Is it their profession? Is it their past experiences? Their personality?
What if you want your main character to be an every day, average Joe? Will that, then, not make a good story?
Think of one of your favorite books and tell me: What makes the MC interesting to you?
I'll start. Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility" is full of interesting characters. What makes the two main sisters interesting, though, is how they react in contrast to each other. (The one sensibly, and the other not.)
So... maybe what makes a character interesting is the way in which it relates to the story being told? For example, a cop might not be an interesting character in, say, a story about fairies... but would definitely be a more interesting character in a crime-thriller.
I'd love to hear your thoughts and observations!
My hubby came home from work (in NYC) one day and said, "I wish you could meet the bosses' nephew. He IS a character." He went on to explain how this stick-thin teen with died bright-red hair loitered around the office, laying on the floor at one point--listening to the hum of motion and noise of people's feet--the same floor a full sized dog occupied regularly.
ReplyDeleteI sat back and thought, "Ya, that is a character. What book would he fit in?"
I think the more unique, eccentric or believable a character is, the more powerful they are. Every character--just like every person should have something that makes them truly and individually peculiar.
LOL! Love the picture. Is that really your crazy Uncle Joe?? LOL!
ReplyDeleteI think some of the characters that I find most endearing are those that have endured major hardships. Like Harry Potter and Anne of Green Gables. Those are two of my favorite characters and they are both orphans. Not sure what that says about me.
I think what makes an MC interesting is that I can relate to him or her. I attach myself to the person and want to know what will happen to him or her becuase I care.
ReplyDeleteOne of my most favorite books ever is Giants of the Frost by Kim Wilkins.
A horrible event happens to one of her MCs that just grips me and has me following along like a dumb sheep until the end where I can't stop crying for her.
Nikki-- LOL! No, no relation... the picture just made me laugh.
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