unique?

You're looking at "uniqueness" the wrong way, I think. Look, for example, at The Lord of the Rings: Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin are all hobbits. They come from the same place, they share the same ...

posted 6y ago by Galastel‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#4: Attribution notice removed by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-12T21:57:32Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/41203
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 · 2019-12-08T10:33:23Z (almost 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/41203
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by (deleted user) · 2019-12-08T10:33:23Z (almost 5 years ago)
You're looking at "uniqueness" the wrong way, I think. Look, for example, at _The Lord of the Rings_: Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin are all hobbits. They come from the same place, they share the same kind of views, they're all heterosexual white men, three of them are the same social class. This doesn't prevent each of them from having his unique personality, his unique voice.

If a character were to say

> Begging your pardon, he's no right to talk to you so

You'd recognise the speaker as Sam. No other character in the LotR would use that turn of phrase.

If someone

> felt curiously attracted by the well

and

> crept to the edge and peered over

You'd know those actions to be those of Pippin. Unrestrained curiosity and impulsiveness are his traits.

What makes a character unique is not their skin colour and sexual orientation, but their personality, their quirks, the way they speak, the kind of things you can expect them to do.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-01-10T22:39:39Z (almost 6 years ago)
Original score: 15