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One of the first pieces of advice given to me when I started writing and looking for feedback on it involved building a sense of empathy between the reader and the character. By empathy, I don\u2019t mean making the reader feel sorry for them\u2014I mean making them care about what happens to that character. Depending on the individual reader, the amount of time they allow an author to get to that point varies. Some people might put down a book if they feel \u2018meh\u2019 about the main character on page one. Some might give it ten, twenty, maybe even forty pages if they\u2019re generous.<\/p>\n
Recently I started reading a book by one of my favorite authors, but wound up feeling nothing for the characters. I found myself fifty pages in and wondering why I was continuing (Okay, I admit \u2013 I was continuing because \u201cI bought this book dammit; I\u2019m going to read it.”<\/em>) despite being ready to put it down. I\u2019m not writing this post to slam the book, so I won\u2019t mention it by title. The story\u00a0opened with one character. The next chapter showed us a different character, and the third returned to the character we met in the first.<\/p>\n The characters, though not \u2018cardboard,\u2019 didn\u2019t come off as all that interesting or in any particular circumstance that made them compelling. The narrative offered a sparsity of detail that left me thinking who the heck are these people and why should I give a damn what happens to them?<\/em> The female character seemed bored with life, had a failed career as a singer, had written a book, and lost half her money in a market crash\u2014but was still comfortable. She sensed (rightly so) that she\u2019d be pressed into the employ of a man she didn\u2019t like, and despite hating him (for reasons not yet explained) she decided to work for him anyway. Yawn. She\u2019s comfortable, her only conflict is that she \u2018really doesn\u2019t wanna\u2019 work for this guy… it’s like we’re expected to feel bad for a rich girl because she can’t choose one pair out of 500 shoes to wear that day.<\/p>\n On the other hand, the male character was doing something that at first seemed like it might be interesting: some manner of smuggling, but he wound up taking tracings of (drumroll) jeans. Apparently, the entire plot is to revolve around tracking down the source of some super-rare designer denim so a company can produce military inspired clothing for mass markets. James Bond this is not.<\/p>\n Anyway, by page 58, I was sorely tempted to put this thing down (if not for the aforementioned $16 I\u2019d spent on it) plus the \u2018but\u2026 but\u2026. I like<\/em> this author\u2019 feeling.<\/p>\n In\u00a0an early draft<\/strong> of Division Zero<\/em>, what is now Chapter 2 was Chapter 1. I figured I\u2019d jump straight into some action like they do on a lot of the cop shows, the so-called \u2018cold open.\u2019 I had a few people comment that they wanted to know who this woman was and why she was getting shot at so they had a reason to\u00a0care if she made it out alive. So, I added the now-Chapter-One<\/a> to introduce the reader to Kirsten before things get all dusty and laser-y. Without that, she\u2019s only an unknown blonde chasing a possessed man through an abandoned asylum while telling the spirits of the long-departed everything\u2019s gonna be okay.<\/p>\n Build a Connection<\/strong><\/p>\n It\u2019s important to present the reader with a character that they want to invest in (preferably sooner rather than later.) Many posts and articles on writing claim the first five pages are the place to make sure the reader cares about the character and wants to keep going. Not everyone is going to wait until page fifty-eight to decide if they are going to give a damn what happens. The sooner you have the reader\u2019s attention, and empathy<\/em> with the character, the better. When the reader invests, and cares <\/em>what happens to the character, you\u2019re doing it right.<\/p>\n Some ways to build empathy include:<\/span><\/p>\n Conflict<\/strong> \u2015 What\u2019s going on in the character\u2019s life that is forcing them into a situation they don\u2019t want to deal with but have to? Lay out the groundwork for the conflict facing the character and build that sense of endearment early. This connects also to scene setting. If the opening is vague and difficult to tell what the environment\/setting is like, your conflict may lose impact. For example, a teen trying to lug a container of water home takes on an entirely different meaning if he\u2019s in 2015 suburb normal compared to 2040 post-apocalypse Nevada with the last four gallons of water in the nearest store.<\/p>\n Illustrate why the character is motivated to endure the situation rather than fleeing. Is the conflict something an average person can relate to? (Some people might not grasp\u00a0how critical it is that the ninth-born daughter of the Phyrrian Dynasty make it to the Centauri sector before the triad moons align right off the bat.) Is the character coping with the recent loss of a loved one? Do they have an illness \/ handicap? Are they in a situation that makes them a target because of who they are or what they believe in? Are they living in an abusive relationship?<\/p>\n Personality<\/strong> \u2015 Another way to build empathy with a character is to show the reader who <\/em>they are inside. Portray a character with traits that endear them to the reader (and that doesn\u2019t mean every endearing character has to be sweet \u2013 look at House MD). If the reader can\u2019t wait to see what your character does next, you\u2019re doing it right. If a character feels like an archetype or a slab of cardboard\u2026 or is so \u2018everyman\u2019 or normal that they meet fifteen different versions of that character at the office every day, consider changing something.<\/p>\n Humanity<\/strong> \u2015 One of the surest ways to lose reader investment in a character is to have them be plastic. A character that\u2019s somber and crying over their lost family in one scene, but in the next chapter forgets they ever existed to throw herself at the male lead she\u2019s only just met, is not going to feel like a real person. (Unless the MC has multiple personality disorder or some other mental issues.) Even if a character is superpowered well and away beyond anything normal \u2013 show a little bit of normality in them. (Maybe even Supergirl trips over her\u00a0underwear sometimes in the morning while trying to get dressed.)<\/p>\n In short, the most important thing you can do within the first five pages of your novel is Make your reader care about the character.<\/em> They don\u2019t have to like them; they need to want to invest in them to see what happens. If the reader is ambivalent about what happens to the characters, they might not keep reading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One of the first pieces of advice given to me when I started writing and looking for feedback on it involved building a sense of empathy between the reader and the character. By empathy, I don\u2019t mean making the reader … Continue reading ![\"L'Orage_(The_Storm),_by_William-Adolphe_Bouguereau\"](\"https:\/\/www.matthewcoxbooks.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/10\/LOrage_The_Storm_by_William-Adolphe_Bouguereau-557x1024.jpg\")
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