HollyB
What are all your feelings about having an unsympathetic protagonist?
I submitted a short story to a writing class I'm taking, and my main character is not a nice person, but by the end, redeems herself. The person teaching the class had this to say about it:
"Holly, wow, I’m a little speechless, thinking about your story. You certainly held my attention all the way through... Pamela is, of course, not a very sympathetic character, and so first of all, I’m wondering why you’ve chosen to portray her that way. It’s so much easier to engage the reader with a sympathetic character."
So, she said the story held her attention all the way through, but then said it's easier to engage the reader with a sympathetic character. Huh?
I wanted her to be unlikable. I hated her! But by the end of the story, she started to understand herself and made positive changes to be a better person.
Does this kind of story not work? Any thoughts?
(I think we've talked about this in Writing Novels, but I couldn't find the thread.)
I submitted a short story to a writing class I'm taking, and my main character is not a nice person, but by the end, redeems herself. The person teaching the class had this to say about it:
"Holly, wow, I’m a little speechless, thinking about your story. You certainly held my attention all the way through... Pamela is, of course, not a very sympathetic character, and so first of all, I’m wondering why you’ve chosen to portray her that way. It’s so much easier to engage the reader with a sympathetic character."
So, she said the story held her attention all the way through, but then said it's easier to engage the reader with a sympathetic character. Huh?
I wanted her to be unlikable. I hated her! But by the end of the story, she started to understand herself and made positive changes to be a better person.
Does this kind of story not work? Any thoughts?
(I think we've talked about this in Writing Novels, but I couldn't find the thread.)