In an article for Writer’s Digest, Rebecca Keller offers five tips for keeping readers connected to your protagonist, even when he does something wrong. “If a writer successfully creates a likable character, how can that character remain convincing while doing something terrible?” she asks. “And having accomplished that, how to keep readers in the character’s corner, even as she is credibly portrayed as doing something awful?”
She suggests five tips:
- Put justice on their side. Audiences will root for a character who does bad things if their ultimate end is to see justice done. Stories in which characters take the law into their own hands are a staple of fiction and film.
- Show that the lapse is temporary. “Most of us have done something (big or small, consequential or not) that our friends would say was ‘out of character,'” Keller says. “The challenge for the writer is essentially doing the same thing in the mind of the reader: laying down enough breadcrumbs that when the action occurs, the reader isn’t left in disbelief—and instead eagerly reads on to figure out what happened (and why).”
- Let your character believe there will be no consequences. Let’s be honest – many of us would transgress if we thought there was no chance we’d be caught. It’s a very relatable human temptation.
- Show your character being good in other ways. Don’t let your character’s behavior exist in a vacuum. Show multiple instances of good behavior and your audience will tolerate the occasional bad. This is good advice for creating any kind of well-rounded character.
- Show redemption or remorse. Even in the most extreme cases, writers generally give their bad-acting character a chance for redemption or regret. Even a moment of reflection or melancholy can give your reader something to hang their attachment on.
