How Many People Hate Your Main Character?

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I've been doing a lot of reading lately, and I figured out something about myself. I'm not crazy about books where everyone likes the main character. It's kind of like that quote: "If everybody likes you, you're doing something wrong."

I re-read Stephen King's Needful Things, since I had last read it in high school. The main character is a small town sheriff. There are people who don't like him. Some people don't like him because he's a cop. Some people don't like him because he's nosy. One of the first lines in the book is how the townspeople think he does an alright job but he's no Big George (his predecessor). Is it me, or do you immediately like this guy hearing about who dislikes him?

Naturally, your Big Bad Villain will dislike your main character, but is that enough? I don't think so. And what if you're writing about a character who is naturally nice? That's what I'm doing. My main character Kiri has been trained since early childhood to be pleasant and helpful. Nobody has any reason to dislike her. But she finds out that because she was pleasant and helpful, nobody really believed she was smart or capable. Even the people closest to her didn't think she was capable of more. They don't dislike her, but they don't respect her. (If you're a Game of Thrones fan, think of Sansa Stark. She's always polite and she gets no respect, but watch out future!) I'm still worried that she's winning too many people over too soon, but I'll put that question to my critique partners.

This is also a YMMV (Your Mileage May Vary) opinion. Some people don't mind a book where everyone likes the main character, where she goes through life with everyone going out of their way for her, and of course she acknowledges their kindnesses with gracious, meaningful thanks. If that's you, there are plenty of books out there for you. That's not me, though. I mean, check out my picture. Nobody in the books likes Sansa and the Hound, so of course they're my favorites. They have no friends. They create tension. But they are essentially good people (well. probably good, in the Hound's case).

What kind of characters do you like?

-- Kate, Miss Perfecting the Pages

Love & Romance....le sigh....

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 I haven't read a romance novel in years - at least not one that didn't contain some sort of paranormal or fantasy element to it. I'm your not-so-typical girl who loves movies where things blow up, zombies eat people, and love only happens because people are thrust together in insurmountable circumstances that get those hormones surging and the adrenaline racing.

When I met my husband, we bonded over my love of the 80s movie Masters of the Universe (yes, the He-Man movie) and Babylon 5 (yes, I have an undying crush on Bruce Boxleitner, the captain of Babylon 5 and the star of Tron). To me, there's nothing hotter than a guy in uniform - one for space travel. My hubby couldn't believe it. He'd hit gold. Not only did I love typical guy movies (Die Hard happens to be one of my favorite Christmas flicks), but I was also an avid gamer (the video game variety, I've never played D&D).

Some girls might roll their eyes at me. That's okay. I was never one to fit in and gave up trying years ago. But here's the thing - I'm not alone in this world. There are dozens, thousands, possibly millions of girls out there like me who swoon over the fast, dangerous romance. In the medieval-based fantasy worlds I write, characters are often trapped in wars (magical or military). They fight hard. They love hard. There isn't time for a slow buildup because they just might get burned alive (read The Initiate) or magically pushed off a platform, sending them to a quick death by broken neck (read Sleepers).

When the bigger concerns of the world come knocking, it's usually love fast or die frustrated. lol

This was one of the reasons I decided to epub. Many of the agents I spoke with bemoaned my character's ability to fall in love (or in like, or in lust) so quickly. Instead of arguing about genre conventions (wouldn't you fall in love fast if you knew you could die at any moment?), I moved on. If I argued with every person who insisted I'd never be popular, I'd still be standing on the football field in high school, clutching my flag while wearing a marching band uniform, insisting that someday I'd make something of myself while my tormentors would still be, well, mean (thank you Taylor Swift!!!!). Maybe my books aren't typical YA fare. I admit it, they're a weird combination of Twilight and Game of Thrones. Personally, I don't see anything wrong with that.

Love hard. Die hard.

Megg, Miss Enchanted ePubber