An Unlikeable Hero

Has anyone ever written about a romantic hero who starts out being completely unlikeable?

I have a character who I modelled on Charlie Sheen, so that might give you an idea of what he is like at the beginning of the book - a drunken, obnoxious, womanizing movie star whose career is in the toilet after he destroyed the set on his latest film.

By the end of the book he has of course undergone a major transformation and changed his ways, but I'm wondering if I've shot myself in the foot by making him so awful to start off with? I haven't had much interest in it compared to my first book and I'm starting to think it's for this reason....

The other thing is it's set on a reality tv show and for most of the book the main characters are by themselves on a tropical island and I thought maybe this lack of other characters might be a turn off?

Would love to hear from other people who have broken with conventions and gotten away with it.

shameless said:

My Murphy's Law has a spoiled rotten rich boy as a hero. One of the hardest parts of selling the book was getting an editor to give him time to develop.

Did I get away with it? Yeah. Proud to say that book won a HOLT Medallion.

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Thanks Shameless. By coincidence I have just subbed to Bookstrand so I will keep my fingers crossed!

Ambri said:

I think it is possible . . . off the top of my head, I think one of Shana Abe's historical/ paranormals had a hero who started out somewhat unlikeable. I think it was "the Dream Thief," IIRC.

I think for it to work, there has to be some reason for readers to care about your hero, even at the beginning. Maybe despite his asshattery, he has a good sense of humor, or he has a noble reason for trying to get past his "has been" status. Or maybe he has a reason for diving head first into the bottle and becoming a jerk? Wife died tragically or some other backstory reason. You might post the first chapter in SYW or run the MS by a beta or two for some feedback, if you haven't already done so. Good luck!

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He does have a sense of humor and he is a total smart ass, so I'm hoping this will generate enough interest to keep people reading....I'm going for a bit of shock value at the beginning by making him so horrible and his redeeming qualities are introduced slowly throughout the book. It also comes out later in the story that his father was an alcoholic and he has to come to term with the fact that he is also.

Thanks for the good wishes!

Just got an email from Ellora's Cave informing me that the editorial reviewer has passed my manuscript on for further consideration. I know it's still very early days considering I only queried them 2 days ago, but still exciting to get past the first hurdle! I was beginning to think no one would show any interest in this manuscript.

SafetyDance said:

There's a fine line between writing a snarky, troubled hero and an asshat. Judging by a lot of the MSs I see, authors tend to fall on the wrong side of asshat unintentionally way too often. (Another blooper is the "misunderstood" guy. How convenient!).

Now for some reason, if your character is paranormal, you can get away with a lot more asshattery. But a dude who starts out as a drunk is going to have a hard time redeeming himself, either way.

Judging by your blurb there, I would be tempted to adjust this a bit and market it as chicklit/women's fic/contemp fiction, as opposed to romance. It's a lot easier to break conventions in these genres. Besides, it sounds like this guy's personal journey may be as important as the romance, which makes the romance status questionable (weird but true). Also, I would be wary of making this hero change too much. It'd be unrealistic and hard to buy into.

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Thanks for the feedback. I never thought about marketing it as anything but a romance due to the fact that h/h are alone on a tropical island and the focus is exclusively on their relationship. It's worth considering though if it doesn't get accepted by any of the publishers I've queried.

The hero does change dramatically but it takes place over 3 months and he also has a 'spiritual' awakening while meditating on the beach which I hope I pull off convincingly.

jennontheisland said:

The notorious rake/badboy is a common hero archetype in romance. Gambling, booze, women, all pretty well used in the trope.

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This is true...but many of the publisher's guidelines I've read reinforce that the hero has to be likeable and strong, as opposed to obnoxious and weak like my hero is at the beginning.

Some even state that he can't have any addictions or major emotional baggage, be divorced or have a criminal past. These 'rules' seem very limiting to me, but I know they are broken all the time and if you do it well enough you can get away with anything!

Ambri said:

Congrats! Try to resist the urge to check your email every 2.5 seconds. Work on something else in the meantime.

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Thanks! So much easier said than done, but I'm trying!