Creating Sympathetic Characters

I’ve gotten my share of rejections, and those saying I just didn’t fall in love with the main character, or the main character is unsympathetic, are frustrating.  The comments identify the problem, but usually don’t come with guidance on how to correct it.

For an easy fix, writers often try to make protagonists heroic, but that isn’t the only possibility.  What follows are ideas to create characters that are likeable, intriguing, memorable—and ultimately sympathetic.

1. Give the main character something or someone to love.  It might be an elderly grandmother or her lost dog, but everyone loves someone or something.  Reveal it to the reader.
2. Use humor.  Main characters don’t have to be hilariously funny, but the ability to laugh at themselves makes them more likeable.
3. People usually root for the underdog, so stack the odds against the main character.
4. Have your character perform an act of kindness or rescue someone or something.  However, they may come off as a meddler if they don’t have a good reason to get involved.  It might help if they are reluctant, but step to the plate nonetheless.
5. Put the character in trouble.  The bigger the trouble, the more interesting it will be.
6. Give the character a sense of duty.  Make them dependable.
7. Make the character good with animals, plants, or kids.  This can easily become clichéd (rescuing a kitten up a tree, for example,) but used well, it can be effective.
8. Integrity.  A character can be a thief but still have a moral compass.  (Robin Hood comes to mind.)
9. The character can be in jeopardy or a victim of suffering.  However, unless he finds his own way out of his troubles, he may be pitied.

Tomorrow:  More ways to make a character sympathetic.

**I originally wrote this for Sprouts, the magazine I edit for the NJ SCBWI.