Characters are what they do, and, just as important, what they try to do, even if they fail in disastrous fashion. Especially if they fail, I think. Reader sympathy skyrockets if the protagonist attempts a noble deed, loses, and then has to go back to the drawing board, bleeding with fresh wounds.

It works with the bad guys too. If the antagonist’s evil plan is foiled we still hate him all the more, don’t we? For trying to blow up the busload of nuns? Sure we do. What kind of jerk tries to kill nuns?

The point is this. People are defined by what they attempt to accomplish, good or bad, succeed or fail. Well, partially. What else defines a character?

A character is also seen by how others respond to him. Not only does this infer he had a life before the events of this story, but it shows how others have judged him in the past, how they are still judging him.

Habits, ticks and quirks give a character charm, flaws, charisma, etc. They can make a person really live and breathe on the page. And really bad habits can be the basis for entire storylines, themes, and growth.  Those little things called character arcs.

Humor. If the protagonist is funny, has the ability to make us smile, or laugh out loud (good luck making the reader laugh, it’s a super hard thing to do) we like him so much more, don’t we? Maybe even love him? A sense of humor is huge, it makes us connect with him quicker than just about any other way. We suddenly care what happens to him. It makes us tingle with excitement when he gets that well-deserved promotion, and curse when he takes a knife to the spleen.

A talent or natural ability is another way to make him likable. Everyone is drawn to people with talents, right? As long as they don’t gloat about it or show off. A humble protag with an amazing ability is not just interesting, it’s enticing. Intriguing. The reader will want to know more, I promise.

And most important of all, what does the character want, why does he want it, and what lengths will he go to get it? This not only defines him, it is the basis of the story. It is the story. When he gets what he’s been fighting for all along (Or utterly fails, if it’s a tragic ending) the tale is over. Drop the curtain. Stick forks in all the appropriate places. You’re done.

These are some of the things that make us feel for the people that populate our stories, and that’s the whole point, isn’t it? To feel something? It is for me.

That’s enough.