Characters that Grab You

[Mark]

Would you rather read a book with characters that you can relate to and whose lives and experiences are similar to your own, or would you want to read about people whose lives and experiences are vastly different than yours?

Personally, I prefer the latter. I'm rarely interested in stories about average joes discovering some hidden power and becoming the beacon of awesomeness they were destined to become. I like reading about characters that are different than me in almost every way, but I can still relate to them because they are human and the feelings that are the result of these experiences transcend the differences between us. I don't need to read about characters who are like me in order for me to invest myself in the story. Real life with a creative twist isn't enough for me; I want the very foundations of the book to be out of my range, and the challenge for me is to pull myself on board this rocket ship that is already blasting towards the stars.

[Demar]

Have you read any of Joseph Campbell writing's? He was the guy who penned the idea of the Hero's Journey-this universal story arc that every hero goes through, and it's an arc that is found in all the literature and stories of every culture since the beginning of time.

True or not, what's that all about?

I think you nailed it. A character could be anything, even nonhuman,(say for example, a lion, or an elephant, or a robot) but what the character needs to have if it's going to really grab a reader, is that human experience of transcendence. I think as humans we all yearn for progress, victory, love, triumph over self-etc, and any character, as long as they in some way chronicle the human experience, will be a character that grabs a readers heart. I think the evidence behind Campbell's theory proves just that; that we tell stories of characters who epitomize in someway the Human ideal, because it resonates with us so deeply.

Write it brother,
---Demar