leyzimagination

by Writerthreads on Instagram

Likeable protagonists are what makes readers keep reading. The best ones are relatable, realistic, and can be empathised with. So many of them are unique, compelling and likeable, but a small minority are all based on the same (slightly unlikable) personality traits. In this post, I highlight these traits seen in so many YA books and why readers might not be able to like or be able to identify with these characters.

Flawlessness

There are more and more protagonists who seem to be perfect human beings incapable of making mistakes. This results in little to no character growth throughout the story, and no internal conflict can be seen, let alone become resolved. A good character should have both strengths and flaws, and this applies to all characters.

Like all humans, characters should have flaws to make them appear more realistic. The characters' 'strength' is expressed by their ability to improve and change. If protagonists never make mistakes and are shown as role models, then younger readers will never understand how powerful it is to fall down and get back up.

Stubbornness

This is a trait often associated with mental strength, but more often than not, even though characters are stubborn and stand their own ground, they are unwilling to listen to, let alone accept other points of view. Although some people see this as a positive personality trait these kinds of people are often hard to be liked.

My opinion is that writers are now showing stubbornness as a good thing, making their protagonists annoying personalities who always need to get what they want. This is not an issue if the character gradually changes over time and gets better, or why they are like this is explained.

Overt brattiness and negativity

One of the reasons why Bella from Twilight was so hated by some readers was because she complained so much at the beginning of the first book. She moved from Arizona to the middle of nowhere and complained about the weather and the views instead of voicing real problems. Instead of making readers sympathise with Bella, Stephanie Meyer ended up making the protagonist seem petty and moany. Instead, Meyer could've made Bella struggle with bigger problems (pre-vampire stuff) so readers would like her more.

If the character's negative viewpoint stems from something such as depression or a traumatic event in the past, this should be explained. This allows readers to understand the character even more or have some sympathy for them.

Their problems could've been solved easily, or their problems were solved too easily

You might think that I'm being judgy here, but hear me out. The reason why Harry Potter worked was that to defeat Voldemort, the characters faced so many problems, as well as problems that came from the original problems. Everything couldn't be solved with a simple wave of a wand. The characters experienced so many problems and major fallbacks that the ultimate ending was rewarding to the readers.

Yet, if Voldemort died at the end of book one and everybody lived happily ever after without the deaths of important characters in between, [spoilers] for example Sirius and Fred, defeating Voldemort would be less cathartic. All the effort took to reach the final ending was minimal, and the problem was solved so easily with no sacrifice at all.

By Writerthreads on Instagram

A good story has good characterisation and changes in a character — this can be presented as a positive or negative character arc. In this post, I will describe and explain a basic negative character arc that will work on any character who slowly becomes worse. This structure was first highlighted by Abbie Emmons on Youtube, an amazing Youtube account that teaches about writing and finding common patterns in famous books and movies such as Pride and Prejudice and Divergent.

Conflicted

The character is shown in the beginning of the story as an already conflicted person who is struggling with their desire, fear or lie.

Eg. Draco Malfoy wanting to prove himself to his father

Fear-based choice

The character is put outside their comfort zone and they make a poor decision based on their fear or misbelief.

In a later post: the top 10 classic fears in literature

Game changer

A major plot twist that changes and affects everything, forcing the character to make another decision that will change everything.

Eg. Draco is forced to become a Death Eater and he has to assassinate Dumbledore

Acceptance of lie

The character finally accepts their lie as the truth, getting what they want but not realising the truth.

Eg. Loki thinks that everybody is against him and the only way to get acceptance/the throne is to assassinate Odin

The tragic ending

The character has made all the wrong choices, resulting in a tragic end where they have fully embraced the lie. (They usually die.)

Eg. Loki's "death" in the first Thor movie

This post was based on Abbie Emmons’ video.

QOTD: Who is your favourite fictional villain or anti-hero? Mine is probably Loki at the moment.

Since P-Pop becomes popular, many new groups are debuted this year and one of those is Alamat.

Alamat is a sing and rap boy group that sings in multiple Philippine languages. Just recently, they uploaded their debut song entitled "kbye".

For me, the song is catchy even the music video. I like that they used jeepney. I also saw some bandaritas that we can associate to our Fiestas. i also like the last part, may maririnig kang parang mix of folk song/dance/music. Haha I don't know how to describe it. Basta I like that part.

They really showcase their language here. They sings in different languages at nakakatuwa na ginagamit nila yun to promote ppop. Maraming kanta sa Philippines na underated since they are sings in another language na meron pa sa Pilipinas.

And now Alamat brings another realization na we can also enjoy music kahit na di natin naiintindihan dahil nasa ibang lingwahe sya ng Pilipinas.

Check their official account on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/official.alamat

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Official_ALAMAT?s=09

Watch the official music video here.