So your main character is a snarky jerk. Or your hero's sidekick is a cowardly snitch. Or your side-switching backstabber is ... a side-switching backstabber.

But you want the reader to sympathise with them, at least a bit.

Here are some easy things you can do:

#1: Give Your Dislikeable Character Someone to Care About

Even jerks might love their mom or their little sister. Even cowards can be brave when someone very dear to them is in danger.

By showing that your character cares about someone (especially someone vulnerable), we get to see their softer side.

#2: Show Us Why They Behave the Way They Do

If your character is hard to like, there's probably something that made them that way.

Perhaps they've faced a lot of trauma. Maybe they're grieving a loss. Or it could just be that no one's ever shown them how to behave better. Whatever the reason, showing us why they behave this way could help us sympathise with them.

#3: Give Them a Character Arc

Some of the best character arcs come about when a flawed character learns to overcome their flaws.

Perhaps your character starts off as a misanthropic jerk. But over the course of the story, they come to care about other people ... and they turn into a better, kinder person because of it.

#4: Let Them Have Some Good Qualities

Your character might be hard to like ... but they're sure to have some good qualities. 

Perhaps they almost invariably choose the worse of two paths, but they're admirably determined. Maybe they're downright rude to everyone ... but they're also undeniably clever.

#5: Show Us Their Vulnerability

It's hard not to have some sympathy for characters who are vulnerable. 

Your dislikeable character might have a physical vulnerability (e.g. an injury means they can't run fast) or a mental vulnerability (e.g. they've got a specific phobia). Letting usr see them struggling with that can make us feel more sympathetic towards them.

#6: Demonstrate How Their Actions Are Harming Them

Maybe your character sees people as resources to use, getting as much out of them as possible. 

That's not particularly easy to sympathise with ... but if we see how this leaves the character alone, without any true friends in dark times, we see how their behaviour is harming them. And then we might feel at least a little sorry for them.

I think characters are most interesting when they're not all good or all bad.

The worst villains may well think -- however misguidedly -- that they're doing the right thing.

The best heroes will have moments of weakness or rashness.

And your complex, dislikeable characters can garner sympathy from the reader, using some of the ideas above.

Happy writing,

Ali

P.S. Don't forget the survey: 

https://forms.gle/V7pxPsQ5PZq5ACaQ7

Also, if you missed last week's blog post, you can find it here:

When Mental Health Gets in the Way of Your Writing: An Interview With Emma (Science at Your Doorstep)