How to make a spoiled, aggressive girl likeable

Zixi · Jul 17, 2007

I have completed a YA novel and my main character is a spoiled, aggressive, intelligent girl who lets no one best her. Trouble is my citiquers as well as an editor and agent say she is too unlikeable, (spoiled brat) although the story is impressive.

My trouble stems from the fact that she was a "real" girl and her story is historical fiction. How much of her character can I change to make the story agreeable to the reader and publishers?

And does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can make the audience like her. I feel if I change her too much, she is not being true to who the girl really was.

Thank you in advance.

reenkam · Jul 17, 2007

Give her a reason why she has to be the best. maybe something in her past that would make people understand and identify with her, like a parent saying something.

I don't know who the girl is, so I can't really give more examples so much...

Maybe you could add something in that would show a more passionate side, like a pet??

JamieFord · Jul 17, 2007

No one is perfect. Everyone has weaknesses, if not, you should create some. Pull her off the pedestal and make her human--give her some noble, yet tragic qualities that your readers can relate to. You want people to cheer for her happiness, not resent it.

Meerkat · Jul 17, 2007

She has one thing going against her in two ways and with two possible solutions:

She has the need to be the best at everything, but not the skill. This is primarily due to things being given her, rather than putting in the time and effort to learn how to do things the hard way, becoming expert enough to come by "best" honestly. She must be a bullshit artist, and call on every facet of the rest of her to pull this off. You could make the challenges hard and the solutions remarkable, to ally readers with her.

She is dumbfounded by things others know almost instinctively, they having learned things much earlier the hard way. She says "let them eat cake" things naively, and is loathed for it. You could make the loathing out of proportion to her errors, to gain reader sympathy.

Danger Jane · Jul 17, 2007

like no one is perfect, no one is really all bad, either. Make the most you can out of her good qualities. Maybe read Emma by Jane Austen?

Don't look to Roald Dahl for examples of likeable brats

glendalough · Jul 17, 2007

Well, on my soap (eyerolls) the bad girl always turns good through a love she wants but can't have...yet. Like Brenda...she was a boyfriend stealer, smart mouthed annoyance. Then she fell...hard...for Sonny. A sexy, dark gangster type. He was a bad guy, but at first, out of her reach. This made me like her..showed her vulnerable side in a way many of us can relate to. A love we can't have.

jhtatroe · Jul 17, 2007

Your character sounds rather like Artemis Fowl from the Eoin Colfer series. Perhaps you could read through those with an eye to his techniques?

TheIT · Jul 17, 2007

Is she selfish? Does she use her aggression only to help herself, or does she help others? She might be more sympathetic if she uses her talents to help someone weaker than herself rather than trouncing them. Perhaps she sees helping as a challenge.

Dancre · Jul 17, 2007

Zixi said:
I have completed a YA novel and my main character is a spoiled, aggressive, intelligent girl who lets no one best her. Trouble is my citiquers as well as an editor and agent say she is too unlikeable, (spoiled brat) although the story is impressive.

My trouble stems from the fact that she was a "real" girl and her story is historical fiction. How much of her character can I change to make the story agreeable to the reader and publishers?

And does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can make the audience like her. I feel if I change her too much, she is not being true to who the girl really was.

Thank you in advance.

I read on a writer's blog that said the best way to make a MC likeable is to give her characteristics that everyone can understand, like she's mean b/c she's afraid of rejection so she pushes everyone away. Or she was abused as a child so she's afraid of people, or something that folks relate with. Have her do things that folks would normally do, like if she was abused as a child then normally she would be afraid of men or creating friendships. Have her act the same as the reader. And maybe you should dig deeper into your historical MC in order to understand her better?

kim

Sage · Jul 17, 2007

Danger Jane said:
like no one is perfect, no one is really all bad, either. Make the most you can out of her good qualities. Maybe read Emma by Jane Austen?

This is a good suggestion. I just happen to have recently reread Emma, & realized several chapters in that I didn't like her that much, but a little later she starts to improve, & the first point where she started growing on me was when she realizes for the first time that she was wrong, & truly is sorry & endeavors to improve herself. So clearly one way to make a spoiled brat more likeable is to have them truly sorry when they realize they've done something/someone wrong.

greywaren · Jul 20, 2007

I think there are a lot of characters out there that SHOULD be unlikable that aren't. How about the crazy-popular series House? C'mon, House is an a'hole. So what makes him likable?

- he's funny
- he does things that we WISH we were allowed to do
- he's proactive - he goes for what he wants

Sounds like your character could be very similar. If you could get some internal dialogue going where she's funny - humor's a great way to relate to readers. Perhaps the reader is the only one she can really confide in.

Remember, any flawed character can be likable - I don't care how flawed. How many horrible assassins have we laughed and sympathized with because of their personalities? I think instead of pushing her aggression away, own it.

Elodie-Caroline · Jul 20, 2007

Hi,
My female MC comes across the same as yours in a lot of ways, I guess she would have been the Paris Hilton of the late 1970s/early1980s.
Mine is like she is because she was abused as a child, she never tells anyone about it though. But my MC has a really wicked sense of humour, which is how she hides the things that haunt her and makes other people like her. She is also very sensitive underneath her tough and flamboyant exterior.

So give your girl a reason why she is like she is, and maybe give her a sense of humour too. One of my beta-readers told me that she loved my work because she laughed and cried with my girl all the way through the story; I don't think I could have had a nicer compliment really

Elodie

Julie Worth · Jul 20, 2007

Do mean things to her, totally unfairly.

Evaine · Jul 21, 2007

The heroine of The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgeson Burnett was a horrible little girl at the beginning of the book - which was one of the reasons I liked it.

greywaren · Jul 21, 2007

Oh, good one, Evaine - you're right! That book was all about her coming to grips with being horrible.

goatprincess · Jul 22, 2007

I love this thread. Know why? Because fiction is all about exploring all sides of human behavior and the human psyche. The suggestions already given are great. I just wanted to add that the challenge of making her likeable while still being herself is the kind of thing that makes writing fun.

dolores haze · Jul 22, 2007

You don't have to change her character. Instead, show more of her inner thoughts, feelings, and dialogue. There are reasons why she is so unpleasant, but the reader cannot see them. The writer has to show us why we should feel sympathy for her. IMO, a character does not have to be sympathetic in order to be interesting. But if your crits, an agent, and an editor have all told you this character is too unpleasant to care about, then showing the person inside could keep her character intact, while allowing the reader inside her head. After all - even Hitler loved his mother.

Marian Perera · Jul 22, 2007

Julie Worth said:
Do mean things to her, totally unfairly.

I can't emphasize enough what a good idea this is. I had an early novel where a main character was a xenophobic murderer. No regrets when he backstabbed one of his own subordinates or forced unarmed people to commit suicide just because they belonged to the wrong race. In the story, a group of people murdered the woman he loved (who was three months pregnant with their child) and framed him for the crime. They manipulated the trial so that he was found guilty. He lost everything he held dear and was sentenced to life imprisonment at hard labor. I found it difficult not to sympathize with him at least a little after that.

White_Pearl · Aug 2, 2007

I would try to give her a reason to show what made her so aggressive, such as her parents never had time for her is a classic. Or how about, her loosing a beloved she never got over, just something that helps the reader to understand why your character is the way she is. It makes her at least acceptable if not likeable. The young reader can identify easily with obandenment by parent. Didn't we all felt like that at some time or other? Let her being humbled by some event that turned her around. Good luck.

davids · Aug 2, 2007

i had my female nasty girl gang raped by a mad horde of seagulls-or flock if you must! They were acting hordish

moondance · Aug 2, 2007

*is curious about how one could be raped by a seagull...*

reenkam · Aug 2, 2007

Maybe if you were at the beach and pulled out a piece of break or a cracker.

I can definitely see it happening then.

limitedtimeauthor · Aug 2, 2007

Zixi said:
I have completed a YA novel and my main character is a spoiled, aggressive, intelligent girl who lets no one best her. Trouble is my citiquers as well as an editor and agent say she is too unlikeable, (spoiled brat) although the story is impressive.

My trouble stems from the fact that she was a "real" girl and her story is historical fiction. How much of her character can I change to make the story agreeable to the reader and publishers?

And does anyone have a suggestion as to how I can make the audience like her. I feel if I change her too much, she is not being true to who the girl really was.

Thank you in advance.

Show the insecurities and/or weaknesses that anyone can relate to. Some thread of humanity shared by your target audience.

Lyra Jean · Aug 3, 2007

Can't remember the name of the author right now but she wrote the YA "Wolf by the Ears" and "The Coffin Quilt" among other American YA historicals. One set of books she wrote is called the Quilt Trilogy. The second has a very unlikeable girl character. The only reason I continued to read is 1) I like the author. 2) It was the second book in the trilogy. Maybe you can get some ideas from it on how to change your character to be more likeable.

auntybug · Aug 3, 2007

Give her a couple of million dollars & check her in rehab...that outta do it....

or

shave her head....get her married...divorced...married...kids.. divorce...rehab..

sorry I'm having a bad day

How to make a spoiled, aggressive girl likeable

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