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I've noticed a lot of readers talking about "likable characters" these last few years. I see it in reader reviews, hear it on BookTok, and overhear it in bookstores, and let me tell you, it makes my blood run cold! What's a writer to do, write bland, pleasant characters in the hopes that readers will like them? Please no.

There are at least three things going on in the likability discussion:

1. Likability is a matter of semantics. When some readers say they want likable characters they actually mean compelling characters. A compelling character is a well-rounded, with faults, foibles, and triumphs like the rest of us. The writer has done her job making the reader care deeply about what happens to them. We like them because they are compelling.
2. Likability is genuinely a reader preference. Some readers do want characters they can admire. They want to feel that these are people they would befriend or hang out with, given the chance.
3. Likability is a moral judgment. Some readers judge the actions and decisions of the characters of the books they read as if it were the Final Judgment—and disturbingly apply these fictional characters' shortfallings to author herself.

So, what's a writer to do?

I encourage you to write what compels you. Don't worry about the likability of your characters. Write your characters and the situations they find themselves in as vividly as you can, then step back as though you're an artist looking at your painting from a distance and re-read your work to see if it's all there on the page. Fill in the gaps, adjust the shading, add in those highlights. Don't let those imagined future, judgy Goodreads reviews keep you from writing rich, compelling characters.

By the way, this encouragement applies to fiction and creative non-fiction alike. The most engaging memoirs are the ones where authors are honest about their own shortcomings and failures while sharing their story of transformation. It takes extraordinary bravery and self-knowledge to write about yourself this way. I applaud you!

Read.

• Are we too concerned that characters be likable? Mohsin Hamid and Zoë Heller discuss.​
• ​The difference between writers who meet with success and those who don't. Whew! This is eye-opening.
• ​Author Rebecca Makkai goes in-depth on the point-of-view inconsistencies she frequently sees. So interesting and valuable!

Write.

Practice being wrong. It can be hard to let our fictional characters—or ourselves, if we're writing a memoir—be wrong about something, but wonderful storytelling and character change or growth can emerge from mistakes or errors of judgment! Write a scene where your beloved main character is wrong about something that matters. How do they defend themselves to themselves and others? Do they acknowledge their mistake or do they double down? What are the consequences?

Wishing you a good writing week ahead ✨

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