How to Make an Unhappy Character "Likable"

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy 

Novels don't always have a happy hero at the core--but that doesn't make the character any less "likable."

It's ironic that there are so many terms in writing that aren't clear exactly what they mean, or have multiple definitions or uses. "Likable" is one such term.

All the advice says we want a likable protagonist readers can root for, someone they'll want to hang out with for four hundred pages, and someone readers will connect with.

But likable isn't really the issue, and the word can be problematic.

Back in 2013, I received a question from a writer struggling to make her depressed character "likable." She also suffered from depression , and feared readers living in the head of a depressed character wasn't something "emotionally healthy folks are going to want to spend time with." I answered her question best I could.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com