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