unsympathetic protagonist

TellMeAStory · Aug 14, 2014

My sensible MC is about to do something foolish. Due to all the events in Volume #1, she's never had friends before, but now, she's had two roommates thrust upon her, and she believes the three of them could become dear friends for life.

In her effort to "fit in" (she's never had to fit in before) she decides she won't let them know that she's hurting for money--she wants their friendship, not their pity--a poor foundation for friendship, but she doesn't know that.

So events ensue, the much of the storyline of Volume #2, but I'm afraid my readers will never know that, having thrown the book against the wall when she made that very non-sensible move.

What to do?

Marlys · Aug 14, 2014

I think a smart person can easily do a stupid thing, especially if she has a strong emotional reason like craving friendship. If she makes a bad choice on the spur of the moment and it has consequences throughout the story, I think that's fine. What might not work so well is if it becomes a situation where she could clear things up with a conversation at any time, but doesn't.

eparadysz · Aug 14, 2014

I'd say give her a reason (an offhand comment, a misinterpreted action) to think her roommates might actually think less of her for having less money. If she's particularly sensitive about the issue, the reader can probably forgive her for a bad decision based on flimsy evidence. It's only a book-thrower if she has no basis at all for the lie, IMO.

quicklime · Aug 14, 2014

without being snarky,

1. flawed heroes or protagonists is hardly new; Holmes was an addict and Hamlet was a hothead who got himself into trouble, and it was hardly a new theme at either of those times

2. In the "sin spectrum" not letting folks know you're poor is almost painfully trite. A LOT of folks don't like to "burden" others, insist on their own self-sufficiency, don't want to open themselves to accusations they've made poor choices, etc. I can't for the life of me imagine anyone throwing a book because of that alone.

SamCoulson · Aug 14, 2014

A lonely person worried about making friends and forcing appearances sounds pretty sympathetic to me... as long as the reader has some idea of her situation (or is led to suspect some other reason for her actions leading to a switch-a-reveal..) then she sounds pretty sympathetic to me.

Devil Ledbetter · Aug 14, 2014

You should be OK as long as you don't let the character veer into TSTL territory.

Roxxsmom · Aug 14, 2014

I don't think a character trying to hide their poverty from their friends is remotely unsympathetic unless, perhaps, she takes to stealing in order to support a more affluent lifestyle.

Even so, it's a relatively small thing compared to the character flaws one sees in most characters. A character who is 100% honorable, honest, functional, self-confident, mentally healthy and all that would be rather dull, to be honest. Most interesting characters are hot messes.

The hardest character flaw to make sympathetic is boring, though there have even been some authors who have done that (though usually for the purposes of said character becoming less boring as the story progresses).

indwig · Aug 14, 2014

I wouldn't call it a "non-sensible" move, I think it's more like "pick your poison". I've been embarrassed about my financial situation before, and sort of avoided talking about it. As a result, I hardly ever eat out with my friends, so they must think I'm a) weight obsessive, b) very picky, c) plain stingy, but I suppose that's better than being revealed as d) too poor to buy a cheeseburger.

So, my point is that wouldn't have stopped me from reading on.

Sticks · Aug 14, 2014

I agree with the others, OP. There's a big difference between "unsympathetic" and "flawed".

What you're describing isn't the sort of thing that would cause an average reader to lose sympathy with the MC. Just the opposite- flaws are important. Without them it's impossible to relate to or empathize with a character.

Brightdreamer · Aug 14, 2014

Agreeing that this wouldn't make her unsympathic. On the contrary, the audience will likely sympathize with her - most of us can relate to wanting something (like friendship and acceptance) badly enough to consider lying in order to get it, and many of us have told a little white lie now and again that snowballs. And it's not like she's killing puppies to make friends; it sounds like it's mostly a lie of omission, or at least it starts that way.

She would only be unsympathetic if she was lying for unsympathetic reasons, or behaved in a completely unlikeable manner to further this lie; say, she doesn't just say she has money, she belittles poor people with her friends, ragging on homeless people for being lazy losers (You'd have to work double-time to make me care about a character who did that, especially if she was poor herself and should know how easily a person can fall down the financial well and how hard it is to tread water at the bottom, let alone climb out; blatant hypocrisy's hard to sell to me.)

Buffysquirrel · Aug 14, 2014

Just don't make the mistake of telling us she's poor then showing us an affluent lifestyle. I've lost count of how often I've seen this. One film I watched recently had a family supposedly hurting for money, then the male protag went out and bought a state-of-the-art surveillance system for the family home. Uh huh.

SBibb · Aug 14, 2014

Buffysquirrel said:
Just don't make the mistake of telling us she's poor then showing us an affluent lifestyle. I've lost count of how often I've seen this. One film I watched recently had a family supposedly hurting for money, then the male protag went out and bought a state-of-the-art surveillance system for the family home. Uh huh.

That's a good point. Keep in mind that what qualifies as poor to one person may not seem poor to another. You may have to show the readers the differences between what the characters consider sensible spending, rather than just telling us that she's poor.

RightHoJeeves · Aug 14, 2014

Yeah, agreeing with the others. I don't see this as unsympathetic. To be honest I quite like protagonists to end up being unsympathetic. A nice tragic slide down.

BookmarkUnicorn · Aug 14, 2014

The only way I would find this annoying, coming from a very poor background, is if she tried to keep up with her friends, and put herself in serious trouble, spending much needed money she did have on unnecessary things. I'd still feel for her, but if she was using up money needed for bills or going to the doctor or helping her family just in the name of friendship... Yeah, she wouldn't be endearing to me as a reader. I've seen this plot a lot on teen sitcoms though so maybe I am a bit burnt out on it to.

Becky Black · Aug 15, 2014

If characters acted sensibly and made the right choices all the time fiction would be very dull. If you've set up the conditions for her to do this foolish thing, if it flows naturally from her character and she doesn't only do it because you need her to do it for the plot, then I don't see why it makes her either unsympathetic or make the reader toss the book against the wall. I can still empathize with characters who do something foolish. Either I'll think, "that was daft - and I'd probably have done the same in that situation" or "that was daft, but I see why you did it."

TellMeAStory · Aug 15, 2014

Thanks guys. It looks like I have to make sure my readers understand why she makes this move. I like the idea of having another character make an offhand comment that sets her on this course.

quicklime · Aug 15, 2014

it is your story, but I'm not even sure they need to understand. A lot of folks just plain don't like to discuss finances, in addition to the reasons above; this seems like a molehill issue to me

ishtar'sgate · Aug 15, 2014

I think the only thing you have to watch out for is dropping from sympathetic to just plain pathetic. Many of us at one time or another have been hard up and it's natural to want to hide it and maybe make poor choices in order to keep it hidden. So we can both sympathize and empathize with a character who's fallen on hard times she doesn't want anyone to know about.

However, the majority of readers are going to want to see her face this at some point and deal with it with a measure of courage. If she keeps hiding it and making bad choice after bad choice until the end of the book, I don't think she'd be a character anyone would want to follow into another book. Just my opinion of course but I like characters who change for the better, not the worse.

TellMeAStory · Aug 16, 2014

You know what I find hilarious?

You ask a simple spare question of a bunch of writers, and right away they begin to construct the story behind it, filling in all the details you conscientiously omitted--even to the point of contradicting the few conditions you specified.

My character is right to be concerned about hiding her poverty. Really. She's reached early adulthood without ever having had a friend. (How can that be?) She possesses only enough money to get her where she is and not enough to keep her there. Don't believe it? Save your pennies. Someday the book will be published and you can read MY details.

But anyway, thank you for considering my question. It means everything to have so many helpful people willing to share their knowledge.

ishtar'sgate · Aug 16, 2014

TellMeAStory said:
You know what I find hilarious?

You ask a simple spare question of a bunch of writers, and right away they begin to construct the story behind it, filling in all the details you conscientiously omitted--even to the point of contradicting the few conditions you specified.

We just can't help ourselves, can we.

Becky Black · Aug 18, 2014

ishtar'sgate said:
We just can't help ourselves, can we.

I know after a good brainstorming session with someone about their story I usually come away wanting to write it myself.

unsympathetic protagonist

TellMeAStory

Marlys

Resist. Love. Go outside.

eparadysz

quicklime

all out of fucks to give

SamCoulson

Devil Ledbetter

Come on you stranger, you legend,

Roxxsmom

Raised by Wolves

indwig

I stole your cheeseburger

Sticks

Brightdreamer

Benign Lurker, Doomed Lardlump

Buffysquirrel

SBibb

RightHoJeeves

BookmarkUnicorn

does believe in fairies

Becky Black

Writing my way off the B Ark

TellMeAStory

quicklime

all out of fucks to give

ishtar'sgate

living in the past

TellMeAStory

ishtar'sgate

living in the past

Becky Black

Writing my way off the B Ark