It is said that the author’s job is to make trouble for their characters. And then the character must find their way out of the mess to become the hero. It is also said that the reader must care about the character. So now the author has a delicate balance.
The author wants to make the main character’s trouble and the ‘escape’ from trouble relatively believable. It is easy to create impossible situations for a main character, but the escape must be plausible. It is too easy to trap a character in a room without a door, and then at just the right moment, a door suddenly appears. That is boring. The character has done nothing to earn that victory.
And for the audience to care about the character, the character must have certain relatable redeemable characteristics. To a certain degree, the main character is larger-than-life. They do things that a regular human can’t do. Consider some of the action scenes in movies. A normal human can’t stay awake for such an extended time without consequences. Or some of the fight scenes where the hero walks away. Our bodies just aren’t made to take that much abuse. And in a story, there must be a reason why the main character is fighting. There are people they care about or innocent people in trouble they must save. And caring about these people provides the redemptive qualities the hero needs.
In my book, The Original, Colin is a vampire who doesn’t care about vampires, he doesn’t care about humans, and he certainly doesn’t care about the shifters. But then one drives into his territory and he’s faced with a decision: Do I care about her and try to protect her? Or do I leave her to her fate? Throughout the story, the reader is provided with a backstory that gives reason for Colin’s reluctance to get involved.
Colin’s character doesn’t care. So as the author, I had to find a way to redeem him for the audience. I also had to find a reason to make him care. (SPOILER) I also had to find a way to make him care or want to get involved. There were a few ways I did this. Colin was frustrated with the vampire community and specifically his cousin who led the community. His cousin had broken Colin’s rules too many times and Colin decides it’s time for change. This starts him on his path to redemption.
I won’t share the ending as that would be too much of a spoiler, but Colin’s battle, one that he’s been fighting for centuries, is finally won.
K. M. Wray 