Writer’s Relief Blog: “Characters We Love To Hate: How To Pull Off Unlikable Characters”
What is it about characters from literature who are awful, miserable, hideous people? What makes them so awesome?
The answer is: Brilliant writing.
(That and the fact that they’re fictional, as opposed to being the people who live next door!)
Writers who ask readers to pal around with hideous characters—especially when said characters are MAIN characters—are asking a lot. So there must be a serious payoff to make the reader invest in the misery of hanging around with unlikables.
What techniques do authors use to create characters and antagonists we LOVE and HATE with equal fervor? We took a look.