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Q&A How can I write an annoying character without annoying the reader?

You'll see a good example to learn from when protagonist Ralph meets Vanellope in Wreck-It Ralph. She annoys him partly because of a short-lived immature aping of his words, but mainly because she...

posted 6y ago by J.G.‭  ·  last activity 5y ago by System‭

Answer
#3: Attribution notice added by user avatar System‭ · 2019-12-08T11:04:37Z (about 5 years ago)
Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/42772
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
#2: Initial revision by user avatar J.G.‭ · 2019-12-08T11:04:37Z (about 5 years ago)
You'll see a good example to learn from when protagonist Ralph meets Vanellope in _Wreck-It Ralph_.

She annoys him partly because of a short-lived immature aping of his words, but mainly because she obstructs his ability to recover a medal he rightly earned, and which he thinks he needs to get his colleagues' respect. In his efforts to get rid of her he tells a number of lies and makes a fool of himself. It doesn't cost him the audience's sympathy, but nor does all our moral condemnation fall on her. And we quickly learn she takes the medal because of an serially even greater personal need it can fulfill. You might say a problem shared is a problem halved.

I don't want you coming away from this thinking this only works with children annoying adults. I could have discussed an example reversing those age roles in _Coco_ with the Miguel/Héctor dynamic. I'll leave you to find child, adult-adult, Wookie-droid etc. examples of his own.

#1: Imported from external source by user avatar System‭ · 2019-02-28T21:43:59Z (almost 6 years ago)
Original score: 0