How do you refrain from writing overly smart MC’s?

[LifeContinuesOn]

I read a lot of translated Chinese novels and some of them are good, but I want to find the balance between seemingly omniscient characters and braindead ones. Mainly because sometimes the problems with those characters is the same problem I have, which is writing transmigration/reincarnation if they have that knowledge they should be smarter, in the beginning, I assume. One of the excuses I use is the mysterious past tag, just so I don’t have to explain it.

I realize setting up impenetrable rules for the world would work a little, granting some limitations on the MC.

any way my question is how to make a decent middle ground character

 

[KiraMinoru]

Simple, just don’t make the antagonists/other characters braindead to make the main character seem like they’re smart when they’re actually not. The only reason you think the mc is smart is just because of how stupid everyone else is relative to them.

Though I guess to do so is limited by the author’s own abilities. It’s impossible to create a character that’s truly smarter than you. The only way I think it would be possible is if there are two people involved in the creation of that story. The smarter of the two authors create all the other characters and scenarios the MC will face while the less intelligent one tries to overcome the situation by putting themselves in the MC’s shoes and using all their brain power to overcome the situation through meticulous planning.

 

[Assurbanipal_II]

I read a lot of translated Chinese novels and some of them are good, but I want to find the balance between seemingly omniscient characters and braindead ones. Mainly because sometimes the problems with those characters is the same problem I have, which is writing transmigration/reincarnation if they have that knowledge they should be smarter, in the beginning, I assume. One of the excuses I use is the mysterious past tag, just so I don’t have to explain it.

I realize setting up impenetrable rules for the world would work a little, granting some limitations on the MC.

any way my question is how to make a decent middle ground character

Just write a realistic, consistent novel, and you will never run into issues. ^^

 

[SakeVision]

I rarely see characters that are smart; most of the time I only see characters that were supposed to be smart, but their intelligence is just extreme luck bordering on precognition and huge amounts of plot armor

 

[LostLibrarian]

Let side-characters have good ideas, too.

The biggest problem is more often than not, that the MC knows everything and always the best solution and even his bad ideas still beat the braindead enemies.

So just write a story, where not all plans are succesful first try. And where some side-characters also have good ideas. Having an intelligent antagonist helps as well.


Though I would argue, that it is really hard to write an overly smart MC by accident...

 

[Jemini]

When it comes to writing the intelligence level of your characters, a good rule to follow would be to not stray too far from YOUR OWN level of intelligence. It's not an absolute rule, but it will do you some serious good to follow it in 95% of all cases.

If you are not so intelligent, then when you try to write a supposedly intelligent character it will be seen through pretty quickly that your version of "intelligent" means making them just have omnicience and know everything the author knows, even if it shouldn't logically be possible for them to know that stuff.

Meanwhile, a far more intelligent author will be able to restrain themselves from writing omnicience by actually being able to write out the logical A to B to C on how the character figured things out, and being able to take your readers on that journey will impress them with that character a lot more. It will not feel shallow, like the character just knowing. It will make sense to them, and they will be impressed that the character figured it out under the presented circumstances.

So, this being the case, it just isn't smart for someone who isn't smart to write a smart character. (Which, of course, means not-smart people by definition are going to do it all the time. So don't be that guy.)

TL;DR, if you do your best to present intelligence (both high and low) in a manner that reflects how real world smart and dumb people behave, it tends to go well. However, taking a short-cut instead of using the real life indicators is a bad idea.

 

[ConcubusBunny]

Easy I just write myself.
Okay but in all seriousness writing an overly smart mc in a story or setting that doesn't push them to their limits and challenge them constantly will get pretty boring real quick, caused since they are so smart no one really proves a challenge and all problems get solved in a snap which boring to read or watch real fast so if you want a smart op mc just try to make them more engaging and make every choice then have consequences.

 

[BlackKnightX]

I read a lot of translated Chinese novels and some of them are good, but I want to find the balance between seemingly omniscient characters and braindead ones. Mainly because sometimes the problems with those characters is the same problem I have, which is writing transmigration/reincarnation if they have that knowledge they should be smarter, in the beginning, I assume. One of the excuses I use is the mysterious past tag, just so I don’t have to explain it.

I realize setting up impenetrable rules for the world would work a little, granting some limitations on the MC.

any way my question is how to make a decent middle ground character

Self-insert!

I know there are a lot of people bad-mouthing self-insert, but I think it’s the best and easiest way to write. Though, decide first, if you want to write a wish-fulfillment story, or a dramatic story with a well-rounded character.

If you want to write a wish-fulfillment story, you can improve the self-insert however you like (damn, even Gary Stu is acceptable for me, if you write for wish-fulfillment sake). But if you wanna write a dramatic story with a well-rounded character, then include your own flaws into it, or just making up another flaws if you want to.

But judging by your question, I think you want to create a realistic and well-rounded character, right? So, just self-insert with the limitation of your knowledge. Meaning, everything you know, the character knows. The same goes for everything you don’t know as well.

 

[Zirrboy]

I'd say the most influential part for perceived smarts in novels is rationality.
I.E. someone who senselessly rages at the slightest indignation is "stupid", while someone who can take losses for a plan, even if it is fairly obvious, would seem "smart".
(For any crime/riddle story, this is a gross oversimplification of course, but imo it's sufficient for other genres)

So pick some middle path.

Examples

• Against omniscience, it might help to have the character be undecided between two possibilities, then drop a hint to eliminate one. Dirty, but a lot better than nothing
• By giving characters certain strengths and weaknesses of mind, the problem makes a shift towards quantity/relevance, easing the task of believably balancing overall intelligence
• In the aforementioned "taking a loss for the goal" scenario, you could have the MC secretly seethe, making them seem more human

When it comes to writing the intelligence level of your characters, a good rule to follow would be to not stray too far from YOUR OWN level of intelligence. It's not an absolute rule, but it will do you some serious good to follow it in 95% of all cases.

If you are not so intelligent, then when you try to write a supposedly intelligent character it will be seen through pretty quickly that your version of "intelligent" means making them just have omnicience and know everything the author knows, even if it shouldn't logically be possible for them to know that stuff.

Meanwhile, a far more intelligent author will be able to restrain themselves from writing omnicience by actually being able to write out the logical A to B to C on how the character figured things out, and being able to take your readers on that journey will impress them with that character a lot more. It will not feel shallow, like the character just knowing. It will make sense to them, and they will be impressed that the character figured it out under the presented circumstances.

So, this being the case, it just isn't smart for someone who isn't smart to write a smart character. (Which, of course, means not-smart people by definition are going to do it all the time. So don't be that guy.)

TL;DR, if you do your best to present intelligence (both high and low) in a manner that reflects how real world smart and dumb people behave, it tends to go well. However, taking a short-cut instead of using the real life indicators is a bad idea.

That's awfully close to "matter of talent" for you.

I'd consider the brigde-able gap to be a bit wider since the author, unlike the character, can spend hours thinking the situation through. But overall I'm with you.

 

[LostLibrarian]

I'd consider the brigde-able gap to be a bit wider since the author, unlike the character, can spend hours thinking the situation through. But overall I'm with you.

Not only can the author think about it for hours or days, but they can also use google. There are a million genius strategies for anything out there. Just pick one and write the story beat so that you can use it...

 

[LordAstrea]

Surround the MC with other smart people who have different specialties.

 

[Anon_Y_Mousse]

Simple, I base scenarios on historical events or works of more qualified people, with my own twist of course. As long as you have proper context, a character will look smart because it's based on someone or something that actually is smart

 

[PunishedKom]

Personally as someone whose MC is very much overly smart, I balance it by having him be incredibly flawed. He is very smart, but this leads him into overthinking simple things, second guessing minute details and sometimes becoming arrogant and needing to be put in his place or talked sense into. He recognizes this about himself and often has to battle his own judgment. He’s also incredibly weak to stress and pressure, which he runs into on a daily basis lol.

Geniuses in real life are without exception either eccentric weirdoes, assholes, or some combination thereof. An incredibly smart MC will get a lot farther if they have interesting flaws to back it up. As other people said, having him be wrong and needing to take advice is great, too.

 

[Cipiteca396]

Not only can the author think about it for hours or days, but they can also use google. There are a million genius strategies for anything out there. Just pick one and write the story beat so that you can use it...

any way my question is how to make a decent middle ground character

If you had to research it, then your character does too. That's the easiest way to write a smart character.

They can start with general knowledge, or specific knowledge if you have a good enough excuse. However, they shouldn't be able to look at a new thing or something they've never encountered and immediately understand it.

Maybe they might think they understand it, and make a snap judgement that turns out to be right or wrong. Maybe they hesitate or get flustered when they see something that interferes with their plans.

The important part of making a smart character is that while they can make intuitive leaps in reasoning, they also learn over time. They may not understand it initially, but they get help from someone who does, or they spend a lot of time testing the circumstances until they have a decent understanding.

If you want your character to seem less intelligent while not being frustrating, the easiest way is to let them rely on others or on past experience. This way they don't need to be a blinding genius who makes everyone worship their godly knowledge and cunning. They just need to be capable of recognizing a pattern. If I hit the monster here, it takes more damage? Good. If I hit the monster here and it counterattacks instantly? Don't do that again.

 

[Temple]

any way my question is how to make a decent middle ground character

Make the character commit partial mistakes all the way. A good example of this are the Mission Impossible movies and other heist movies in general. Basically there's Plan A, unfortunately some parts of it are wrong and it failed. BUT not a complete failure, the MC makes a Plan B, it also fails, BUT a complete failure. And so on.

By not a complete failure I mean like they weren't able to kill the main bad guy, but they injured him and killed his goons. Or they weren't able to get the legendary item, but they found more clues about it. Or they weren't able to rescue everyone that needed to be rescued, only some. Stuff like that.

It adds more realism to writing too compared to the usual MC says Plan A, he gets it right, he succeeds, next story point.

 

[sereminar]

writing transmigration/reincarnation if they have that knowledge they should be smarter, in the beginning, I assume

So that right there is a poor assumption and bond to get you into trouble. People have always known tons and tons of stuff about how to survive in their highly specific scenarios. For example: to this very day we cannot make a warmer set of clothes than the Inuit people have been making for the past 1,000+ years. Not with all our fancy tech and new materials, we just can't do it.

I think a good rule of thumb is as cipetica says

If you had to research it, then your character does too.

But only apply that to the transmigrated character. You should be encouraged to do research into how everyone else would have lived because they were just as smart as we are today (and also, to be fair, just as dumb too).

Basically treat all the other characters as experts in surviving and the newbie as a newbie with a few odd bits of knowledge.

Also, try to come up with a few different ways to get characters out of their dangerous situations and choose the one that seems most like their character to come up with. And then use the "yes and" or "yes but" kind of thinking to throw in a few complications.

 

[K5Rakitan]

I just use myself as the MC.

 

[Armored99]

Everything the MC knows, he must have a reasonable explanation to know. The more important the knowledge the more important it is that there is a good explanation for it.

 

[Jemini]

That's awfully close to "matter of talent" for you.

I'd consider the brigde-able gap to be a bit wider since the author, unlike the character, can spend hours thinking the situation through. But overall I'm with you.

As I said, it's not an absolute rule, and you have just brought up the reasons why there are 5% of scenarios where writing overly smart characters actually CAN work out.

It does take some skill on the writer's part though. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, the writer of Sherlock Holmes, wrote a character significantly more intelligent than himself, but not to a ludicrous degree. The man was already a medical doctor, and Sherlock was also partially based on one of the professors he learned medicine from who made medical deductions in a manner similar to how Sherlock made deductions about everything.

If you have ever known a truly exceptional medical doctor, you realize it was only a matter of time before someone in the medical profession writes a character like Sherlock Holmes. Healthcare actually is one area where the Sherlock style of reasoning is applied all the time by the smartest and most skilled doctors. About the only thing unrealistic about Sherlock's ability to reason things out is the matter of applying that method of reasoning to something that is not health related. It is something that works on a single specialized field, but applying it to everything in daily life the way you would need to in order to really become Sherlock requires a level of mental ability that exceeds what the human brain is capable of.