{"id":286,"date":"2012-08-09T15:45:00","date_gmt":"2012-08-09T15:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/blog\/2012\/08\/09\/thursdays-tips-likable-main-character\/"},"modified":"2015-11-25T12:23:15","modified_gmt":"2015-11-25T19:23:15","slug":"thursdays-tips-likable-main-character","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/thursdays-tips-likable-main-character\/","title":{"rendered":"Thursday’s Tips: A Likable Main Character"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n<\/div>\n
\nDo you read for pleasure? Of course, we writers are also
\nstudents of books after we take on the study of the craft. I\u2019m reading a book \u201cfor
\npleasure\u201d right now that isn\u2019t working for me. Why? Because I can\u2019t relate with
\nthe heroine, which means I don\u2019t sympathize with her. Why is it important to
\nrelate to and sympathize with a main character? Because character sympathy helps
\nkeep readers hooked and wanting to finish the story. It also provides an
\nemotional connection that the writer can exploit to help bring about profound
\nchange in the reader. The best fiction is life-changing. And the way to impact
\nlives is to elicit an emotional response. And the key to doing that is to write
\nrelatable, sympathetic characters. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nSo, what makes us relate to and sympathize with the
\ncharacters in a story?<\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nUniversal themes.<\/b>
\nThese are themes that stretch around the world. Things like a mother\u2019s or
\nfather\u2019s love. The love of family. The instinct to protect the helpless.
\nCompassion for children. The desire to help those who are hurting. Hatred of
\nviolence and evil. The need for forgiveness and acceptance. The list is nearly
\nendless, and granted, some of these themes are more universal than others.
\n(Villains don\u2019t hate evil, for example.) If your MC (main character) champions a
\ncause that touches on a universal theme, readers are more likely to defend and support your main character. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nRelatable emotions.<\/b>
\nEven if your MC champions a worthy cause, s\/he may still not be \u201clikable.\u201d
\nCharacter arc demands that the character start out with some rough edges that
\nare hopefully smoothed out a bit by the end of the story. So, making your MC
\nrelatable at the beginning means giving her a weakness or heartache or wound
\nthat readers will relate to. Maybe she\u2019s crabby because her grown children
\nnever call or visit. Maybe he believes the world is out to get him. Show us
\ntheir inner workings,their secret heartaches. Help us see behind the gruff exterior. If
\nyou give us a relatable reason for their behavior, we\u2019ll probably advocate for them, even if
\nthey\u2019re irritable. (All while we await change.) The key is maintain balance. If your MC dislikes another person, give us a corresponding reason of equal weight. If she hates<\/i> someone else, the reason must be weightier and may be harder to justify. Be proportionate. Remember: readers are logical and <\/i>emotional. So we must balance those two too. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nA Worthy Cause<\/b>. I\u2019ve
\nhinted at this above under themes. Readers will forgive an MC\u2019s rough
\nrelational methods if they believe in the MC\u2019s cause. In other words, show us
\nthe MC\u2019s nobility. Sure, she\u2019s as snarky as piranha, but she fights for the
\nrights of children. Readers will overlook the sharpness, even believing that
\ntrait might help the MC\u2019s cause. Ironically, readers begin to admire those
\ntraits as the MC sees victory. Be careful though. Don\u2019t let harsh, rude
\ncharacters always win without ever changing. Readers won\u2019t put up with rudeness
\nforever. They also like that universal theme of redemption and change. <\/div>\n
\n<\/div>\n
\nWhat are some other ways you can make readers sympathize
\nwith your MC? How do you make your hero or heroine likable, right from the
\nstart?<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you read for pleasure? Of course, we writers are also students of books after we take on the study of the craft. I\u2019m reading a book \u201cfor pleasure\u201d right now that isn\u2019t working for me. Why? Because I can\u2019t relate with the heroine, which means I don\u2019t sympathize with her. Why is it important […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[504],"tags":[212,80,138,213,10],"class_list":["post-286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editing-writing-advice","tag-character-causes","tag-characterization","tag-thursdays-tips","tag-universal-themes","tag-writing-craft"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pelicanbookgroup.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}