Wimps, Wackos and Winners: The Three W's of Writing Bestselling Characters
Who are the great characters of Bestselling fiction? Off hand, I can name a few. Scarlett O'Hara, Frodo Baggins, Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Tarzan and Harry Potter. What do these characters have in common? Everyone knows who they are. I don't even have to name the authors of these characters because Scarlett, Frodo, Sherlock, Poirot, Tarzan and Harry are as real to each one of us as our own friends and families. When writing a novel, characterization above all else is what a writer should strive for. Why? Because it is the characters, especially the protagonist, the hero or heroine, that grabs our interest and leads us through the story, and makes us care.
One mistake that aspiring writers often make is that they create a character that is too ordinary, too much like themselves. It's natural for a writer to work out their own thoughts and feelings, and maybe even their own personal problems when developing a story person. But this is the one type of character that editors and readers universally reject. People do not want to read a story about You. They want to read about people who are bigger than life.
James N. Frey in his book, "How to Write Damn Good Fiction", calls this type of character the Wimpy Housewife. Here is her scenario:
"A wimpy housewife who is a total klutz at everything- naive, ignorant, and yes, well, maybe even a little dumb- is stepped on by, that's right, her callous, nasty, and philandering husband. The wimpy housewife does little about her problem except suffer for, oh, forty or fifty thousand words, until one day she's sparked into action, usually because a neighbour, friend, or therapist tells her she ought to, damn it, do something. Armed with this advice, the wimpy housewife, rather than confronting her problems, runs away to 'find herself.' She usually ends up having an affair with a married man, getting a job in a semi-glamorous occupation such as advertising, journalism, top-of-the-market real estate, the arts. The wimpy housewife eventually learns to be self-sufficient, realizes that, yes, she too is a human being worthy of dignity, and finally makes it to the Top and marries Mr. Just Fine."
The reason why the Wimpy Housewife has no appeal for editors or readers is because, rather than being sympathetic, she is pathetic. No one can relate to a character who is pathetic. That's not to say one cannot have a character who is a wimp or a housewife. Shirley Valentine was a wimpy housewife, but she acted right from the beginning of the story to change her life. Her personality was not wimpy. She was funny and full of insights into her own condition. She flew to Greece and had a love affair.
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