forum Likable Protagonist

Started January 16, 2018 by @Kaia

tune

You feel sorry for her…but she's a pretty terrible human/supernatural.

Sympathetic past that forced her to act like a terrible person or develop a twisted mindset

I like making them sarcastic little sh*ts.

@MadDog me too XD

One of the most important elements of creating a female character: you've got to make sure that she's not really irritating and weepy. I get really frustrated with books where the main character is either overly full of herself and thus is irritating or where she's overly melodramatic and drowns in self-pity and is thus also irritating. Finding the balance is sometimes hard but you want your characters to root for her. Like Jeana M Barham said her past could help explain why she is the way she is now and make readers sympathetic to her. Just make sure she's not super dark and broody and melodramatic about it. When characters get hooked on screaming and crying and ranting about their dark pasts is when I return the book to the library.

I don't know if this at all helpful but I wish you luck with your story!

Make them relatable. It's best if they aren't amazing at everything but also not horrible at everything. Make them sarcastic and/or funny. They could have some cute little insecurities and hidden strengths that they have to discover. Make them unique - obsessively collects __, has an irrational fear of ___.
Avoid certain things, like excessive self-pity or introspectiveness. Don't make them emotionless or extremely rude and blunt - as a reader, I hate characters I can't relate to.
Hope this helps!