Characters

I've been reading a lot of books lately that have one focused main character and I've been wondering what makes that character believable. I couldn't figure out if it was the way they thought, their imperfections, or the balance of their personality in general. But then I thought if that were true then there could be no perfectly angelic characters and no perfectly evil characters. I noticed that a perfect character seems a lot more realistic once they've done something wrong. And also how the bad guy becomes a lot more believable the second that he has a doubt about what he's done. It doesn't really matter whether or not he changes but the little waver is enough to convince you that he is real. It's much easier to think of a beautiful and equally stupid person or a smart and not-so-gorgeous person. Otherwise it seems just too good/bad to be believable.

It seems to be easier for some people to admire stories if they feel that they can relate to the main character. It doesn't have to be much it could be the gender, race, problem they're having, or even the fact that they have a little sibling too. It makes it easier for the reader to see the story clearly through the main characters eyes. It also allows you to bond with the main character a little bit. But most of all the story becomes a little bit more realistic, it could just be the little details but it all makes a slight difference. The story might be completely and obviously fictional, yet the reader has a new understanding if they can relate to the main character.

I used to think that it was all about the character having imperfections. But it can't be because if there is a perfect person and they are hated, it's not an imperfection on their part. I think it would be much easier to consider these characters if the narrator is jealous of them because it shows jealousy which is believable. If a main character is perfect then something has to go wrong because no body wants to read a boring book about the non existent problems in some one's faultless life. You can only write a story about an problem or an event. Say there is a book about a girl who wins the lottery. The book will most likely be about the struggle in her life leading up to that or how the greed and wealth corrupts her. There's a reason why happy endings happen at the end of a story.

It's hard to believe that a person is good or evil in real life, why should it be any different in a book. There are the typical bad guys the villains of fairy tales it is assumed that they are good or bad. But in the real world everything is in shades of gray, its not all black and white. Have you ever wondered why people like stories that favor the bad guy? If you have ever really read the book "Wicked" you'd know that it is not about an amazing friendship between two girls (as you often hear on all the commercials). Its about what could make this girl Elphaba grow up into the wicked witch of the west. I personally think that people are drawn to this story because they find it hard to believe that she was a completely evil character since the day she was born, They know that something must have happened to make her into the person that you see through Dorothy's eyes in "The Wizard of Oz".

I think that it is really a combination of this that makes characters believable, likable, and interesting. I think that next time you read a book think about the first time you actually began to like a character. What did it? What changed to make them likable? If it hadn't happened would you still like the character? If you didn't like the character would you still be reading the book? Just think about it because I think you'll realize something about the writing that you might have never even seen before.