How to Write a Compelling Protagonist in a Mystery or Thriller Novel
There’s nothing more important for an author to accomplish in writing a mystery/thriller novel than getting the main character—the protagonist in the book—exactly right.
(The 7 Rules for Picking Names of Fictional Characters.)
Even the story plot line isn’t as crucial as the character. You might have a good story, but most people will still stop reading if they don’t relate to the character. On the other hand, a compelling character can make up for a lot of shortcomings in the rest of the book.
So how do you make sure you write the best character possible?
After writing 24 published novels (and reading lots more!), I’ve come up with some basic rules and guidelines I use for my characters that might work well for you too. They are:
LIKEABILITY—The reader needs to “like” a character, no matter what the character does. Think about some of the characters we all love in books and on screen. Spenser, Kinsey Millhone, V.I. Warshawski, Stephanie Plum, Jessica Fletcher, Jim Rockford, Columbo. All different, but they have one thing in common: We “like” them.FLAWED—Your character can’t be perfect. They must have flaws, sometimes serious flaws. A drinking problem. Bad marriage. Health issues. A traumatic incident from their past which haunts them. All of us are flawed in some way, and we simply cannot relate to someone without any flaws. It’s the flaws that make him or her a real human being—just like us—and make us want to spend hours with the character in their fictional world.INTERESTING—Okay, this might sound obvious. But sometimes characters just aren’t…well, interesting enough. How many times have you met people in real life who are nice, kind, decent folks, but they are also boring. Don’t you always try to surround yourself with interesting people? Well, it’s the same way with characters in a book. Make your characters interesting, as interesting as you possibly can—no matter what else you do with them. Interesting always works in keeping readers turning the pages of a book.NOT HAPPY—Your character can’t live a completely happy life. Sure, we all hope our own lives will always be happy—good job, terrific family and friends, no money issues, top-notch health, etc. But your character can’t “have it all” like that. That would make them pretty damn boring. No, there has to be drama and conflict and stress in their life. It always makes me think of the dynamics of some of the classic TV sitcom romances we’ve loved like Sam and Diane on Cheers or Ross and Rachel on Friends. Their problems, their issues, their arguments before they finally hooked up were wonderfully entertaining stories—much better than when they became couples. Sure, your character should be happy at times, just not too happy all the time.INTEGRITY—No matter what the flaws, your character must have integrity—at least my favorite characters do. Not that they sometimes can’t do some not so honest things. Like Jim Rockford on The Rockford Files was always skirting the law and exploiting loopholes and even lying to solve a case. (“On my best day, I’m barely legal,” he once said to a client). But we know he’s basically an honest guy, and we can trust him in the end. That was always important to TV fans of the show like me, and it’s important to readers too.
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So what about me as an author? How many of these characteristics do I have in my characters?
I like to think my current character Nikki Cassidy has a lot of them.
She’s an FBI agent who chases serial killers, but at the same time she has to deal with a lot of problems in her life. She is definitely flawed. But she always tries to do the right thing. She’s happy most of the time, but she’s always still looking for the right man after a series of failed romances. And she has to deal with some deep, dark secrets from her past. I think all of this makes her interesting. And likable too.
Oh, one more thing.
Your character should be the kind of person you’d like to spend time with in real life.
Me, I’d love to hang out with Nikki Cassidy.
Hope you and your character will get along as well as we do.
Check out Dana Perry’s The Nowhere Girls here:
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