Writing a conflicted character while getting readers to root for her?

[Anonymous]

Hey KeePers!

So I recently added another character to the cast of The Apostle’s Sister! Her name is Keziah, and she knew Paul personally during his persecuting days. (I’ve been wanting to include a character from Paul’s past for forever, and now I’ve finally done it!) She saw him holding the cloaks at Stephen’s stoning; she, her brother, and her little daughter were all dragged from their house into his prison. While she was there, she watched Paul murder several of the Christians, including her brother.

After that experience in the prison, Keziah became cynical, angry, and possessed by a hatred of Paul so intense it became a rabid obsession. She’s pretty vengeful, although she takes no action on her desire for vengeance. (Yet. We shall see. 😉)

Yet she’s still a Christian, and throughout the novel she sincerely grapples with what Christ would have her do with her hurt and hatred. She’s conflicted: she knows in the depth of her heart that she’s called to forgive, but she fights it, rationalizing that God would not have her forgive someone who killed her brother, and that God himself hasn’t forgiven Paul because he knows Paul isn’t truly repentant. (Hope all that made sense XD)

The thing is that I don’t want Keziah to be this hateful, dark, villainous presence. I want readers to like her and root for her as much as they like and root for Temira. ‘Cause after all, Temira has similar problems forgiving Paul’s enemies. I want to show that Keziah really is a good person and she really is trying. She does want to be forgiving like Christ, but she struggles mightily with it – don’t we all? I want readers to really be on her side and hope that she’ll experience grace and mercy in the end. (It isn’t until the end, when her negative character arc comes full circle, that she’ll firmly decide once and for all that Christ must be an unmerciful God to put her through this and that people can never change and be redeemed.)

I want Keziah to be that character who provides us with a balanced view in regards to Paul. Despite our warm feelings for him, he really was a murderer and hurt so many people before he was saved, and that can’t be negated. But since readers are obviously going to have very warm feelings for Paul, it’ll be hard to get them to like a character who abhors him. (Especially since they’ll see his intense guilt and debilitating struggle over his past.)

Also, if any of ya get what I mean, Temira and Keziah are kind of meant to be “two sides of the same coin.” Keziah’s tragic end could very well happen to Temira if she, too, refused to forgive her brother’s persecutors. Temira’s positive arc is the direct mirror of what could have happened to Keziah if she’d chosen a different way, as Keziah’s negative arc is the direct mirror of what could have happened to Temira if she had chosen a different way. The two women’s stories parallel each other.

Basically, I need help getting readers to sincerely love Keziah and want her to get a happy ending. I need help getting my readers to be conflicted, too: “But Paul really did hurt so many people.” Perhaps even, “Maybe he deserves all that guilt he’s dealing with….” It would really help to make Paul very human, flawed, and relatable, which is what I definitely want.

Anyways, I’m really sorry for that ramble. 😅 THANK YOU A TRILLION TIMES OVER, AWESOME PERSON, IF YOU READ THROUGH THAT WHOLE THING !!!!

@godlyfantasy12 @keilah-h @nova21 @lydia-s @kathleenramm @faith-q @elfwing @scripter-of-kingdoms @writerlexi1216 @anatra23 @gracie-j @issawriter7 @devastate-lasting @lucy @abigail-m @mkfairygirl @relia @e-k-seaver @iluvhim18 @seekjustice @jenwriter17 @sparksaraabbott11 @lewilliams @jodi-maile @kayleigh-idea @maryg3

[Linyang Zhang]

@joy-caroline As someone who generally likes antagonistic characters I like her a lot already! Kind of reminds me of Caleb Trask, one of my favorite characters in all of literature, who is supposed to symbolize Cain. I think as long as you portray all of your above ramble clearly, then you should have no problem getting your readers to like her! Best of luck! Sorry my answer is so vague.

Lately, it's been on my brain
Would you mind letting me know
If hours don't turn into days

[GodlyFantasy12]

@joy-caroline this kinda seems to coincide with my antagonist problem, u may want to go look at the incredible advice some of the girls gave me in that topic. Its one of the recent ones and it’s something antagonist lol

#IfMarcelDiesIRiot
#ProtectMarcel
#ProtectSeb

[Elfwing]

@joy-caroline well I’d suggest giving moments showing her praying and asking God to help her with forgiveness, and showing her conflict with her anger and her want to obey God’s will of forgiveness. Show her earnest desire to follow God’s word I suppose; show the moments of love she gives others when she has the chance, but then her unsurity of how to act around those who have hurt her and the anger boiling up inside…? just things that came to mind 🙂

I get poetic when I try to describe things XD

Sorry if that’s no help and yeah, what @godlyfantasy12 said! 😀

I'm 'a homeschooler' because cookie-making writing artistic animal-whisperer isn't a job title

[ella]

@joy-caroline this is right up my alley, girl!  I LOVE parallel characters with different arcs!!!!!!! ❤  Keziah sounds AH-MAZE-ING!  I just *internally squeals* love her already.

Like @godlyfantasy12 said, I mentioned some things corresponding to this on her “Making my antagonist likeable/believable” topic.  To echo that, I’ll just cut and paste (sorta) 😉

1)  Give Temira and Keziah something in common (a hobby, a tendency/habit, etc) to seal that “parallel charaacter” action that’s going on.  It’ll make the reader really think about what they’re reading.

2)  Moments of vulnerability.  Something (an event, a memory, a smell/touch/taste/sound) might trigger her anger that turns into extreme sadness and despair that makes the reader (or me, at least) give her a big hug.

3)  Give her a sense of justice, even if it’s warped, that will make us root for her bc she’s someone who’s trying to do the right thing.

I hope this helps, and great story with even awesome-er characters! XD <33

what we do in life echoes in eternity
-gladiator, 2000

[Anonymous]

@devastate-lasting

Thanks, Lin! 😀

@godlyfantasy12

Oh, I’ll check that topic out! Thanks for letting me know.

@elfwing

Oooh, that is suchhh a good idea!!!! I would absolutely LOVE to have a praying scene with Keziah. Maybe even a prayer specifically for Paul… *rubs hands together* This is gonna be good.

Also, having her show love to others is an INCREDIBLE idea as well. I could show her helping hurt, traumatized, or needy people, perhaps even witnessing to some of them!!! That would add great conflict to her character. Thank you soooo much, I literally never even thought of any of this!!!!

@nova21

YAY!!! *cheers*

Wow, that’s incredible advice about the parallels! I’m definitely going to do that! Thank you so much. You guys are amazing – I’ve literally never thought about these things! *mind starts churning with a gazillion ideas*

Moments of vulnerability. LOVE ITTT!!!! My heart always breaks for the characters who cry out in sorrow and believe no one hears them. I already feel bad about what I’m gonna do to poor Keziah. 😭

Sense of justice. I’ll definitely have to incorporate that as well!

Thank you so much, Ella! <3333

[Elfwing]

@joy-Caroline glad to help!! 🙂 these are honestly some of my favourite character tips lol  I love these kind of characters *inwardly cries at the pain I cause them *

I'm 'a homeschooler' because cookie-making writing artistic animal-whisperer isn't a job title

[Madelyn]

@joy-caroline

’tis I, the person who pops in randomly every once and a while to a forum thread and then disappears for another month or so

*one of these days I should actually start a topic and introduce myself*

Anyhow, I hope you don’t mind me popping on! I really love the type of character that you’re talking about (the deeply hurting and/or angry person that readers genuinely feel sorry for).

I really liked some of the advice that a few other people put out there (moments of vulnerability, prayers, etc). The moments when you give a glimpse into the character’s deep emotional wounds are the moments that really touch the readers and give them empathy.

I recently wrote about a character who didn’t just struggle with forgiving but had completely hardened his heart due to such grief that he sought revenge on those who had wronged him. One thing I noticed as I wrote, was that these characters are often building their life on a lie (ex. “I could never forgive so and so” or “I have the right to hate these people”). They will depend upon this lie when confronted by the truth or by their own emotion. It’s when this lie is kicked out from under them, or when they begin to doubt it, that we see moments of vulnerability. Those moments of vulnerability are can lead to a search for the truth or a further hardening of the heart (I’m not sure which way your character goes).

A specific character came to mind as I was reading your post, a character that I found to be a great example of this kind of person. As I thought about it, I realized that this character has a ton of similarities to yours! Her name is Keanna, and she is a character from Kingdom’s Quest (one of the books in the Kingdom Series by Chuck Black). She has been deeply hurt by a man who refused to help her in a time of great need, but now has to help him on a quest (though he does not remember her). The funny thing is that the Kingdom Series is an allegory of biblical stories, and this particular book is an allegory of Paul’s story. So, this man literally represents Paul, and Keanna is someone who struggles to forgive him for what he did. Keanna shows a particular coldness towards Gavinaugh (Paul), yet the kind of coldness that shows the heat of an emotional struggle beneath it. She is an excellently crafted character, and I’d definitely recommend the series if you haven’t read it!

This article might provide some help as well 🙂

I hope this helped and good luck with your story!

~In Christ Alone My Hope Is Found~

[Anonymous]

@madelyn

I don’t mind at all! Glad to see ya around here! 🙂

Those are great tips! Thank you. Especially about the moments when the character has flashes of doubts about their lie. In my favorite book, Les Miserables, I really enjoyed when the antagonist, Inspector Javert, saw glimpses of Jean Valjean that challenged his lie (that criminals are irredeemable); and finally, Valjean gives him such undeniable evidence that he can’t handle it and meets his Tragic End.

I’ve had a few people mention the Kingdom Series to me, but I haven’t yet looked into it. *laughs sheepishly in has wayyy too many books on her TBR already*

Thanks again for popping on! Hope to see more of ya. 🙂

[Anatra]

@joy-caroline

So what I’m catching here is that you want readers to sympathize with this Keziah. She’s a good person at heart, but is conflicted with the anger and grief that Paul has caused her. If this is what you’re going for, maybe try adding a clip of her, say, helping the needy(I understand there were quite a few of these back in Paul’s time), maybe praying with other Christians, discussing her fears and angers with other people, little things to display her character and get your readers to sympathize with her on another level.

(I’m liken the way this gurl’s development is going ;). Keep me updated!)

[Anonymous]

@anatra23

That’s such a great idea!! I definitely want to add some scenes where she helps people like the needy and traumatized, maybe even converting some to Christianity, ’cause that would really solidify her conflict and get readers to see she really is a good person. I also think adding scenes where she confides in a mentor about her anger would be great. Maybe she could even pray with those other Christians specifically about it at some point.

Thanks a bunch for your tips! <33

[Madelyn]

@joy-caroline

Glad to be of service!

Les Miserables is on my to-read list! I already know the story fairly well, but I’m looking forward to reading the actual book. Have you ever read The Count of Monte Cristo? It actually has a sort of similar story to Les Miserables.

Haha, I totally get having waaaay too many books to read! *glances at a pile of books* Yep, totally get it ;P

Thanks!! I hope to be more active on this forum soon!

~In Christ Alone My Hope Is Found~

[Mary G]

@joy-caroline

Ok! Let’s try this again! I’ll try sending smaller sections. It looks like my post didn’t go through.
First off, I think Keziah will be an amazing addition to your novel!!! I really like her struggle with forgiveness and many others will too!

Okay, I have my top tips or things to consider:

Keziah story/arc reminds me of Corrie Ten Boom in the book ‘The Hiding Place’ and her struggle to forgive the Germans because of all the horrible things they did. If you haven’t read it I HIGHLY recommend it! It truly is a story about forgiveness! I cried throughout the book if that tells you anything! Lol! Like they say, ‘read books that are similar to the one your writing,’ but that is easier said than done.
Also, Check out this link. It’s about incorporating the complexities of forgiveness. Let me know if it works… https://www.writerology.net/blog/post/2014/10/how-to-add-realism-to-your-story-the-complexities-of-forgiveness?utm_content=bufferc9609&amp=&utm_medium=social&amp=&utm_source=pinterest.com&amp=&utm_campaign=buffer
If you make your character relatable to the reader they will naturally want to root them on and want the best for the MC. Make the reader feel sorry and pity the MC. If your reader can understand where Keziah is coming from and understand why she feels the way she does toward Paul and God then the reader will want a happy ending for Keziah. Sometimes the point of having a character like Keziah is to offer a different perspective, which will lessen the warm feelings the reader has for Paul and create conflict.
I agree with giving her a clear motivation even if it’s warped. Keziah saw her loved ones killed by Paul and your reader gets to choose if they will side with her on her feelings toward Paul.
I hope tho went through and I hope it was helpful!!:)

 

INFJ/ChristianFiction/ IceCreamAddict/ StarGazer/ https://lamplighterletters.wixsite.com/mysite-1

[Mary G]

Okay great! It looks lie it went through. Here’s the rest!

Also, I try to remind myself of this: just remember you don’t have to get it perfect the first time, just write it down. But that’s easier said than done too! Then you can go back and read your draft and see where you need to tweak it. Besides, what are beta readers for. *shly raises hand to volunteer* Ya know where to find me!;)
Lastly, check out this diagram I attached. You can read more about how to incorporate this into a book online. It might be useful, especially when you have a character who is experiencing death all around her and how grief can affects her arc.
I hope this was helpful in some way! I’m sure I was probably repeating other people’s advice. I’m excited to see the results! Good luck!!<3

 

INFJ/ChristianFiction/ IceCreamAddict/ StarGazer/ https://lamplighterletters.wixsite.com/mysite-1

[Anatra]

@joy-caroline

Absolutely. You’re welcome! Glad I could be helpful.

[Author]

Posts