Making a Main Character Likable

Sometimes, you can start out your story with a main character who has unpleasant elements to their personality, but a character must be likable or, at the very least, relatable for the reader. Here are ways to show more than the prickly outer elements of her personality.

If you give the main character a worthy goal in the first pages of the novel, then you give yourself time to make a seemingly unlikable character grow on the reader.

By worthy, I mean something the reader will want that character to succeed at– rescuing children, helping a nice person find happiness, etc. Even if the character starts out doing it for a base reason like money, the reader will still want him to succeed.

Simple things can help make a character start to grow on the reader. Pets are always a good option. Either he has one, or he can't resist the heroine's kitten, or something like that. Having him interact positively with a child is also a good likability quickie. 

Recently, I read a short story in which the heroine breaks into the apartment of a possible villain-- a hard-ass security agent. A teddy bear is sitting on his couch, and he later admits it belongs to his nephew. With that simple stroke, the author made a seemingly unlikable bad guy a much nicer person.

Giving a character a vulnerability that the reader can relate to is also a good likability quickie. It can be as simple as a chick lit heroine having a bad hair day and the boss from heck, or the bad ass hero getting into a small plane and freaking out because he finds a snake. 

Eventually, more likable elements of that character's personality will have to be shown, though, so the bad parts of her personality don't overwhelm the reader.

In some genre fiction like thrillers, the immediate likability quotient doesn't have to be high at the beginning, particularly if the character is strong and effective in what he needs to do.

But in a romance, the hero or heroine should be likable from the very beginning. The other main character can become likable as the book progresses, but he should not start as totally horrible. Some character traits like cruelty can't be forgiven or changed because, in real life, they never are.

Links of Interest

MAKING A DEAD SCENE LIVE, PART 2:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2012/01/its-alive-poking-dead-scenes-with-stick.html

APPLE OFFERS FREE AP TO CREATE EBOOKS FOR iTUNES:

http://mashable.com/2012/01/19/apple-education-announcement-live-blog/

WHY YOU PROBABLY SHOULDN'T DOWNLOAD THIS APPLE APP:

http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2012/01/fine-print-of-ibooks-author.html?

WHAT ARE THOSE SECONDARY CHARACTERS UP TO?

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2012/01/whats-their-story-discovering-front.html

LENDING REALISM TO THE PARANORMAL:

http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2012/01/lending-realism-to-paranormalby-lisa.html

BOOK MARKETING, PART 3 

http://chiseledinrock.blogspot.com/2012/01/book-marketing-inventory-part-3-of-4.html

CAREER SABOTAGE:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2012/01/guest-author-rochelle-melander-conquer.html

DETAILS:

http://www.genreality.net/its-all-about-the-details

Fantasy and Reality

In my dream, I walked into the snack bar of the student union of my alma mater. Daniel, the hero of my first novel, sat at one of the tables. He melted me with a sexy megawatt smile and purred, "Hello, Penn."

The awake part of me cringed--Penn was the heroine's name--and muttered, "You're going over the edge, Byerly. Writing IS a form of schizophrenia." 

"Uh..., hello, Daniel." I sat down beside him and decided, to heck with mental illness, I was going to enjoy myself. 

Even after many years, that dream remains vivid. It was my first encounter with the gray shadings between fantasy and reality in a writer's life. I know the difference between the two, every writer must. I've also learned their interplay enriches my characters and my life.

Parts of me litter my novels like confetti at a party--Tony Chaucer wore the ratty man's bathrobe I refused to stop wearing, Ariel at five snuggled with my teddy bear, and David had my vermouth dry sense of humor. Those parts help my characters live.

But each character is more than just chucks of me. They have thoughts and wisdom I've never had. 

I've borrowed Daniel's genius for quick puns and dear Nelson's serene wisdom and faith when my own was sadly lacking. In this manner, my characters have given back as much as I've given them. Almost like real friends. 

Are you wondering what happened in that dream about sexy Daniel? We sat and discussed his own college days. You see, fantasy like reality doesn't always have the expected ending.

Links of Interest

DEAD SCENES:  How to revive them or replace them.

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2010/08/re-write-wednesday-golden-oldie-poking.html

CREATING TENSION ON EVERY PAGE: Part 1 to 3

http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/guest-blogger-jodie-renner-tension-on-every-page-part-i/

http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/2012/01/17/guest-blogger-jodie-renner-tension-on-every-page-part-iii/

http://writersforensicsblog.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/guest-blogger-jodie-renner-tension-on-every-page-part-ii/

MARKET NEWS:  What do editors want this year?  A UK agent surveys a number of publishers, including USA ones.

http://www.andrewlownie.co.uk/2012/01/10/what-editors-want-2012

WORLDBUILDING:  Charles Stross discusses psychology, beliefs, and other times when creating your world.

http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2012/01/world-building-302-psychology.html

WRITING GREAT ENDINGS:

http://www.alanrinzler.com/blog/2011/12/31/grand-finales-tips-for-writing-great-endings/

BUSINESS OF PUBLISHING: Data on ebook sales worldwide.

http://www.idealog.com/blog/show-me-the-data

WHEN TO INTRODUCE SECONDARY CHARACTERS:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2012/01/have-you-met-ted-introducing-characters.html

BOOK PROMOTION, PART 2:

http://chiseledinrock.blogspot.com/2012/01/book-marketing-inventory-part-2-of-4.html

SHOWING MOTIVE, MEANS, AND OPPORTUNITY TO THE MYSTERY READER:

http://crimefictioncollective.blogspot.com/2012/01/forensic-evidence-of-motive-means-and.html

THE SUCCESSFUL AUTHOR TALK:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2012/01/guest-author-diana-nadin-10-top-tips.html

THE NEW AUTHOR PITCH:

http://www.alanrinzler.com/blog/2012/01/16/the-new-author-pitch-show-don’t-sell/

Across a Crowded Room

QUESTION: I have a scene in a restaurant where staff is coming and going. How do I describe that? Do I mention all the movement?

This is really about viewpoint. You are describing the scene from your viewpoint character's perspective. What will she see?

Imagine this. You are in your favorite romantic restaurant. Across from you is your special someone or your favorite sexy actor. You are eating your meal, flirting, and talking. Would you be aware of who is coming in and out of the room?

Your character in a similar situation would do the same thing.

Imagine this. You are in that restaurant with that sexy lover, but someone wants to kill you.

You would be very aware of who is coming and going in the room, and so would your viewpoint character.

If it's a situation that's emotionally neutral like a banquet meal with servants coming and going to bring food, you can say something like "A steady stream of servants, each with a large tray of food or an empty bowl, moved through the room tending the tables."

Then, unless there's a reason to mention the servants again, or a servant again, you don't mention them. The reader will fill in the visual blanks.

Links of Interest

PLANNING A BOOK WITH A GENERAL OUTLINE:

http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2011/12/planning-book.html

HOW TO WRITE MOVEMENT OF CHARACTERS WITHOUT BEING BORING:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2010/01/passing-through.html

USING A SMALL TOWN SETTING:

http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2011/12/excitement-of-small-town-setting.html

SETTING UP PLOT USING DIE HARD AS AN EXAMPLE:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2012/01/i-meant-to-do-that-three-things-die.html

VOICE RECOGNITION SOFTWARE FOR WRITERS:

http://mysterywritingismurder.blogspot.com/2012/01/tool-for-writers.html

MARKETING PLANS FOR WRITERS:

http://www.rachellegardner.com/2012/01/do-you-have-a-marketing-plan/

BRUSH UP YOUR GERUNDS:

http://bloodredpencil.blogspot.com/2012/01/grammar-abcs-g-is-for-gerund.html

BACKSTORY:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2012/01/we-have-history-making-backstory-work.html?

WHERE TO START YOUR NOVEL:

http://blog.janicehardy.com/2012/01/line-forms-where-knowing-where-to-start.html

PROMOTION, 1 OF 4

http://chiseledinrock.blogspot.com/2012/01/book-marketing-inventory-part-1-of-4.html

Reality versus Fiction

"The way things happen in romance novels don't truly reflect the way things happen in our subjectively real universe. " -- Comment from reader

The truth of the matter is nothing reflects the "real world" of experience. Not fiction, not nonfiction, not bland news reports, not even media like film and TV. Reality is simply too complex.

A writer uses her own vision of the universe to create her fiction. That vision is ordered so that the complex chaos of reality makes sense and has a pattern.

If readers find her vision of reality to be truthful for them, (they buy into her vision and understand it), the writer has been successful. Part of that "buying in" is seeing the complexity of human personality and the male/female romantic relationship reflected in that writing.

Since so many women read romance, romance must reflect emotional, if not physical, reality for women.

In the same sense, most of us don't believe in vampires, but that doesn't prevent us from enjoying a good vampire romance. Those of us who analyze our responses to books see that the vampire romance reflects certain emotional needs and power issues for us so it is emotionally real although not "reality" real.

Schedule Note

My Internet has been down since Monday due to high winds so "Links of Interest" is postponed until next week.


Marilynn

Overusing Pronouns

QUESTION: It's recently been pointed out to me that I sometimes overuse "he" and "she" when referring to my characters in narrative as well as action. I also use direct referral by calling my characters by their names, and their general persons -- ie, "Bob," "Jill," "the man," "the young woman," etc. -- but I find that these phrases soon become old too. What should I do?

Show what the viewpoint character is feeling and seeing. For example, Tom remembers giving flowers to Jane.


Tom recalled how Jane's face lit up, her cheeks equaling the pink of the roses she clutched to her breast. She had smiled shyly at him, and he'd fallen in love at that instant.

OR

Her face had lit up, her cheeks equaling the pink of the roses she clutched to her breast. Her shy smile had won his heart in that instant.
The second version is a more intimate viewpoint, and I've varied the sentence structure a bit.

As a rule of thumb, you shouldn't use a character's name as designation more than once a page unless it's a scene with a number of characters.

It's better to be a bit boring using the character's name, which the reader will skim, rather than to confuse the reader as to who is doing what action. This stops the reading process completely which is the one thing a writer should avoid at all costs.