A matter of character.

I had an interesting conversation with someone on New Year’s Day about the characters of my books, and the question of whether or not they were likable. She had strong opinions on that, some of which surprised me (although her arguments were quite sound).

Character likability is a tricky issue for an author, because the author’s foremost responsibility is to present the characters credibly. People don’t necessarily behave in nice or admirable ways. Furthermore, characters who DO behave in nice and admirable ways aren’t necessarily interesting — a sanctimonious prig may be far less likable than a good-humored bounder.

So, here’s a question for discussion: What makes a character likable for you?

1 thought on “A matter of character.”

  1. Compassion. Introspection. Humility. Learning from lessons/life experience (mebbe still repeated experience, but at least w/awareness of whassup). Active (mebbe??).

    The 1st might be required, t’others will likely help, but only if’n needed/appropriate w/in context of the story/narrative. And now that I think about it, a serial-killer will, if successful, learn from past mistakes and refine his/her “art,” w/out being likeable, thus my caveat of “must be compassionate” remains (and becomes even more important).

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