--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If you've got more ambiguous characters…" description: "\"If you've got more ambiguous characters or stock stereotypes, the plastic comes through and they don't work as well.\" — Bill Watterson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/827/bill-watterson-728_ambiguous_if-you-ve-got-more-ambiguous-characters_828604.png" --- # If you've got more ambiguous characters or stock… ![“If you've got more ambiguous characters or stock stereotypes, the plastic comes through and they don't work as well.” quote by Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/827/bill-watterson-728_ambiguous_if-you-ve-got-more-ambiguous-characters_828604.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/827/bill-watterson-728_ambiguous_if-you-ve-got-more-ambiguous-characters_828604.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/827/bill-watterson-728_ambiguous_if-you-ve-got-more-ambiguous-characters_828604.png) > “If you've got more ambiguous characters or stock stereotypes, the plastic comes through and they don't work as well.” [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Stereotypical or vague characters lack depth, making stories feel artificial and ineffective. **In simple terms:** Flat characters don’t work well. Key Takeaway Create nuanced, authentic characters. Themes character development authenticity storytelling Mood analytical creative Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - novel writing - screenplays - advertising campaigns Key Concepts archetypes narrative depth Questions to Reflect On - How do you avoid clichés while staying relatable? - What traits make a character feel real? A Different Perspective Over‑complexity can alienate audiences. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Ambiguous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguous/) [Ambiguous Characters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguous-characters-539096/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Characters Stock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/characters-stock-539097/) [Ifs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/) [Investing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/investing/) [Plastic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/plastic/) [Stereotype](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stereotype/) [Stereotypes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stereotypes/) [Stereotypes Plastic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stereotypes-plastic-539094/) [Stock Stereotypes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/stock-stereotypes-539095/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) ## Related quotes > [If you have the personalities down, you understand them and identify with them; you can stick them in any situation and have a pretty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/if-you-have-the-personalities-down-you-understand-them-and-identify/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [I didn't have a perfect model, but I wanted to try to blend my own personal reflections and experiences with this broader canvas to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/i-didn-t-have-a-perfect-model-but-i-wanted-to-try-to-blend-my-own/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [I was always, like, ambiguous. Is that how you say it? When I was turning 16 I talked to my mom about transitioning and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adore-delano/i-was-always-like-ambiguous-is-that-how-you-say-it-when-i-was-turning/) [Adore Delano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adore-delano/) > [I was perceiving myself as good as a man or equal to a man and as powerful and I wanted to look ambiguous because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lennox/i-was-perceiving-myself-as-good-as-a-man-or-equal-to-a-man-and-as/) [Annie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lennox/) > [Humor is really one of the hardest things to define, very hard. And it's very ambiguous. You have it or you don't. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-b-ll/humor-is-really-one-of-the-hardest-things-to-define-very-hard-and-it/) [Heinrich Böll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-b-ll/) > [Wave particle duality is a core feature of our world. Or rather, we should say, it is a core feature of our mathematical descriptions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/wave-particle-duality-is-a-core-feature-of-our-world-or-rather-we/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [Words are such gross machinery, so primitive and ambiguous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/words-are-such-gross-machinery-so-primitive-and-ambiguous/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [My drawings inspire, and are not to be defined. They place us, as does music, in the ambiguous realm of the undetermined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odilon-redon/my-drawings-inspire-and-are-not-to-be-defined-they-place-us-as-does/) [Odilon Redon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odilon-redon/) > [Photography appears to be an easy activity; in fact it is a varied and ambiguous process in which the only common denominator among its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/photography-appears-to-be-an-easy-activity-in-fact-it-is-a-varied-and/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) > [I want each poem to be ambiguous enough that its meaning can shift, depending on the reader's own frame of reference, and depending on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-arthur/i-want-each-poem-to-be-ambiguous-enough-that-its-meaning-can-shift/) [James Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-arthur/) > [“In general we are reminded that the word heimlich is not unambiguous, but belongs to two sets of ideas, which, without being contradictory, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/in-general-we-are-reminded-that-the-word-heimlich-is-not-unambiguous/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Redundancy is ambiguous because it seems like a waste if nothing unusual happens. Except that something unusual happens-usually .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/redundancy-is-ambiguous-because-it-seems-like-a-waste-if-nothing/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [Somehow, in the novel format, I don't really like to do upfront, ideological discussion. In my heart, literature remains a poetic and ambiguous medium.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaolu-guo/somehow-in-the-novel-format-i-don-t-really-like-to-do-upfront/) [Xiaolu Guo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaolu-guo/) > [Happiness can be bought with a bottle of wine and has become ambiguous through overuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-can-be-bought-with-a-bottle-of-wine-and-has-become/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Virtually every major technological advance in the history of the human species- back to the invention of stone tools and the domestication of fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/virtually-every-major-technological-advance-in-the-history-of-the/) [Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/) ## More by Bill Watterson > [Calvin: The more you know, the harder it is to take decisive action. Once you are informed, you start seeing complexities and shades of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/calvin-the-more-you-know-the-harder-it-is-to-take-decisive-action/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [A day can really slip by when you're deliberately avoiding what you're supposed to do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/a-day-can-really-slip-by-when-you-re-deliberately-avoiding-what-you/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [For your information, I'm staying like this, and everyone else can just get used to it! If people don't like me the way I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/for-your-information-i-m-staying-like-this-and-everyone-else-can-just/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [I think most of us would be horrified to meet ourselves and discover what everyone else already knows about us.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/i-think-most-of-us-would-be-horrified-to-meet-ourselves-and-discover/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [As a kid, I knew I wanted to be either a cartoonist or an astronaut. The latter was never much of a possibility, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/as-a-kid-i-knew-i-wanted-to-be-either-a-cartoonist-or-an-astronaut/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [Miss Wormwood: Calvin, your test was an absolute disgrace! It's obvious you haven't read any of the material. Our first president was not Chef…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/miss-wormwood-calvin-your-test-was-an-absolute-disgrace-it-s-obvious/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [Calvin: Today for show and tell, I've brought a tiny miracle of nature: a single snowflake! I think we might all learn a lesson…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/calvin-today-for-show-and-tell-i-ve-brought-a-tiny-miracle-of-nature/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [United Features had given me a development contract, which meant I was to work exclusively with them and rather than completing everything on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/united-features-had-given-me-a-development-contract-which-meant-i-was/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [What assurance do I have that your parenting isn't screwing me up?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/what-assurance-do-i-have-that-your-parenting-isn-t-screwing-me-up/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [In the right hands, a comic strip attains a beauty and elegance that, really, I would put against any other art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/in-the-right-hands-a-comic-strip-attains-a-beauty-and-elegance-that/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [If you give a little credit to the concept of the artist, I think you ought to indulge excesses a bit, because that reflects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/if-you-give-a-little-credit-to-the-concept-of-the-artist-i-think-you/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [I tell you all this because it's worth recognizing that there is no such thing as an overnight success. You will do well to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/i-tell-you-all-this-because-it-s-worth-recognizing-that-there-is-no/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [The secret to enjoying your job is to have a hobby that's even worse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/the-secret-to-enjoying-your-job-is-to-have-a-hobby-that-s-even-worse/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [By golly, life's too darn short to waste time trying to please every meddlesome moron who's got an idea how I ought to be!…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/by-golly-life-s-too-darn-short-to-waste-time-trying-to-please-every/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) > [I'm yet another resource-consuming kid in an overpopulated planet, raised to an alarming extent by Hollywood and Madison Avenue, poised with my cynical and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/i-m-yet-another-resource-consuming-kid-in-an-overpopulated-planet/) [Bill Watterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) [Explore all 389 Bill Watterson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/) ## More Ambiguous quotes > [Virtually every major technological advance in the history of the human species- back to the invention of stone tools and the domestication of fire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-dennett/virtually-every-major-technological-advance-in-the-history-of-the/) [Daniel Dennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-dennett/) > [Happiness can be bought with a bottle of wine and has become ambiguous through overuse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happiness-can-be-bought-with-a-bottle-of-wine-and-has-become/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Somehow, in the novel format, I don't really like to do upfront, ideological discussion. In my heart, literature remains a poetic and ambiguous medium.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/xiaolu-guo/somehow-in-the-novel-format-i-don-t-really-like-to-do-upfront/) [Xiaolu Guo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/xiaolu-guo/) > [Redundancy is ambiguous because it seems like a waste if nothing unusual happens. Except that something unusual happens-usually .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nassim-nicholas-taleb/redundancy-is-ambiguous-because-it-seems-like-a-waste-if-nothing/) [Nassim Nicholas Taleb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nassim-nicholas-taleb/) > [“In general we are reminded that the word heimlich is not unambiguous, but belongs to two sets of ideas, which, without being contradictory, are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/in-general-we-are-reminded-that-the-word-heimlich-is-not-unambiguous/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [I want each poem to be ambiguous enough that its meaning can shift, depending on the reader's own frame of reference, and depending on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-arthur/i-want-each-poem-to-be-ambiguous-enough-that-its-meaning-can-shift/) [James Arthur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-arthur/) > [Photography appears to be an easy activity; in fact it is a varied and ambiguous process in which the only common denominator among its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henri-cartier-bresson/photography-appears-to-be-an-easy-activity-in-fact-it-is-a-varied-and/) [Henri Cartier-Bresson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henri-cartier-bresson/) > [My drawings inspire, and are not to be defined. They place us, as does music, in the ambiguous realm of the undetermined.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/odilon-redon/my-drawings-inspire-and-are-not-to-be-defined-they-place-us-as-does/) [Odilon Redon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/odilon-redon/) > [Words are such gross machinery, so primitive and ambiguous.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-herbert/words-are-such-gross-machinery-so-primitive-and-ambiguous/) [Frank Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-herbert/) > [Wave particle duality is a core feature of our world. Or rather, we should say, it is a core feature of our mathematical descriptions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-wertheim/wave-particle-duality-is-a-core-feature-of-our-world-or-rather-we/) [Margaret Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-wertheim/) > [Humor is really one of the hardest things to define, very hard. And it's very ambiguous. You have it or you don't. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-b-ll/humor-is-really-one-of-the-hardest-things-to-define-very-hard-and-it/) [Heinrich Böll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-b-ll/) > [I was perceiving myself as good as a man or equal to a man and as powerful and I wanted to look ambiguous because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-lennox/i-was-perceiving-myself-as-good-as-a-man-or-equal-to-a-man-and-as/) [Annie Lennox](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-lennox/) > [I was always, like, ambiguous. Is that how you say it? When I was turning 16 I talked to my mom about transitioning and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adore-delano/i-was-always-like-ambiguous-is-that-how-you-say-it-when-i-was-turning/) [Adore Delano](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adore-delano/) > [I am Indian-American, but I often play ethnically ambiguous roles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tiya-sircar/i-am-indian-american-but-i-often-play-ethnically-ambiguous-roles/) [Tiya Sircar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tiya-sircar/) > [Humor is really one of the hardest things to define, very hard. And it's very ambiguous. You have it, or you don't. You can't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heinrich-b-ll/humor-is-really-one-of-the-hardest-things-to-define-very-hard-and-it-2/) [Heinrich Boll](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heinrich-b-ll/) [Browse all 271 Ambiguous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ambiguous/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you've got more ambiguous characters or stock stereotypes, the plastic comes through and they don't work as well.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Bill Watterson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/if-you-ve-got-more-ambiguous-characters-or-stock-stereotypes-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Ambiguous" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/if-you-ve-got-more-ambiguous-characters-or-stock-stereotypes-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/827/bill-watterson-728_ambiguous_if-you-ve-got-more-ambiguous-characters_828604.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/827/bill-watterson-728_ambiguous_if-you-ve-got-more-ambiguous-characters_828604.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/827/bill-watterson-728_ambiguous_if-you-ve-got-more-ambiguous-characters_828604.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you've got more ambiguous characters or stock stereotypes, the plastic comes through and they don't work…” — Bill Watterson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Bill Watterson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-watterson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If you've got more ambiguous characters...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/if-you-ve-got-more-ambiguous-characters-or-stock-stereotypes-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-watterson/if-you-ve-got-more-ambiguous-characters-or-stock-stereotypes-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```