Loved all of your comments and feedback on yesterday's post On Unlikeable Characters.
As I worked on my revisions yesterday which included getting chapter one 75% right (which sounds bad but is actually a major victory), I realized another benefit to having written my MC as unlikeable in draft one.
It allowed tension to flow through the entire chapter. And you all know how important it is to have tension in every scene--especially opening scenes.
See, my main character completely disagrees with a major decision her family just made. She hates the choice, she doubts it, she dislikes it. She is completely negative about it. And when I wrote draft one--this is all on the surface (and part of what made her so unlikeable).
But...as I revised and covered up most of her doubt and dislike (including deleting any lines where she outright stated her thoughts), I can still feel the underlying disagreement, just below the surface. It's not explicit or in your face. But it's there and it adds in tension as well as agency for my character (the only thing I like less than flat characters are the ones who are passive and lack agency).
She isn't just passively accepting the choice that's been made. She is actively partaking in it--trying to go along with things while dealing with her feelings and plotting how best to proceed when she disagrees so strongly. It sets her up right away to be a strong character and also allowed me to find a nice middle ground for her personality.
She isn't passive and just being taken along on her journey.
But, she isn't so negative about it that she's hard to read.
Huzzah!
So that's my latest about why I love starting with unlikeable characters. Not only will it help you understand the core of their being, but it also adds tension to everything they do. You know deep down inside there are so many more things going on then what's written on the surface.
What about you guys? How do you bring in tension for your characters?
Well something I've struggled with for a long time is my passive MC. I knew it, she knew it, my CP/betas knew it, agents knew it, etc. But I couldn't see how to fix her. I am now revising for the 3rd time (although the Word document is saved as "version 11") and I think I have finally gotten the hang of going through each chapter and making her a stronger character. It's something I am learning through this process. Which, btw, is a helluva process.
ReplyDeleteYay! Glad to hear you're making progress! It is definitely a helluva process--but an awesome one! I LOVE it!
DeleteI love unlikable characters for the same reason you do. After all, real people are crazy and dysfunctional, so characters should be that way too. It adds just the right touch of realism and actually makes them more relatable to the reader. And I love torturing my characters. I'm a lovesick romantic so every story has a happy ending, but it only seems natural for them to have to fight tooth and nail to get to it.
ReplyDeleteHey Sydnee, Yay a fellow unlikeable character lover. I really do like the hard sells, and love seeing their arcs and when they grow into loveable characters. But yes, it does make them feel so much more real. I love happy endings--especially when the characters had to truly work for them.
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