Every writer wants to have engaging characters that hook the readers. In this post, I’m going to talk about three elements that can create a character that readers want to get behind. These are proactivity, competence, and sympathy.
All three elements should be treated like sliders instead of an on/off switches. By this I mean they can each be present in different amounts to make up different characters. Something like humor is an on/off switch. Either a person is funny or he isn’t. You can’t be half funny (though you can be funny at times). However, people can be competent on varying levels. It’s measured on a sliding scale. Keep this in mind. At the end of this post, we will see how it can be useful in varying characters while keeping them engaging.
Proactivity
This category is about how proactive the character is in the story. Does he make a plan and act? Or, does he sit around waiting for something to happen and then react? Reading about someone who is not proactive can get boring so be careful not to lower this slider all the way to the bottom. In the end, the character will have to learn to be proactive if he’s going to triumph.
Competence
Competence is a measurement of how good the character is at stuff. Is he a great fighter or does he always get beaten up? Would he be the one to accidentally unleash a computer virus or the one to fix it? Readers like people who excel. Obviously, if you put this slider all the way at the top so the character is great at everything, you risk losing your reader. No one wants to read about a character that does everything perfect. So, make sure you let him struggle a little bit.
Sympathy
This element is how likable a character is to the readers. Is he relatable? Compassionate toward others? Genuine? It’s anything that makes his personality endearing to the readers. He has to be someone that the reader wants to win just because they like him.
Application Of The Sliders
I’m going to use Harry Potter for examples in hopes that most people have either read the books or watched the movies. There are three main characters in this series, and Rowling, either planned or accidentally, made each one high on a different slider.
Harry
When searching for a character with high proactivity, Harry Potter is the guy. He runs head first into conflict every time. Harry isn’t one to sit and wait to see what happens.
Harry is in the middle range of the sympathy slider. He’s an everyday boy that the muggle readers can sympathize with since they don’t know magic themselves. His personality is a blank slate to give the reader the ability to project themselves onto him. Plus, there’s the whole thing about living under the stairs in a broom closet his whole childhood. Who wouldn’t support a kid that experienced that?
Harry’s lowest slider is competence. He doesn’t know a lot (since he didn’t even know he was a wizard), but he does have some innate skill such as flying on a broom. By the end of the series, Harry grows into a high enough level of competence to defeat Voldemort.
Hermione
Competence is Hermione’s middle name. She not only knows a lot, but she can put that knowledge into action. She excels at most things (but not everything, thankfully), and she isn’t afraid to push herself to do better.
Hermione’s proactivity slider is fairly high as well. She’ll take initiative and work out ways to solve problems on her own. She is more cautious than Harry, but she has no problem running into danger to confront an issue.
The lowest slider for Hermione is sympathy. Because of her high competency, she comes off as a know-it-all. She seems unapproachable and tends to make others feel stupid. It’s easy to see why she might start as the least liked person in her class.
Ron
Ron excels when it comes to sympathy. He has a lovable personality and is loyal to a fault. He is clumsy, awkward, and funny. Ron is the kind of guy you can’ help but like.
Competence is in the middle range for Ron. He grew up in the wizarding world with a knowledgeable family. Ron knows the customs and some magic from being around it. He may not excel at using magic, but he knows it.
Ron’s lowest slider is proactivity because he’s a bit of a coward. He prefers to run away from trouble and avoid conflict. Because he is loyal, he runs into battle with his friends, but he wouldn’t if they didn’t. He just goes along for the ride and lets them make the plans.
Final Thoughts
Making engaging characters takes a level of proactivity, competence, and sympathy. When I learned about these three simple sliders, it blew my mind. I didn’t think it could be so easy, but, for once, it is! You can play around with the level of each slider and create a never-ending list of engaging characters for your stories.
Thanks for reading!
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