A Walking, Talking Disaster
Train wreck characters have been a part of stories since humans started telling cautionary tales around the fire ('Og the Screwup met his end by poking a leopard, so kids, don't be like Og'). However, it's easy to let these characters wreck not just their own lives, but the reader's interest in the story. Usually, it's because the trainwreck character lacks self-awareness or empathy, and merely causes annoyance as they demand that the audience sympathise with their self-created problems. These characters usually have some level of a safety net as well, so the problems remain fairly trivial and there's no risk of the character going completely off the deep end.
That said, there are a few tropes which can allow a train wreck character to work in your story:
The Sympathetic Trainwreck. This character's redeeming feature is a conscience. They may be a screwup, but they genuinely care about other people. The title character of the TV show Nurse Jackie is an excellent example of this. Often, they have some level of self-awareness about their problems. But compassion for others and a genuine effort to make the world better in some small way is absolutely critical for this character to work. The Wish-Fulfillment Train Wreck. Although the name sounds like an oxymoron, this character is all about tapping into the audiences' desire to flout society's rules in some way that looks oh-so-cool. The character could be breaking the rules for a greater causes-- a vigilante superhero or a cowboy cop-- or simply selfish in a daring, entertaining way. We follow those characters because we want to beat up the bad guys who slip past law enforcement, or tell off obnoxious authority figures, or take go on mad drug-fueled adventured, but know that in real life it's a bad idea. The Tragic Trainwreck. This character has some major redeeming features, but just cannot break free of the flaws which are dragging them down. In spite of these good qualities, they are ultimately self-destructive, and we're sad to see their lives go to waste.The Horror Trainwreck. If you're going to write an unsympathetic, unrepentant, antisocial trainwreck character, you need to go all the way. These are the characters we follow because we can't look away-- the swath of destruction they cut is too wild and bloody for us to ignore. The character is also so past the moral lines of society that we have no idea what they'll unleash next, and the unpredictability is fascinating. The key here is to go over the top-- Crime and Punishment has some good examples (or try any character in Trainspotting), since the scale of the problem is what holds the reader's attention.
The bottom line is that the character's behaviour must be seriously problematic, and must carry a strong risk. Otherwise, you just have another person with some bad habits whining in the reader's ear.
That said, there are a few tropes which can allow a train wreck character to work in your story:
The Sympathetic Trainwreck. This character's redeeming feature is a conscience. They may be a screwup, but they genuinely care about other people. The title character of the TV show Nurse Jackie is an excellent example of this. Often, they have some level of self-awareness about their problems. But compassion for others and a genuine effort to make the world better in some small way is absolutely critical for this character to work. The Wish-Fulfillment Train Wreck. Although the name sounds like an oxymoron, this character is all about tapping into the audiences' desire to flout society's rules in some way that looks oh-so-cool. The character could be breaking the rules for a greater causes-- a vigilante superhero or a cowboy cop-- or simply selfish in a daring, entertaining way. We follow those characters because we want to beat up the bad guys who slip past law enforcement, or tell off obnoxious authority figures, or take go on mad drug-fueled adventured, but know that in real life it's a bad idea. The Tragic Trainwreck. This character has some major redeeming features, but just cannot break free of the flaws which are dragging them down. In spite of these good qualities, they are ultimately self-destructive, and we're sad to see their lives go to waste.The Horror Trainwreck. If you're going to write an unsympathetic, unrepentant, antisocial trainwreck character, you need to go all the way. These are the characters we follow because we can't look away-- the swath of destruction they cut is too wild and bloody for us to ignore. The character is also so past the moral lines of society that we have no idea what they'll unleash next, and the unpredictability is fascinating. The key here is to go over the top-- Crime and Punishment has some good examples (or try any character in Trainspotting), since the scale of the problem is what holds the reader's attention.
The bottom line is that the character's behaviour must be seriously problematic, and must carry a strong risk. Otherwise, you just have another person with some bad habits whining in the reader's ear.
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