calmOne of my concerns with this story is that my heroine is, well, unlikable. So far she's been put in a situation where the reader is prone to feeling sympathetic, but I also want to give her some character flaws to overcome (or not) and to keep her from becoming an inadvertant Mary Sue. So this is kind of a quick-link reference for myself... if anyone else wants to put it to use, go ahead. Like I said, this isn't anything earth shattering, mostly just things to keep in mind when crafting characters.
Common factors when writing likable characters:
- Familiarity: At least superficially like the target audience
- Altruistic: choosing to put others' good ahead of her own, rescuing others in need, willing to sacrifice herself if no other options remain
- Proactive: not always reacting to things other people do
- Courageous: willing to take risks
- Fair: plays by the rules
- Attitude: not a whiner
- Dependable: stands by her word, keeps promises
- Clever: Rather that being merely 'intelligent'
- Endearing imperfections: See: Han Solo
