Pixar’s
Rule #1: Character Struggle
#1: You
admire a character for trying more than for their successes.
As an avid reader, I feel
the key to any good story is love for the characters, feeling their struggle
and wish for their success. You want to
be them, date them, or be their best friend.
It keeps you engaged.
Most of my favorite books
have protagonist that are strong women with the courage to push through the
struggles of life. Those struggles shape
the character into someone you can love.
Beatrice ‘Tris’ Prior of the Divergent series by Veronica Roth is
appealing because of the strength she doesn’t even realize she possesses. She knows before her test that she is
different and that she struggles with her ways of her faction. The thought of leaving her family causes her
distress, but the thought of not being who she is meant to be can’t be
denied. She has to follow her true
self. She is small and has to work harder
than the others in her new. Every obstacle
thrown her way is overcome making someone you respect.
Really, it is the basics
for any story. Something has to happen
to keep us interested. You add in a little
bit of a personal connection to a character and the makings of a beautiful
story emerge.
Be it a struggle you are
horrified about like the killing of children for sport in The Hunger Games or
life as a slightly odd kid from Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Life no matter how ‘normal’ or how extreme
has a set of it’s on struggles, it’s how the character deals with the struggle
and come through on the other side that makes the story worth reading—again and
again.
So, I agree that you need
to admire the characters and their struggle.
Characters are how I personally become invested in a novel or
series. I love to see where they start and
were they end up. It’s all about taking that ride and making us want to be in
the passenger seat.
Also,
all of you should check out the posts from my blogging friends who are doing
this challenge with me! The first posts go up today. Links
to Kate Brauning, Talynn Lynn, Mary Pat, and Alex Yuschik’s blogs are located
on the side bar.
We’d love to see comments on our
post and share anything you enjoy. Thank
you for reading!
Characters are how I invest, too! :) Great post.
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