A Guide to Making a Hunger Games Character

As Much Charm as a Dead Slug

"You've got about as much charm as a dead slug," says Haymitch.
Ouch. That hurts.

NOTE: I get the funny feeling a lot of this is just incoherent rambling, sorry. I was at a giant nerd competition with lots of stuffed alpacas and my brain is fried.

Edit in the nearish future: scroll down to the end for a surprise picture of my formal date. Don't worry, it's relevant.

Ya gurl's back with another chapter. It's been a while, I know, but I really have no idea of how to go about this chapter.

Based on the nature of the discussion today I don't believe it's really possible to do what I did with previous chapters, by splitting them up according to district. There will be several things which are district-specific, but personalities are such a broad topic that never fit into one category, and by extension, no district will have ten thousand of the exact same type of people. That's not how the world works, and it should not be how your characters work.

(Not to mention this isn't that much different from advice you'd get in any other writing book.)

So let's begin a little differently.

In today's day and age, where any female character who fits into the 'traditionally feminine' role or is considered 'overly strong' is immediately branded a Mary Sue, and these so-called Mary Sues are loathed by the general fanfiction community, that gives us very little room to work with.

So, what's a Mary Sue? If you don't know, lucky you. You've probably managed to avoid some of the worst, most poorly-written characters in fandom. But they are, in the strictest sense of the term, overly idealised versions of the author who gets all the guys, typically hiding behind a tragic backstory and a set of tits to rival Kim K's. The term has been twisted quite a bit since its original usage in the 1970s (see A Trekkie's Tale, 1973) and has come to be an umbrella term for any female character who has even the remotest success or good fortune in her life. Simply put, if you don't like a female character, call her a Mary Sue and you don't actually have to explain why you don't like her.
It's a bit harsh, but it's true.

Given the emergence of the 'strong female character' ala Ellen Ripley or, more relevant to this book, Katniss Everdeen, the term 'Mary Sue' has been used on every fictional female from Bella Swan to Rey. Such criticism makes it very difficult to come up with a well fleshed-out character that isn't either a direct copy of another one, or just a blank piece of cardboard with flimsy motivations and a distinct lack of personality.

I'll be the first to admit that for the longest time I fell into the trap of making every female character the sPuNkY sAsSy TeEnAgE GiRl who wrecks her opponents in a battle of wits and sarcasm because I felt that anything else was not okay (see the phenomenon of "i'M nOt LiKe OtHeR GiRLs") or would automatically mark her as a Mary Sue. It was a super unhealthy mindset that I really only just kicked out of myself last year with my Outlast fanfiction.

Honestly, most readers will not care about your character's personality if you tell a compelling story. Unless you have a very obviously overpowered character, most readers will overlook any character flaws - or even embrace them - in favour of reading a story just to see how they adapt and overcome challenges within the plot.

So, don't be afraid to take personality traits from people you know. But don't just have a character and wachow on a list of arbitrary traits. If you were to show me a character profile and in the 'personality' section it said something like, "kind, smart, funny, hot-headed, clumsy" (literally the first five traits that popped into my head, don't judge), chances are I'm going to assume your character is underdeveloped and won't tell a compelling story.