The hero of a work of fiction can be anything from a cockroach to the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But we’re only fully invested in an image that reminds us of ourselves-that is, has human attributes such as character, habits, virtues, flaws, memories, dreams, and plans for the future. If your heroine is distinguished only by velvety skin and firmness of form, it will be interesting to read about her only prisoners who have already forgotten what a real woman looks like.
How many characters should there be in a novel? As many as you can hold.
It is believed that three is the optimal number of protagonists in a genre novel. One character is a lack of conflict: the reader will find it difficult to empathize with him. Two is better, but someone else is needed to bring chaos to the relationship between the two main characters. Three is just fine.
But even an intellectual novel and the mainstream should not be overpopulated. If the reader becomes confused about the characters and forgets who is who, that’s a bad sign.
When the reader accepts the hero with all his heart, he feels:
- sympathy – approval and sympathy;
- Empathy – the reader easily imagines himself in his place.
In order for this to happen, the character must be charming. All memorable characters have the following in common:
- reliability – they are described so that the reader can see them with his own eyes;
- uniqueness – the author managed to create an image, unlike any other;
- The habits, words and style of behavior of the characters one wants to copy.
Characters cope with their problems in such a way that it is admirable. Living in a successful literary image, the reader feels smarter, stronger, more charismatic – his life is filled with new colors. And this illusion of another person does not want to let go.
Many people believe that the ideal hero is a simple man. That’s why in the manuscripts that come to the publishing house, so many faceless girls looking for love, and boring men with a midlife crisis. And even more – the characters suffering from binges and psychosis. The fact is that the authors of such works are not engaged in literature, but in self-medication – they describe themselves and their problems.
One of America’s leading literary agents, Donald Maass, suggests that authors imagine that they are riding a train. Who do they want to be in the compartment with for the next ten hours–a bright, witty person or a moody neurotic? That’s just it. If we want people to spend ten hours with our characters (which is how long the average book reads), the characters have to be interesting.
It’s not about characters like Superman or Batman. It’s about charm. And the hero can be a goofball like Forrest Gump or a misanthrope like Dr. House.
Donald Maass has an interesting idea – how to show a hero who has qualities that are difficult to convey with words (beauty, power, fame):
If we start describing a beautiful girl in a standard way-what color her eyes are and what hair she has-it all looks like a pattern. But if we show her through the eyes of another character, if we describe his emotions-what he feels when he looks at the heroine-the scene will play out very differently. The main thing is to emphasize subjective perception.
It’s the same with kings and other greats: show not the imperious face, not the noble head position, but the feelings of the other character, who is in awe at the sight of the ruler.