Introduction
Creating a sympathetic character is one of the most important aspects of writing. It is a key factor in developing readers’ emotional connection with the characters and their stories. By using certain writing techniques, authors can help make readers care about a character, thus making their stories more engaging and memorable. Here are 10 writing techniques that can be used to make readers care about a sympathetic character.
1. Show Don’t Tell
The old adage “show, don’t tell” is one of the most important writing techniques to keep in mind when creating a sympathetic character. By using vivid descriptions and carefully chosen words, an author can allow readers to become emotionally connected to the character. Rather than just telling readers what the character is feeling, authors should strive to show those feelings through their actions and dialogue. This will help readers to feel empathy for the character and make them care about what happens to them.
2. Give The Character a Backstory
Giving a character a backstory helps to make them more relatable and sympathetic. By providing readers with a glimpse into a character’s past, authors can help to create an emotional connection between the character and the reader. Backstories give characters depth and complexity, which allows readers to see them as real people and not just a two-dimensional character.
3. Give The Character Flaws
No one is perfect, and giving a sympathetic character flaws can help to make them more relatable. Flaws don’t necessarily have to be bad traits, they can simply be quirks or insecurities that make the character unique. By giving a character flaws, authors can make readers care about them and root for them to overcome their struggles.
4. Make The Character Relatable
One way to make readers care about a character is to make them relatable. This can be done by creating characters that have similar struggles and experiences as the reader. For example, if the reader is a working mother, they may be more likely to sympathize with a character who is also a working mother, as they can relate to the struggles of raising a family and working full-time.
5. Create Conflict
Conflict is essential in any story, and it is especially important when creating a sympathetic character. Conflict helps to make characters more interesting and engaging, and it also allows readers to see how the character reacts to difficult situations. This helps to create an emotional connection between the character and the reader, as readers can sympathize with the character’s struggles and cheer them on as they attempt to overcome them.
6. Let The Character Make Mistakes
No one is perfect, and it is important to let characters make mistakes. Allowing a character to make mistakes helps to make them more relatable and sympathetic, as readers can relate to the struggles of being human. Mistakes also help to create tension in the story, as readers will be eager to see how the character reacts to their mistake and what the consequences will be.
7. Add Humor
Humor can be a great way to make readers care about a character. By adding humor to a character’s dialogue or actions, authors can make readers laugh and create an emotional connection with the character. Humor can also be used to lighten the mood of a story and make readers more sympathetic to the characters.
8. Connect The Character To Other Characters
Connecting a sympathetic character to other characters in the story can be a great way to make readers care about them. By showing how the character interacts with their friends, family, and other characters in the story, readers can become emotionally invested in the character and feel empathy for them.
9. Let The Character Grow
No character should remain static throughout the story. It is important to let characters grow and evolve throughout the story, as this will help to make them more sympathetic. Showing how a character learns from their mistakes and develops as a person will make readers care about them and be invested in their story.
10. Create A Sense Of Loss
Creating a sense of loss can be a great way to make readers care about a character. By making readers feel as if they are losing something when the character is gone, authors can help to create an emotional connection between the character and the reader. This can be done by showing how the character’s absence affects the other characters in the story or by having the character make a heroic sacrifice.
Conclusion
Creating a sympathetic character is one of the most important aspects of writing. By using the right writing techniques, authors can make readers care about a character and become emotionally invested in their story. Showing, not telling, giving the character a backstory, giving them flaws, making them relatable, creating conflict, letting them make mistakes, adding humor, connecting them to other characters, and creating a sense of loss can all be used to make readers care about a sympathetic character. One of the most important aspects of writing is to create sympathetic characters. Readers want to connect with the characters in the narrative, to sympathize with them, and to understand their motivations. To capture a reader’s interest and make them care about the characters in your stories, here are 10 writing techniques that you can use to create sympathetic characters.
1. Show vulnerability: Writing characters that display vulnerability gives the reader a clear insight into their strengths and weaknesses. It makes them relate to the characters and can evoke great sympathy.
2. Share struggles: Showing characters’ struggles against external and internal forces gives readers an insight into the motivations of the character. Struggles Let readers experience the world of the character and understand their choices and decisions.
3. Connective relationships: Creating characters that have relationships with other characters also helps readers sympathize with them. Showing how they interact and how they develop relationships with other characters creates emotional connections with the reader.
4. Relatable opinions: Giving characters opinions that are relatable to the reader helps them connect with the characters and understand their behavior. This can be done through the characters’ views on politics, religion, and general beliefs.
5. Rise against adversity: A character confronting and rising against adversity can be incredibly sympathetic to the reader. Showing the strength and courage of characters in the face of difficulties can evoke great sympathy from the reader.
6. Defeat of enemies: Showing a character’s victory over enemies and obstacles can be a great way to create sympathetic characters. This shows the reader the character’s determination and perseverance, which can be very inspiring.
7. Flaws and weaknesses: Creating characters with flaws and weaknesses lends a realistic edge to them. Characters who make mistakes or have issues they need to confront are far more relatable and sympathetic to the reader.
8. Endearing qualities: Writing characters with qualities or traits that are endearing to the reader can create empathy and sympathy. These characteristics could be showing kindness and thoughtfulness or a quirkiness that is unique to the character.
9. Believable motives: Creating characters with believable and convincing motivations can help the reader understand their decisions and sympathize with them. This requires the writer to consider why characters make certain decisions and how those choices affect their lives.
10. Telling their story: Showing the backstory of characters can be a great way to make readers care about them. It gives the reader an insight into the character’s life and why they have made certain choices.
By using these techniques to write sympathetic characters, you can create characters that are unique, relatable and compelling. By building a character’s story and giving them relatable opinions and motivations, readers can sympathize with your characters and feel connected to them.