Writing Advice: How to Write a Smart Character
- or, the possibly accurate Ramblings of a smart person
* originally wrote all this as a reply to the question this is entitled as, but thought Iβd post it here as well. Do with this information what you will
Without further ado, my Advice
Talk to smart people. As a smart person, Iβm getting particularly annoyed at certain portrayals that make their way into literature from people who think we never struggle, that weβre always satisfied with ourselves, that we know everything, etc. A lot of smart people struggle with self-worth, and use their intellect as a kind of compensation to gain accolades and feel like theyβre worth something. They might pretend to not be struggling to keep up their reputation of being smart, to varying degrees of convincing. Also, most smart people donβt just stay smart without any effort; show your character practicing, solving problems, thinking critically for a while before coming up with a solution. Show your character being wrong sometimes. Show them being unable to do something they previously could easily, and being crushed. Show your character being exhausted from no sleep and being dull the next day by comparison. Show their frustration. Show them lacking in knowledge in some areas as a result of zeroing in on a particular subject or skill; for example, I could make a good case to prove virtually anything, but I cannot for the life of me open child-proof containers. Show your character being upset that everyone sees them as the βsmart oneβ and nothing else, or, conversely, show a younger them having to work hard to prove to everyone that their mind is worth something, amid a sea of doubts. For that matter, show your character having to prove to *themself* that their mind is worth something, that theyβre actually capable, and not that everyone around them is just exceptionally dull. Show your character having to learn to take a break and rest. Or, show them learning to care enough to use their mind for something productive, rather than for their own amusement. Show them seeing other peopleβs varying skills as worthy, or not.
Make them human.
Hope these help, good luck!
