Creating a Character Readers Love or Hate

The one thing you should beware of when creating a character is to leave the reader feeling indifferent towards them...

• Create a character that they like and they will care deeply about that fictional character's fate.
• You might think that its opposite - dislikeability - would make readers not care about a character, but that simply isn't the case.

Making them likeable or dislikeable, then, is an important part of creating a character, and the purpose of this article is simply to list the different ways in which you can influence how readers feel towards the cast of your novel.

But first a warning...

Beware of making the good characters in a novel too good, and the bad ones too bad...

• If a hero is pure and noble with no flaws or imperfections whatsoever, readers, far from loving them, might go to the opposite extreme and hate them for being too saint-like. (Or maybe hate is putting it too strongly, but they will certainly want to see the character's halo knocked off!)
• Likewise, if a dislikeable character is wholly evil with not a single redeeming virtue, they might end up more like a pantomime villain - hated, yes, but in more of a comic way.

Creating a Character Readers Love

Readers tend to love fictional characters who...

• Are dependable.
• Are modest.
• Keep their promises.
• Play fair. (Not that they won't break the rules, but they will have a strong moral code to keep them from crossing the line.)
• Are good-looking (I'm afraid creating a character can be very shallow sometimes!)
• Don't see themselves as being better than others.
• Help others for no personal gain.
• Have a sense of humor.
• Are courageous. (Not that they won't show fear - in fact, it's better if they do - but they must always overcome it.)
• Are willing to make sacrifices for the wider good.
• Have goals we can sympathize with.
• Tell the truth.
• Are level-headed.
• Are smart - more in a street wise, common-sensical way than an intellectual one.
• Are even-tempered.
• Are kind and generous and compassionate to others.
• Are the victims of an injustice.
• Are uncomplaining.
• Are volunteers - that is, they are willing to put themselves forward to do whatever needs to be done without being press-ganged into action.
• Are cool under pressure.

I don't claim that this list for creating a character readers love is exhaustive - and nor is the one that follows - but the points I have raised should give you a good idea of the sorts of traits to look out for when creating an heroic (or a villainous) character of your own.

Creating a Character Readers Hate

Readers tend to hate fictional characters who...

• Cannot be relied upon.
• Are immodest braggers.
• Break promises and let people down - and don't care that they do.
• Play dirty. (Not only do they break the rules, they break the "unbreakable" rules.)
• Are ugly or deformed. (Movie villains often have scars or a bad complexion.)
• Think of themselves as superior to others.
• Are self-serving.
• Are humorless.
• Are ultimately cowards.
• Are selfish, only out for what they can get for themselves.
• Have goals and dreams and ambitions which don't strike us as worthy.
• Tell lies.
• Are insane -a little or a lot.
• Are overly intellectual.
• Are inconsistent in their behavior and suffer from mood swings.
• Are bullies, even sadists.
• Are responsible for injustices against others.
• Whine and complain about their own problems.
• Never volunteer but have to be drafted.
• Panic under pressure.

Caveat: Creating a Character Takes Subtlety

In other words, don't overdo it.

Readers tend to love or hate a character on the evidence of a whole series of clues that the novel writer provides them with.

Therefore, when creating a character, how many loveable or hateable traits that you furnish them with will determine the strength of the readers' feelings towards them...

• If you want to make a fictional character just vaguely dislikeable, for example, don't give them too many of the qualities which will make readers hate them.
• If you want to create an archetypal villain, though, be as heavy-handed as you like.

Remember that characters we are supposed to hate will be much more believable if you give them some redeeming qualities - courage, say, and a strong moral code.

Likewise, loveable characters will benefit from one or two flaws - not being good under pressure, perhaps.

As a matter of fact, it isn't a bad idea to think of your novel as not having heroes and villains at all...

Instead, a novel should simply have characters with conflicting goals.

Yes, you will still want the readers to love your hero and hate whichever character is trying to thwart the hero's plans.

But if you can work some ambiguity into the story, by having the protagonist not be wholly good and the antagonist not wholly bad, the story will be much stronger as a result.

Like a lot of things in novel writing, creating fictional characters is a balancing act...

• You can't be too heavy-handed when creating a character - not if you don't want to end up with stereotypes.
• But don't be so light-handed that readers feel indifferent towards your novel's cast.

Next Up: The next stop on this introduction to character creation is a look at Creating Romantic and Realistic Characters...