How to convince your readers that your character is actually smart.
How to convince your readers that your character is actually smart.
There are no rules here.
Telling your reader that your character is smart is definitely a way to go.
Sometimes it’s as simple as saying their IQ and how many chess tournaments they’ve won.
But it can be more fun as an author to find ways to show their smarts in action or give them quick wit moments that are fun and memorable. And at some point, your reader is expecting to see their smarts in action and played out in a clever way to be an interesting plot point or focus of the story.
And don’t forget, the perfect character is almost always forgettable or unlikable.
So be sure to give your characters other flaws that make them less superhuman and more unique and interesting as a character with a following.
1. Create a problem and have your genius solve it.
One way to show off their smarts is to create a problem and have them solve it while your reader watches.
To pull this off you need to know the solution to the problem yourself and write it so that other characters were unable to solve the problem.
A movie to watch to help with this type of problem solving could be Good Will Hunting.
In the story Will is shown to be a genius, but not all at once.
In one key scene, he solves a math problem that even the college math students can’t solve and he doesn’t even go to college there. He’s actually the Janitor. In his spare time, he reads at the college library but nobody knows he exists or how smart he is till they catch him in the act of solving a problem they left on a board in public.
Thankfully for you and I, there are already problems like this in real life that are extremely difficult for anyone to solve. So all we have to do is have our character solve one of these math anomalies and we are on our way to having a genius character.
2. Use research to make your character spout out intelligent facts on the spot.
Not everyone has a genius recall when it comes to memory, but your character can.
All it takes is a little bit of Google and your character can quickly know any fact you don’t know.
What’s the 303rd number in pi?
How many cups of sugar does it take to get to the moon?
Who was the 12th President and what are they known for?
Think of any question that might be difficult for your reader and creatively place it into the story where your character needs to know it and use it quickly.
A great example of this is National Treasure.
Our protagonist is consistently using his profound knowledge of American history to solve puzzles, riddles, and clues to save his life and find the treasure.
3. Don’t make your character a know-it-all.
We all know a know-it-all and how unpleasant they can be at times.
But the point here is not winning a popularity contest. The real point is not to make a character that just knows everything, and everything is easy for them, because that will become boring for your reader.
Choose to make your character a genius in one arena and show that they don’t know EVERYTHING in the known universe.
(Unless they are going to win Jeopardy of course.)
Do this by giving them characters around them that help them deal with their weaknesses and limits, whatever you choose them to be.
Side note: Truly you could make a “know-it-all” character that faces many social dynamic problems in life from being too smart and becoming an outcast because of it. Any character can be interesting as long as they have realistic and interesting problems to fight against.
4. You will most likely have to look up the different types of genius.
Pick your geniuses area of expertise.
In Good Will Hunting, he’s a math wiz. In National Treasure, he’s an American history buff. In The Queen’s Gambit, she’s a chess prodigy.
They aren’t all smart at the same thing but there is one life skill they are amazing at.
In this way pick the things your smart person is good at and run with it.
The most creative part is figuring out how this skill turns them into an interesting story with conflicts.
How to convince your readers that your character is actually smart.
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5. Your genius might be at the top of their game, but where are they falling short?
To make your genius character interesting to your reader, choose weaknesses for them. Give them an Achilles heel.
Don’t make them win every single time. Allow them to lose and lose BIG at times to keep the stakes high and your reader concerned about what they might lose if they don’t succeed.
Some ideas for weaknesses:
– socially inept
– Alcoholic
– Gets cancer from smoking
– Bad home situation
– Has a traumatic experience
– Loses at their own game because of a mistake.
Just because they are smart, they don’t have to be right every time.
In fact, a miscalculation that leads to serious consequences could be just the thing to really bring extra intrigue to the outcome of their story.
6. Be sure to give them some competition
Take this bit of advice lightly.
It depends on where you want to take the story and how intelligent your character actually is.
If you want a good portion of your conflict to come from rivals then yes you’ll want to be sure that your antagonists are of equal or greater intelligence.
On the other hand, your character could be the most intelligent in the room and this could cause serious problems for their mental stability as they realize there is no competition for them. That would ultimately become boring to them which can lead to emotional instability especially when others keep shouting their praises.
7. Try not to copycat.
It’s tough in today’s story saturated world, but try not to do the same thing that’s been done over and over again.
The Sherlock syndrome: avoid making the Sherlock, the character that is so observant that it makes them look like they know everything.
This has been creatively redone several times and with great success, so there is a small window where you may be able to squeeze out something clever in the trope.
Examples are:
– any Sherlock film or series.
– The mentalist
– Psych
– Enola
This is just to caution you. Genius is used a great amount in story telling.
It can be done very well and be highly interesting.
But there is always a risk. The risk is creating a character that is too much like another genius character, and unless you meant to do so and you create it in a clever new way, you could lose your game right where you started.
So just a word of caution, creating a genius can be extremely fun, but watch out lest you unintentionally create a stereotypical character.
Hope this helps!
Happy writing!
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