What is a Redemptive Character?
In writing workshops, I’m often asked what is meant by writing redemptive characters, and even by experienced writers, so it’s not surprising when there’s confusion about the meaning. Simply, it implies writing a character(s) in a way that readers can find something about the person(s) to identify with or care about, and in best case scenarios–root for. But this paints the explanation in rather simple strokes. I find there’s much more to it, so let me spend the rest of this article providing some concrete ideas on how to apply this definition in a broader sense; but a little history first related to the traditional concept of the redemptive character.
Very Few Successful Novels are Solely Plot Driven
I once asked an erudite workshop group to make a list of well-known novels with absolutely not one character who could be liked. After several months we’d parsed hundreds of books. There were a few honorable mentions (or dishonorable, if you so choose) such as ON THE ROAD and TROPIC OF CANCER. And I think THE SUN ALSO
RISES and BREATHING LESSONS made the “almost list.” But when we’d finally completed our task, and a dozen people had contributed to this study of what amounted to more than
a thousand works, only STUDS LONIGAN and WUTHERING HEIGHTS made it to the top of the heap. So writing a book that will sustain a reader without a likeable character is not an easy chore.
Manuscripts are Rejected because Agents and Publishers Aren’t Invested in the Characters
Not becoming invested in the characters is often because these figures weren’t found
to be redemptive. Another knockout factor is to hear that the characters just weren’t interesting. So this begs the question, “What is a way to make a character interesting?”
One answer lies in writing a character who is genuinely likeable and therefore patently redemptive. Another technique is to make a character compelling, but with the reader’s approval of the person’s actions not entering into the equation.
A Character Doesn’t have to be Paddy in THE THORN BIRDS to be Redemptive. Understand What Like Means, and You can Provide the Reader with a Reason to Like to Hate Your Character
This is one time when there is a magic bullet, and it’s a Howitzer. But the answer is not always obvious. In THE GODFATHER, most of us pulled for Michael, along with the Don (and in separate eras). The majority of people cared about Clarice Starling in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, but Hannibal held many people’s interest even more so as an antihero.
Perhaps with the Don and Hannibal, readers (and moviegoers) respected their power, however disparate its source. Yet while many people had their vicarious sweet tooth satisfied by the earlier Don, they later sympathized with the older character, which is a tribute to Mr. Puzo’s immense skill in character transitioning. With respect to Hannibal,
he was viewed as an enigma. But since a lot of people were enticed (by Thomas Harris’ brilliance) to want to know why the good doctor had become a monster, this was the epicenter of the latest installment. For whatever the reason, many people unquestionably remained curious about the Hannibal Lector character.
Redemptive Character Writing Covers a lot of Ground, so There’s Plenty of Room to get Comfortable
Don Corleone and Hannibal Lector might not seem like sterling examples of my
original definition of redemptive characters, but each in his own way is just that. Look at
the recent vampire groundswell. The creatures are written in a manner that render people compassionate for their plight. A key to becoming published is to write characters who, regardless of their proclivity, are redemptive in the eyes of the reader.
Robert L. Bacon
robertlbacon@aol.com
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