See: Dexter, half the characters from The Wire, ALL the characters James Ellroy has ever written, Mal from Firefly… None of them people you’d want as neighbors. All of them characters you want to get involved with.

As far as *how*… I’m still figuring it out. Obviously, having characteristics/motivations/reactions that the reader can relate to is key. Most of us can’t directly relate to being imprisoned and tortured by the tufted were-badgers of Ghan’aa in their underground fortress. Most of us can relate to the pain of losing a pet. Using those shared experiences (a/k/a writing what you know(tm)) to develop an empathetic bond with the character means the reader will forgive them for doing all kinds of unlikeable stuff later on.

It probably also helps if you develop the empathetic connection early, rather than later–if your character has already rounded up every kitten on earth to make the world’s fluffiest snuggie, their heartbreaking back story may not engender much sympathy…

My $0.02,

~JGS

I think you’re right about slowly getting to know them as well. The gratification of getting to know a character throughout the course of the novel is a major part of building that likability factor.

Nice post.

Or, as David Horton playing King Herod in the Christmas Pageant on the old BBC sitcom, The Vicar of Dibley, said, after ordering his soldiers to massacre the infants in Bethlehem, “But kill them gently!”

More to the point, likeability has more dimensions than good or bad. It’s one thing to give the otherwise-evil villain some justification because of something in their past that turned them to evil. But what do you do, for example, about contemporary characters who are unlikeable because they’re annoying, or tiresome?

A simplistic answer is to change the character so they’re no longer annoying or tiresome. That answer, though, masks a deeper question that you, the author, need to ask explicitly about every character (because your readers will ask the question implicitly): why would I want to spend time with this character?

Just like the fact that people come to your blog or web site asking, “What’s in it for me?” readers expect to get something in return for the time they put into a book. When readers say a character is unlikeable, they’re really saying they’re finding it increasingly difficult to predict what their return on investing time in the character might be.

Regardless of how morally reprehensible they might be, we like characters that give us some insight or teach us something. I look at my unlikeable characters and ask whether they’re doing anything more than simply taking up space.

To effectively create characters within any manuscript or screenplay, you have to be adept at human nature and understand the intricacies which play out at every level. From the depths of your spirit-filled soul all the way to the machine that people see on a daily basis which transports its ghost.

Clearly defining a charcters role and how this entity will play out and interact with the remaining cast and crew is what a well-heeled story teller is most capable of doing. For me, with a lifetime of interpersonal details; for which I’ve been a dutiful student, my efforts moving toward commercial fiction from my current platform of inspirational/motivational/self-help; will be at the top of the scale because I know how to weave in the human element and engage this condition for the reader to not only visualize my words from the picture I paint, but also “feel” inside their emotional core those very components that lead them to “turn the page.”

A great story teller — the type Jane is looking to see more of — gets this and conveys it within their semantical prose.

Picture this… You wish to build a house. What are the steps? How are you going to bring those “characters” together to create that grand mansion you wish the world to see? That place you call your home? That place you wish to invite the world in to share in your passion so they truly know who you are from how you write. Figure this out and you won’t be considered about facing a rejection because your manuscripts characters are not well defined and how their roles connect effectively and efficiently as the story unfolds. Take your reader by the hand and say, “Walk with me. Let me show you something completely breath-taking that will change your life forever.”

As my friend David Morrell wrote to me on a bookplate he’d sent for inspiration and motivation as I sharpen my craft — “Follow your Light.” David’s wisdom is great. You wish to find the answers as to creating those characters that you need to shine through in your work? It all starts deep within your heart first — 100%! That place where the Light lives!

Stephanie, thanks again for this post. Tell your literary agents at DGLM to keep ’em coming. Iron sharpens Iron!! Blessings…..Kevin