One of the tasks I have for my revision is to make my main character likeable.
And as I am doing this, I've realized something. I always make my main characters unlikeable in the first draft.
WHY?
Well, I think I have my reasons for doing this and I'm going to attempt to explain.
Here's the thing. I hate flat characters. As should you all! I dislike Mary Sues. I like following characters-- especially main characters--that have flaws, that are imperfect, that make mistakes and that have many layers.
And a first draft is basically just that----a layer--a first try at understanding your character. And typically, mine come with only one layer (at least I only truly express one layer on paper) before I go back and add in more.
I know what makes my characters good. I know the bravery they hold inside, their willingness to make sacrifices to do the right thing, their spark of life, the way they care and nurture the ones they love, their sense of humor, their goodness.
But I also know what's hidden deep inside. Their ugly bits. The parts of their personality they try to hide, their selfishness, their fears. The secrets they wouldn't share with another soul unless it was their absolute best friend in the whole world. I LOVE them for those bad parts. And I tend to lay all that ugliness and secretiveness on the paper. Because it exists and it has to be there to make them real.
And then when I revise...I start to cover them up. I add muscles of personality to their bare ugly bones, and give them skin and clothing to hide how afraid they truly are.
It's kind of a backwards technique. And luckily I have critique partners who are able to say, "you know your MC is really unlikeable" but still see where I'm going with the character and trust they'll be the one you love and root for once I revise.
But the thing is--you have to LOVE your characters. If you don't love them, don't love reading about them and writing them, how will anyone else love them? And how can you truly love them if you've only seen their good side? I figure, if I can love these guys when they're at their worst--AKA draft 1--then how much more will I love them when they're at their best.
All characters need to grow--I think especially in children's literature. I know this isn't always true in literary fiction and I find the stagnation hard to swallow. But for your characters to truly grow, they need to have room for it--they need to have some parts of themselves they have to conquer. Some way to learn more about themselves and to be better. It's tough (I think) to add those elements in. But starting with them makes it simple.
So there's one of my quirks. Drafting unlikeable characters while knowing they deserve to be liked, though they won't be for awhile.
What about you guys? How do your main characters look in the first draft?
To answer your question, my characters in the first draft, look, ROUGH. LOL
ReplyDeleteBut I totally agree with you here Frankie, the characters that stay with me, over time, are the ones that are multi-layered and complicated. Hmm, just like the people in my life! LOL So, I guess maybe it's because those kinds of characters, are so much more believable.
Great post!
Oh yeah, they are SO rough! Like I always say, just barf out the words. You can always fix them and understand them once they're on the page, but in your head...you can't do as much. At least for me. I'm the sort who has to work everything out on paper. Not in my head. I LOVE complicated people:-)
DeleteYou reminded me of a Marilyn Monroe quote and I may not have the exact words here but it's essentially "If you don't like me at my worst then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best" not exactly what you're saying here but I thought I'd share :). I hate Mary Sues as well but I remember when I was in high school and used to write fan fiction, when I first started all I wrote were mary sues and those were the characters I loved to read about as well but now that I have grown as a reader I realize the characters I love the most or the ones who seem most realistic, the ones you can relate too, the ones who grow and change. Thanks for this post!
ReplyDeleteSandy, that is a GREAT quote! Love it! And that's it exactly! You have to love people at their worst or you're in no position to have them at their best. I also always remember this quote from Margaret George's THE MEMOIRS OF CLEOPATRA when I read it in high school. Olympus, Cleopatra's physician warns her about Mark Antony and says something like, you've only seen him win. You won't know what he's really like until you've seen him lose. And that always stayed with me. A person's true character will be revealed when they are at their worst--because everyone is capable of being shiny and personable when things are going their way--it's when things are bad that true colors emerge. Thanks for the great comment!
DeleteI don't really know my characters in the first draft since I am not an outliner. I know writers shouldn't play favorites with their characters, but one of my characters surprised me by becoming so likeable and becoming one of my favorites. She was only supposed to have a minor role in the story, and the reader probably wouldn't like her, but as I wrote, I realized she could play a large role in the story. I realized she had secrets hidden, and they helped to make her likeable. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI find it's really hard to know my characters in the first draft too. They always end up surprising me in some way that eventually shows me who they are and let's me flesh them out. And I love when small characters suddenly become larger than life and take on bigger roles. I find the whole process so fascinating.
DeleteMine tend to be all over the place. Likeable, but also annoying. Easy to sympathize with, but frustrating when they make bad decisions.
ReplyDeleteOr, at least, that's how I picture them, and how I want them to end up. How well I pull it off when drafting is another question.
Interesting. You like getting a really visceral reaction from readers I guess. I think what I hope for is that people can recognize themselves in my characters and know yeah...I kind of feel that way too sometimes. Man, pulling it all off the way we want it though is a beast.
DeleteI like the way you explain your process...the adding of layers and dimension to a character as you go through revision.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love the fact that you know the core of your character first, and what is in the deepest part of his/her soul.
Shelley
Thanks, Shelley! I'm glad you enjoyed. Isn't soul searching fun--even when it's with imaginary people?
DeleteI go either way. The first novel I ever wrote my character had nothing bad about her--she was all good at first. I had to go back and write in the messy bits. My second story, my MC was very unlikeable. I pretty much wrote it the opposite way of the first. As I work on my second, my character is sort of in the middle of the road so I'm going to have to highten each aspect of his characeter in both ways. I'm still trying to figure out my "style" on how I do things. Maybe by my 4th story I'll have a better understanding of how I work!
ReplyDeleteIt's always a work in progress isn't it? I'm still trying to work out my style too. I'm usually a heavy plotter, but this current novel was completely pantsed. Good luck figuring out the right middle ground for your character, Kelly!
DeleteMy first draft characters are often EXTREMELY self-absorbed. Probably because I'm so gung-ho about figuring out their motivation, which can sometimes come across as a selfish sort of desire if they are ignoring the other problems around them. But by the third or fourth draft I've usually rounded them out.
ReplyDeleteOne of my favorite characters I've written is super unlikeable for most of the book. But she's interesting and passionate, so at least she's fun to read about. :)
Oooh that makes so much sense! I like that. Being self absorbed in a first draft definitely sheds light on what matters to them and what they want.
DeleteAnd I DO like the unlikeable characters that are unlikeable on purpose eventually become likeable.
Likeable characters? HAHAHAHAHA. Me, write them? You must be joking! I laugh only because the R+R I'm working on has me making my characters likeable. It was a complaint the agent gave - my MC was too passive, the love interest is a villain..... I'm working really hard, and I am HOPING it comes through this time. That my MC is not so passive. And that my sexy Irish love interest? Crazy, yes, but not 100% villain. I think creating characters is such a hard thing. In your head, you know why they act the way they do but it is not always written on the page...
ReplyDeleteOh no! LOL! Funnily enough my post for tomorrow is about how my unlikeable narrator allowed her to not be passive in the current revision. And ooooh on the sexy Irish love interest. I have one of those--but in a different project. Good luck making your characters likeable, not passive, and not crazy:-)
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