In Karl Iglesias’ book, Writing Emotional Impact, he suggests using paradoxes to create complex and fascinating characters. Paradoxes in characters are conflicting traits, contradictions within themselves. For example a character wants to find true love, yet is suspicious of men. A mother might plan to retire in Hawaii, the goal of her life, but her grandchildren live in New Jersey and she wants to watch them grow up. A leader of a charity might be skimming donated money to put his son through college. The reader might see the contradiction before the character is aware of it.
As Iglesias states, …”the more paradox, the more doubts and indecisions, the more fascinating the character will be.”
Have you added paradox in your novel?
