Your Character Has To Care or the reader Won’t
When you’re creating characters, particularly main characters, they have to care about something. Even if they’re a nihilist they must care about not caring. They must care so much about not caring that the reader is convinced of their dedication to the meaninglessness of life and will want to know why they are the way they are.
I remember Madalyn Murry O’Hare who was an atheist who lived here in Austin and disbelieved so completely in God that she formed a church of atheism. She was fanatical about her disbelief. Now there’s a character I want to read about.
If your character cares about things you’ll find yourself, as a writer, learning interesting things about the character that make him or her come alive. Usually, you’ll discover the two most important things about a character: what do they want and what do they need. There are other important things but these two are at the top of the list.
I recently watched a movie where the main character cared about nothing. This was supposed to be based on a troubled past and a pessimistic outlook on existence, neither of which seemed real because the character didn’t care about his past or his pessimism. The writer/director added some meaningless violence and a bit of meaningless sex to spice things up but, honestly, it was so boring and so pretentious and tedious that I quit on it about half way through.
I pride myself on my ability to watch some very trashy shows/movies so it was a disappointment that even I have my limits.
I get excited about a novel, show, movie that has characters who care about things. They engage me emotionally and intellectually and I start rooting for them or against them. Once that happens a story has me hooked. I’m going to watch or read even if the plot isn’t all that interesting or unique. Make your characters care. Your readers will, too.
Thanks for reading.
More personally:
I have a novel coming out on June 29. It’s absurdist comedy at its most fantastical. Check it out if you like that kind of read. Here’s the blurb.
A fun, fast, fantastical read: After an altercation with a clown, I get lost in the woods and find a strange town. When the librarian of the town dies in front of me, I try on his ring. It fits. I’m declared the new librarian by the mayor and townspeople. I get to live in a houseful of books. But I soon learn the job involves more than just tomes and information. In fact, my first assignment is to discover who murdered my predecessor.
Meanwhile, I learn that the town is a whole lot stranger than I’d first thought and I’d thought it was pretty strange from the first. The library has a ghoul and a ghost, which seems excessive. Not everyone in the town of Eden is alive or even human. A headless seductress (she carries her head around with her) propositions me, but may also be trying to kill me.
Honestly, I have some secrets of my own. After aging out of foster care, I hit the road. At first, I just drift; then I begin to get messages in dreams that direct me to places where people need the kind of help I can give them. I learn many things. One of the things I learn is I am the One. The only problem is that I am not that One. I’m the other One. The One who will bring destruction.
