So at the risk of being redundant: What makes the reader care about a character? Conflict? Jeopardy? Empathy? What makes a reader root for a character?

I've been trying to answer this question for myself, but I really haven't been reading much lately. I do seem to root for the underdog and for the humble to be triumphant in his noble quest.

Often I'll pick up a book which seems interesting (at least from the description on the back cover!!) but the protagonist leaves me cold.

Problems with the delivery by the author, especially if I can't figure out what's going on, or losing my suspension of disbelief

A character who does things so differently from the way I would I can't identify. This can be "oh, my God, how could anyone be so dumb"; or, "there are alien monsters in the ventilation system, and you're calmly discussing politics in the mess hall?"; but often, it's moral repugnance.

I tried a Harlequin romance once, to see what they were like. I got into it 4 pages. There was a lot to hate, but the POV character's bloodless attitude toward sex left me cold. So did the POV character's unexplained decision to boink his sister-in-law in Little, Big. Some gov't agent who promised an informant immunity from being tortured to death, got his info, and then turned him over to the torturers, in a book I've forgotten. In all cases, I put the book down.

OTOH "Bron" in _Triton_ was a bastard, but the author tricked me into liking him (and I'm glad he did), so I read it multiple times.

The character must want something, and must be willing to go after it. Sometimes it's hard to begin a story that way. Sometimes the main character must remain passive as you set up the delimna that forces the character to act. The sooner you can get a character to take real action--to make real and hard decisions--that's when you really make the reader start expereincing genuine emotion for the character.

Take THE LORD OF THE RINGS. (This is easier to see in the movie than in the novel.) Frodo is more or less a passive character until he says, "I'll take the Ring out of the Shire." But even then, though he has become an active character, he still has a passive element: he's simply taking the Ring to Rivendell. It's really when he says he'll take the Ring to Mordor that he becomes a fully active character--active in the sense that Central Plot is HIS story.

When I was reading SALEM'S LOT by Stephen King, it struck me that there was never at time when the "hero" Ben ever willingly accecpt his role as vampire hunter. Ben never questioned why he should stay in Salem's Lot, and he never thought about his moral obligation to Salem's Lot. As fun as the novel is, it lacks a certain moral depth because the Ben is never confronted with a true choice about staying in the Lot or leaving.

So maybe what I'm trying to say is this: For me, real emotion for a character really only comes when I see them willing accept what Joseph Campbell called "the hero's journey."

quote:

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Whether out of ignorance or stupidity, Enna walked into the clutches of the slobbering monster.

"Oh, darn, not again!" she wailed as the hideous, slimy beast bent its head to feast on hers, dripping drool down her face. Without warning a bullet pierced the monster's forehead, causing it to release her and fall backward to its death.

"Enna," Burke's exasperated voice came from behind her, "How many times have I told you not to go into the woods when we've been telling horror stories? You know what always happens!"

"I'm sorry," she turned toward him,"It's the music, Burke, it just draws me out. It's so eerie and suspenseful. I know something really bad is about to happen, and I have to find out what it is."

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(Okay it's not a quote, I just wanted to set it apart.)

First, I identified people I'm drawn to and asked myself why. Characters as well. Here's what I found, but I'd recommend you do this yourself. They exhibit some or all of the following:

--Funny or witty
--A little eccentric
--Basically good folk, enough good virtues, including those who sacrifice self for others; there are things that undermine this: someone who is lazy or plays the victim (doesn't act) or any number of things I think are "bad" and that's different for each of us
--Beautiful or buff
--Are involved with some larger-than-life occupation (spy, Navy Seal)
--Are financially successful
--Are expert in certain fields
--Down to earth
--Seem to have things together, are going places

Some of these folks I just enjoy. They're delightful or good. Others I'm just intrigued by. Some have vices, but there's a good person deep down OR I'm just intrigued by them.

BUT that's not enough to make me root in a story. Rooting and likeability or intrigue are different things.

To root it seems there's a justice equation at play. Good people deserve good things, bad people deserve bad. When that's out of balance, when a good person is threatened or in danger or jeopardy, then I root for them.

Or if there's someone really evil, I'll root against him. I may not care too much for the protag, but the bad guy has got to go.

Besides the justice equation, here are some things that seem to up rooting interest.

--Character I'm drawn to as defined above
--Underdog
--Urgent threat (this isn't always death; it can be loss or relationship or quality of life--something having to do with their happiness)
--Suspense