When writing transformative fiction, is it more important to keep the main character likable, or interesting?

By Gary Lee Miller

What kind of reader are you? Many readers who enjoy transformative fiction prefer the main character to be “likable” or “feel like a friend.” Other readers are just as happy with a main character who may be an “anti-hero,” or in other words someone not necessarily likable, but interesting, as the main character driving the story forward.

Readers may either identify with or have sympathy towards the main character - or not. Regardless, it is important that on some level the reader is invested in the main character enough to continue reading, waiting to see developments which lead to their transformation or transformations to those around them. That is the challenge of the author.

Authors walk a tightrope when creating their book’s protagonist since that character is typically who drives the plot forward. Often the protagonist’s likeability factor may be influenced by the strength of the antagonist’s un-likeability factor (if there is an antagonist). In other words, “How bad is the bad character?” Most readers enjoy rallying against the bad character, or characters, which creates an even stronger juxtaposition when paired with a very likable or sympathetic protagonist.

The positive transformation is common for many authors and traditionally used in most feel-good novels. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott is an example of a book with multiple protagonists and positive transformations. Having multiple protagonists provides the reader with the opportunity to relate to one or more those characters, making the reading experience more enjoyable. Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy each have character flaws, making them more human, and interesting to the reader. The readers either see some of themselves in one or more of them or recognize friends or family members who have characteristics similar to one of more of the sisters.

Transformations can also be either positive or negative, depending on what the author wishes to convey to a reader. In a cautionary tale, the author may begin with a likable character and take their reader on a journey of seeing that character disintegrate due to their own poor decisions or external factors not within the character’s control. An excellent example of a negative transformation would be Michael Corleone in Mario Puzo’s The Godfather. Michael starts out as a war hero with a promising future, not being entangled in his family’s organized crime activities. Then circumstances lead Michael to make the pivotal, life-changing decision to avenge his father’s assassination attempt. That decision leads to the long, slow transformation of his character, including the carnage brought to those around him, friends, foes, and family, as he solidifies his power.

It’s not always necessary for an author to have an antagonist. My book, Finding Grace, does not have a traditional antagonist. Instead, the internal conflict comes from within its main character and protagonist, Judith, helping drive the story. This internal conflict results from her very challenging, sometimes traumatic childhood. Now with Judith as an adult, the reader shares in her transformational cross-country bus trip (her grandmother’s dying wish) as she is forced from the protective cocoon her immense wealth has allowed her to create, back into the real world. The reader is drawn in during her six-day journey from LA to Nashville by the backstories of her six different seatmates along with their interaction with Judith. In this case, while each day’s seatmate is facing their own challenges, my goal for the reader was for them to be very interested in her seatmate’s stories while seeing the positive evolution of Judith’s character as she engages in entertaining, thought-provoking conversations with them.

In transformative fiction, the reader should enjoy experiencing the main character’s evolution. But the storyline of the main and various characters should touch the reader at a deeper level, challenging them to understand themselves, causing them to ask questions about their own experiences and beliefs.

The original question was, “When writing transformative fiction, is it more important to keep the main character likable, or interesting.” There is no definitive answer because it all depends on the story and the author’s goal and style of writing. The overriding factor for any author in any genre is that the story must be interesting. Speaking of interesting, I believe you will find interesting what I’m sharing next.

In a conversation with the founder of an international publishing company I asked him, “I know you have your people who read the manuscripts submitted by authors with hopes of publication. Do you ever read any of them?” His reply was what I expected, but with a twist. As expected, he said he did not read the manuscripts, however he shared an exercise I believe every author will benefit from by doing the same. His continued reply was, “While I don’t read them, what I do occasionally with a manuscript is to randomly pick out a page, read it, and ask myself, ‘Does the author have my interest, making me want to read more?’” He said he would read four or five more randomly selected pages throughout the manuscript asking himself the same question. That often determined whether that manuscript was given a green light – or not.

Whether “likability” or “interesting” is more important in transformational fiction is debatable. Great books have a balance of both. If forced to choose between the two, my choice would be with “interesting,” for without an interesting main character, what’s the point of reading the book?

Gary Lee Miller is an award-winning author and actor. His debut novel, Finding Grace is available from booksellers everywhere. More about Gary at garyleemillerbooks.com

Erika Robuck on the Enduring Stories of Women in World War II

Erika Robuck joined me today to talk about her novel Sisters of Night and Fog, how World War 2 continues to be a fertile place for novels, especially as the stories of women resistors and spies become more well known, through the declassification of documents. Also covered - researching for historical novels, and why World War 2 is so horribly relevant today.

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Creating Accountability in Your Writing Practice

by Rennie Saunders

Can you work without a deadline? Be honest. If someone asked you to write a paper, and said you could turn it in anytime you liked, would that paper ever happen?

For many of us, the answer is no. Many writers, myself included, recognize that a deadline is one of the necessary evils of writing. Sure, it’s fun to sit down and draft without any agenda, but when real productivity has to happen, it’s time to call in the writer’s dutiful drill sergeant: accountability.

Accountability is all about setting up real consequences and outside pressure so you can get something done. But it might not be enough to simply set a due date on your calendar. Sometimes, accountability is a very real editor breathing down your neck, telling you that your work needs to be done by Tuesday or else. Sometimes it’s a friend reading your draft, begging you to keep going so they can find out what happens in the next chapter. External motivation can save the day when you can’t figure out how to trick yourself into filling up that blank page.

But what happens when you don’t have a deadline, or an editor, or a friend reading a draft in progress? How do you summon that powerful outside force of accountability when you’re writing something entirely on your own?

It’s about learning what works for you, and then making it happen. Do you just need to carve out an hour on your calendar? Make an appointment with yourself to write and set alarms and reminders. Do you work even better if you set a goal, and then ask someone to check up on you? Tell yourself you’ll write 500 words by 5pm on Tuesday, then recruit a friend to call you at 5pm and make sure you’ve kept your promise. If you pay attention to the factors that make you more likely to be productive, you can set yourself up to succeed.

Sometimes it’s all about finding the right person to support you. If you were trying to go to the gym regularly, you’d probably call a friend and set up a time to meet at the gym every week. Or maybe you’d hire a personal trainer. When you know someone’s waiting for you, you show up. And once you show up, you might as well work out, because you’re at the gym already, right?

That’s the psychology that worked best for me as a writer, and it’s why I started my nonprofit organization, Shut Up & Write, over a decade ago. At the time, I was working on a sci-fi novel, and couldn’t focus or make progress on my own. I decided to start a writing group in a local cafe with the idea of just showing up to write. We wouldn’t read each other’s work, or critique anything at all. This group would simply write quietly together in a cafe for an hour. That was all I needed to get motivated: I just needed a place to show up and shut up.

By starting a writing group, I’d not only made a promise to myself to write for an hour a week, I’d made a promise to an entire group of writers who were depending on me to show up for them. It was a setup that was nearly impossible for me to make an excuse to abandon. And so, I showed up and I wrote. Finally, I’d figured out how to crack the code and get my writing done. I just needed a hefty dose of accountability, which for me meant setting aside a regular time to write with others.

Ultimately, accountability is about making a commitment to yourself, but it’s much easier to do that when you find people in your life who will support you. As writers, we learn to seek out friends who will read in-progress drafts, editors who will set deadlines, and in my case, other writers who will just show up.

Creating an external support system shouldn’t be too elaborate – in fact, when we try and set lofty goals it makes it easier to miss them. But an accountability system is an essential piece of a disciplined writing practice, and when you bring other writers into the mix, comes with the added benefits of community and connection.

Rennie Saunders has built an 80,000 -person global writer’s community based on his simple, highly effective formula – Shut Up & Write. Since 2007, SU&W has inspired writers of all genres and experience levels to meet for weekly writing sessions, no critiquing or feedback required. With hundreds of chapters in over 350 cities across the globe, the process is proven to work.