You guys want to know all about morally grey characters, so we're going to talk all about feet. I'm just kidding, we're talking about morally grey characters, calm down. I'm going to try my best to demystify greyness so you can write yourself a bunch of shady characters.
by Jenna Moreci
1. WTF is it? What is a morally grey character? A morally gray character is a character who is morally ambiguous. They've got good traits and bad traits. They do good things and bad things. One moment they may seem like the good guy. The next moment they may seem kinda evil.
2. ????????? Why is this concept so confusing? While the definition of morally gray characters may seem straightforward, it kinda isn't. No one can seem to agree on how heavily we can read into the definition or what additives we can tack onto it.
The two schools of thought regarding morally grey characters:
1. Morally gray characters do both good and bad things and have both good and bad motivations. (examples: Robin Hood, Tobias, Kaz Brekker, Avery Vite)
2. Morally gray characters commit both good and bad actions, however, their motivations are hard to determine.
3. What do I think? What's my interpretation of moral greyness? Morally gray characters do both good and bad things and have both good and bad motivations. If we were to go off of the second interpretation, very few characters would be categorized as morally grey.
4. Pros? What are the benefits of writing morally grey characters? They're realistic, and they are multi-dimensional.
5. Cons? What are the pitfalls of writing morally gray characters?
Realism: While it's true, most people are not 100% pure or 100% evil a lot of people lean heavily in one direction or the other.
The Unlikeability Factor: There are certain lines that once crossed, there's no going back; the character is now dirt. You have to weigh the justifications of their actions and make sure the audience is on board.
6. Sympathetic? How do I write a sympathetic morally gray character? A sympathetic morally gray character is basically a morally gray character that readers root for, and there are two components to nailing this:
1. Your character needs to wrestle with important decisions that could potentially be really bad. Your reader needs to see a struggle either before or after the decision is made.
2. Certain lines cannot be crossed because once you do so, you're going to lose a big chunk of your audience. Take a look at your own personal lines.
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writing 4 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜: WRITING ADVICE TO MAKE YOU A BETTER WRITER
Non-FictionWriting is hard. Being a writer is even harder. But with "Writing 4 Writers," you CAN become a better writer. Every time I sit down to write, I reference this collection of writing advice from a variety of blogs, writers, and YouTubers: Jenna Moreci...
