Jessica Russell's Blog - Posts Tagged "likable"
The Likability Factor
Do you really have to like people? Well, that’s a loaded question. some days I like animals more than people. Anyway, almost every editor in the world tells you that the characters in your book have to be “likable” or your novel might be DOA. Maybe I’m in a minuscule minority, but I never really got all that hung up on whether or not a character was likable, as long as the character was REAL. Overall, though, you do need likable characters in your novel for the sole purpose of making sure the reader cares enough about them to want to know what happens. If they don’t, they may not finish the book.
For example, a friend of mine read a book recently by a well-known romance author who at one time came up with some really good stories, but whose work has gotten very repetitive the last decade or so. And I’m not picking on anybody, because will all be there one day: either using a ghostwriter or just churning them out to make the next check. (Or what I plan to do… Retire before I get either of those points. LOL)
But anyway, when I say repetitive, I mean repetitive. At one point, I had to take a look at the book just to see if it was as bad as my friend told me. I counted the same point reiterated 44 times in 50 pages. That’s just bad writing, pure and simple. The heroine was downright irritating. She started out as a strong, independent, intelligent woman and then in the end, couldn’t figure out whether or not to leave a man who was mentally and physically abusive… because, well…she loved him. UGH.
Yeah, that’s gonna make a lot of modern women angry and make them want to throw the book over their shoulder. So, there’s a lot to be said for the likability factor. If the character is so annoying that the reader doesn’t care what happens to her/him, then clearly you are at risk of the reader not finishing the book. If you are going to make a character annoying because you’re just going for “real” as opposed to “oh, I really love this person” give the reader a FEW attributes that he or she can like or relate to. Even villains and screw ups can be lovable if you create them the right way.
So, yes, likability is important and you should find a way to do it somehow, and if you’re leading character is not so noble, put another character in the book that readers can root for. Either way, don’t make the leading character so annoying that people stop reading or you hear the dreaded “so what?” when they’re finished. Write on!
For example, a friend of mine read a book recently by a well-known romance author who at one time came up with some really good stories, but whose work has gotten very repetitive the last decade or so. And I’m not picking on anybody, because will all be there one day: either using a ghostwriter or just churning them out to make the next check. (Or what I plan to do… Retire before I get either of those points. LOL)
But anyway, when I say repetitive, I mean repetitive. At one point, I had to take a look at the book just to see if it was as bad as my friend told me. I counted the same point reiterated 44 times in 50 pages. That’s just bad writing, pure and simple. The heroine was downright irritating. She started out as a strong, independent, intelligent woman and then in the end, couldn’t figure out whether or not to leave a man who was mentally and physically abusive… because, well…she loved him. UGH.
Yeah, that’s gonna make a lot of modern women angry and make them want to throw the book over their shoulder. So, there’s a lot to be said for the likability factor. If the character is so annoying that the reader doesn’t care what happens to her/him, then clearly you are at risk of the reader not finishing the book. If you are going to make a character annoying because you’re just going for “real” as opposed to “oh, I really love this person” give the reader a FEW attributes that he or she can like or relate to. Even villains and screw ups can be lovable if you create them the right way.
So, yes, likability is important and you should find a way to do it somehow, and if you’re leading character is not so noble, put another character in the book that readers can root for. Either way, don’t make the leading character so annoying that people stop reading or you hear the dreaded “so what?” when they’re finished. Write on!
