What are sympathetic characters?
They're the Scarlet O'Hara and the Carrie of Sex and the City. People can relate to them. People feel for them. Viewers root for them to win and feels loss when they lose. These are the kind of characters you like your protagonist to be and all other characters as well.
.
As James Patrick Kelly puts it:
One whose motivations readers can understand and whose feelings they can comfortably share. This is the kind of character of whom naive readers will say "I could identify with her." The protagonist is often, but not always, sympathetic. Note that a sympathetic character need not be a good person. In George Orwell's 1984, despite the fact that he betrays Julia and his own values by embracing Big Brother, Winston Smith remains a sympathetic character.
.
Read more on James Patrick Kelly's web page on "You and Your Characters."
.
Anyway, I'm creating more sympathetic characters and my question was:
hi everyone, let's say a character is abnoxious and rude on the outside, but that's because she's scared and insecure on the inside?
to make readers care for her, say, the first 10 pages, would you suggest divulging her darker background right away? or?
.
how do you make a character like that sympathetic?
.
Suggestions I received:
1. Include animals, kids and older people-A character who is kind to animals, or who's a kind/good baby sitter (good to children) or takes care of his or her elderly mother etc. touch readers' hearts.
.
So a character doesn't have to be completely good.
.
Let's say Scarlet O'Hara: She's seducing a married man, she's too pretty that everybody's jealous and she likes that plus she does anything to make money (uses prisoners to work for almost nothing at her lumber business).
.
Yet, she's a sympathetic character. Why?
1. Because she's kind to her father and supports him. She's friendly with their slaves and we feel she loves and occassionally follows her mammie. Scarlet loves and honors her mother. And even though she complained practically kicking and screaming, Scarlet delivers Melanie's baby and drives them back home.
.
2. Because we understand her motivation.
She's supporting her family, her flew-over the coo coo's nest- father, her sisters and their home, Tara. In other words we know her reasons why she's doing what she's doing. And of course her reason is noble. Ie. Scarlet wants to save her home, her family's land, their legacy, Tara.
.
So, sure Scarlet keeps marrying men she doesn't love so she can use them, but still she's got a kind heart somewhere there. So we forgive her. Nobody's perfect. And that's another thing, make sure your characters aren't all good or all bad. To make them read "real" you got to give them both sides, like real people are.
.
3. Characters present all sides of the argument.
This one's a little more advanced: "In order for the argument of a story to be complete, all approaches to solving a problem must be represented. This is the purpose of Characters. Each Character illustrates one or more ways in which one might address a problem. These different approaches are commonly referred to as Character Traits. We call them Character Elements." For more, here's The Chemistry of Characters
.
Me? I've used Dramatica which sets things up for you. Maybe it can help you too.
Resources:
How to Write Honest Characters: Why do people create cardboard characters? Why is it so difficult to create a character with a different point of view and purpose in life who acts differently from others - a unique individual?
.
This chapter is a basic overview of the elements of NeoAristotelian theory for the analysis of dramatic presentations. Sitcom: What It Is, How It WorksNeoAristotelian Analysis This one covers Elements of Drama:
Action
Character
Thought
Diction
Music
Spectacle
They're the Scarlet O'Hara and the Carrie of Sex and the City. People can relate to them. People feel for them. Viewers root for them to win and feels loss when they lose. These are the kind of characters you like your protagonist to be and all other characters as well.
.
As James Patrick Kelly puts it:
One whose motivations readers can understand and whose feelings they can comfortably share. This is the kind of character of whom naive readers will say "I could identify with her." The protagonist is often, but not always, sympathetic. Note that a sympathetic character need not be a good person. In George Orwell's 1984, despite the fact that he betrays Julia and his own values by embracing Big Brother, Winston Smith remains a sympathetic character.
.
Read more on James Patrick Kelly's web page on "You and Your Characters."
.
Anyway, I'm creating more sympathetic characters and my question was:
hi everyone, let's say a character is abnoxious and rude on the outside, but that's because she's scared and insecure on the inside?
to make readers care for her, say, the first 10 pages, would you suggest divulging her darker background right away? or?
.
how do you make a character like that sympathetic?
.
Suggestions I received:
1. Include animals, kids and older people-A character who is kind to animals, or who's a kind/good baby sitter (good to children) or takes care of his or her elderly mother etc. touch readers' hearts.
.
So a character doesn't have to be completely good.
.
Let's say Scarlet O'Hara: She's seducing a married man, she's too pretty that everybody's jealous and she likes that plus she does anything to make money (uses prisoners to work for almost nothing at her lumber business).
.
Yet, she's a sympathetic character. Why?
1. Because she's kind to her father and supports him. She's friendly with their slaves and we feel she loves and occassionally follows her mammie. Scarlet loves and honors her mother. And even though she complained practically kicking and screaming, Scarlet delivers Melanie's baby and drives them back home.
.
2. Because we understand her motivation.
She's supporting her family, her flew-over the coo coo's nest- father, her sisters and their home, Tara. In other words we know her reasons why she's doing what she's doing. And of course her reason is noble. Ie. Scarlet wants to save her home, her family's land, their legacy, Tara.
.
So, sure Scarlet keeps marrying men she doesn't love so she can use them, but still she's got a kind heart somewhere there. So we forgive her. Nobody's perfect. And that's another thing, make sure your characters aren't all good or all bad. To make them read "real" you got to give them both sides, like real people are.
.
3. Characters present all sides of the argument.
This one's a little more advanced: "In order for the argument of a story to be complete, all approaches to solving a problem must be represented. This is the purpose of Characters. Each Character illustrates one or more ways in which one might address a problem. These different approaches are commonly referred to as Character Traits. We call them Character Elements." For more, here's The Chemistry of Characters
.
Me? I've used Dramatica which sets things up for you. Maybe it can help you too.
Resources:
How to Write Honest Characters: Why do people create cardboard characters? Why is it so difficult to create a character with a different point of view and purpose in life who acts differently from others - a unique individual?
.
This chapter is a basic overview of the elements of NeoAristotelian theory for the analysis of dramatic presentations. Sitcom: What It Is, How It WorksNeoAristotelian Analysis This one covers Elements of Drama:
Action
Character
Thought
Diction
Music
Spectacle
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