LIKABILITY | compelling characters

Impressions from The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. Le Guin

I picked up The Wizard of Earthsea book to venture into the world of Ursula K. LeGuin, a legendary fantasy writer of her day. I liked the name Earthsea as the magical land, and the setting in an archipelago piqued my interest. I began reading about the young boy, Ged, who would be the greatest wizard of Earthsea. The future wizard was also a proud, stubborn, and disgruntled youth.  He seeks to surpass his limitations before he is ready and ventures into spells that he has been warned to stay away from.  I kept thinking to myself, am I supposed to like this character? The answer should be yes, but maybe LeGuin meant to introduce her hero at the lowest condition and wanted to build him up over the series. Whatever her motives,  I did not connect with the character.

This reflection on the likability of a main character made me think about my protagonist. Lucia is kind, gentle, and patient. She remains calm and is not easily swayed by whims. Ultimately, she will develop more gumption that will reveal her passionate side, but I discovered that presenting her as docile initially did not create engaging reading. She remained quiet when others spoke up, stared blankly as bad things unfolded, and seemed less enamored with her love interest than she could be. It's not that she isn't likable, but she also lacks the qualities that make readers root for her. As I am learning, I need to focus less on liability and more on making Lucia compelling.  She appears flat and uninspired, which isn't the impression I am aiming for. 

A friend suggested I expand on my main character's personality through internal dialogue, which helps the reader better understand her mind and motivations. Initially, I tried hard not to include internal thoughts in my writing because I wanted to focus more on interactions between characters. I am still unsure how I feel about adding some internal thoughts, but it does fit in seamlessly with the story and add depth to my main character. 

Before my current work in progress, I wrote a draft about a woman suffocating under patriarchy and decided to become a man, only to have that transformation reduce his life expectancy. I did not like my main character. My struggle was not in world-building but in character-building.  My main character was weak, constantly unsatisfied, and difficult to like.  Disinterested in the main character and the world I created, I put the draft in a drawer and have not looked at it since.

I do not want to put my current book in a drawer and forget about it. The story has themes that are accessible to many people: social class, prejudice, grief, family, and love. My protagonist, Lucia, must endure all these things and emerge a different person—someone who people can cheer on and enjoy reading about her journey and yet not fall into typical Latina stereotypes.

I have no doubt LeGuin is a superb writer, but Earthsea did not grab me as it might for others. I am glad I did not put the book on my ‘Did Not Finish’ list and potentially missed out on a valuable lesson. Instead of reading thirty pages and giving up, I finished the story and recognized something valuable for my own writing: make my main character compelling and, if I can, likable.