Do you write genius characters?

[RootBeerBert]

I specifically mean intelligent geniuses with over 200 IQ, I honestly really can’t bring myself to write them. Characters can only be as smart as the author, so unless I write all other characters as varying degrees of idiotic, it’s impossible for me. Though I guess it can be done, doing something like that even for a side character sounds draining as hell unless they hold no importance to the story. I’m sure there’s some method to this that I’m probably missing, but I’m curious if you guys write such characters, and if so how?

 

[Paul_Tromba]

I agree so I don't. Though you can trick the readers into believing that an ADHD character is a genius by how you portray them. It worked for Sherlock Holmes.

 

[georgelee5786]

I do not. I write smart ones, like commanders, but none are world changing geniuses because those are rare

 

[SailusGebel]

I will.

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

You can write characters smarter than you. As a writer you have all of the time to come up with ideas and can ask other's for advice. Dialogue over a few seconds in a chapter is thought about for months.

Not sure why people keep saying that you can't write smarter characters than yourself. It just requires a little cloak and dagger to hide the stupid parts of your brain.

 

[Jerynboe]

It is genuinely easier to write people who are smart and have some kind of information based cheat power than someone who is legitimately a super genius, and they can fulfill a similar niche assuming your universe has a magic system that allows it.
Being superhumanly capable of finding relevant information or making predictions is basically how most people end up writing genius characters on accident. If you do it on purpose and draw attention to it, it makes you look smart instead of dumb.
That said, you CAN write someone smarter than you it just requires a lot of thought. As an avowed pantser I probably wouldn’t try.

 

[MatchaChocolate69]

Characters can only be as smart as the author, so unless I write all other characters as varying degrees of idiotic,

You are wrong. You can write smarter characters than you.

The limits of a writer's imagination: Can Characters Surpass Their Creators in Intelligence?

I've often heard the saying that a character can't be more intelligent than their creator, but is this really the case? Reading some authors, I'm frequently amazed at how they've crafted certain characters, making me question this notion. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this. Do you believe...

forum.scribblehub.com

 

[WingsOfPhantasy]

It's all about the curtains behind the stage, the smoke and mirrors...
(i have no idea what that means)

 

[TsumiHokiro]

I use a different concept of intelligence than most people I know of, specific intelligences, and therefore it would be possible for people to be really smart at some things, or if you prefer, capable at some but not at others. Also, if we consider how intelligence tests judge intelligence to be tasks accomplished faster or easier than normal, authors can give the impression that their characters are "more intelligent" than themselves. And you also have that authors can have the help of others (be them people or tools [internet, books, calculators]) whereas the characters themselves do not, you could make it seem like they are a more than just a bit smarter than the author themselves are.

Is it an easy task? No. Is it something people do? Certainly. Only, some kinds of capabilities are harder to seem smarter at than others.

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

A side note is that you can minimize how much an intelligent character speaks. This was the cloak and dagger I talked about. You can hide your ignorance by not saying anything. It's another reason why concision is important.

Saying more with less automatically makes your characters seem more intelligent and confident.

 

[SailusGebel]

You can write characters smarter than you. As a writer you have all of the time to come up with ideas and can ask other's for advice. Dialogue over a few seconds in a chapter is thought about for months.

Not sure why people keep saying that you can't write smarter characters than yourself. It just requires a little cloak and dagger to hide the stupid parts of your brain.

A side note is that you can minimize how much an intelligent character speaks. This was the cloak and dagger I talked about. You can hide your ignorance by not saying anything. It's another reason why concision is important.

Saying more with less automatically makes your characters seem more intelligent and confident.

Bruh.

 

[RootBeerBert]

You can write characters smarter than you. As a writer you have all of the time to come up with ideas and can ask other's for advice. Dialogue over a few seconds in a chapter is thought about for months.

Not sure why people keep saying that you can't write smarter characters than yourself. It just requires a little cloak and dagger to hide the stupid parts of your brain.

You are wrong. You can write smarter characters than you.

The limits of a writer's imagination: Can Characters Surpass Their Creators in Intelligence?

I've often heard the saying that a character can't be more intelligent than their creator, but is this really the case? Reading some authors, I'm frequently amazed at how they've crafted certain characters, making me question this notion. I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this. Do you believe...

forum.scribblehub.com

It’s less that I think it’s impossible more so that doing that, even short term, is exhausting and would lead to me burning myself out in some way. Having to think about geniuses and the smart things they would do over the smart things normal people would do as well as how to account for them and their impact on the plot would probably suck the joy out of whatever story I’m writing.

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

Bruh.

I am not an intelligent character.

 

[SailusGebel]

I am not an intelligent character.

Sistah!

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

Sistah!

 

[Shrimp_eater]

Depends on what you imagine a "genius character" to be. If your view on intelligence is deficient, so will be your intelligent character and you'll end up with Light Yagamis and Ls.

So what matters isn't how smart you are but your understanding of smartness itself. After that, its just about "Cloak & Dagger" as mentioned earlier.

 

[Vnator]

I agree with you. The best you can do is come up with a lot of clever plans and ideas over a long period of time that the characters make use of in quick succession to make them look smarter. I'd still hesitate to call them outright geniuses in the story, but I can mark them as clever. Or if you have to, make them a genius in one area alone so you can treat them as normal intelligence in other areas like in charisma or politics when they're a mad scientist.

 

[LilRora]

This is gonna depend how we see the supernatural and what IQ exactly measures. A lot of my characters could be in that category, but also might not.

I never write specifically that they are geniuses though, at least not in narration since dialogue is a different matter. I prefer to write my own thing and let the readers decide how clever the characters are. This would also be my answer as to how to write an intelligent character. Just show the signs of their brains, not the intelligence itself; it might look rough or flawed to some people, but it's definitely way harder to fudge up than trying to describe what they're doing in detail that is supposed to show their intelligence. And don't get me started on describing the thought process.

 

[CarburetorThompson]

There’s two types of genius characters Jimmy Neutron , and Sherlock Holmes

One is just the author telling you the character is smart without doing any additional work, and the other is shown to be smart through behavior and actions. Neither is better than the other, you just need to put them in the right story. Badly written smart characters are usually Jimmy Neutrons put into Sherlock Holmes stories.

 

[RepresentingEnvy]

There’s two types of genius characters Jimmy Neutron , and Sherlock Holmes

One is just the author telling you the character is smart without doing any additional work, and the other is shown to be smart through behavior and actions. Neither is better than the other, you just need to put them in the right story. Badly written smart characters are usually Jimmy Neutrons put into Sherlock Holmes stories.

What a smart observation.