I’ve begun to notice a running theme in my “Why I Love” Wednesday posts, which only confirms something I’ve known for a while — I love a good character. If a character is compelling enough, I will read a book or watch a show/movie that I otherwise despise, just to find out what happens to that character. Poor plot, poor pacing, and poor world-building will all be overlooked if the characterization is good enough. That doesn’t hold true for everyone. Some folks prefer a ripping plot, or a fully-immersive world, but it’s characters for me.
There are some television shows – the kind where everyone behaves reprehensibly on a regular basis – that I just can’t watch because there’s no one I can sympathize with. It’s that imperative for my enjoyment that there be at least one character that I like something about. This isn’t to say that I have a problem with flawed characters, only characters who are so flawed that there’s nothing redeeming about them.
I also love a good villain. This might seem like a contradiction to what I just wrote above, but a good villain isn’t just a cardboard cut-out who is nothing but evil without rhyme or reason. The best bad guys, for me, are the ones who fall into the gray area where you can almost understand their reasoning, except for the part where they cross the line into villainy to get what they want. Even the psychotic bad guy, if he has some spark of humanity or moment of lucidity, can still be sympathetic.
That’s the advice I always hear about main characters — make them sympathetic. But what does that mean? Fiction is full of characters who do terrible things but are still beloved by many readers. Look at how much Snape has been embraced by so many Harry Potter fans, despite being a generally unpleasant person. Or, for goodness sakes, the way that Dexter is a serial killer, yet the viewer is seized with the desire for him to keep getting away with murder.
I’m not personally a fan of either character I just mentioned, but I understand why people are. Snape is a man embittered by his past and living a double life, always feeling vilified and second-rate. Dexter is struggling for normalcy and self-understanding, even while he’s giving in to his Dark Passenger. And it helps that he usually only kills people who are bad themselves, going out of his way to be certain of their guilt before he makes his move.
What makes a character sympathetic isn’t that the reader feels sorry for him, or even likes him (although the latter certainly helps). At the bare minimum, it means that the reader is able to relate to the character in some way, to find some piece of his struggle that they can stand behind and support. A reader needs a reason to want the hero to succeed.
A writer accomplishes this by giving the hero(ine) a story that fleshes him/her out into someone not only with goals, but also fears, hopes, and passions. In this, as with all writing, there are no shortcuts. It means time and dedication, but the end result is worthwhile.
(image copyright NBCUniversal, used without permission)
