Writing Unlikeable Characters

Feb 4

I came to the realization one night after weeks of stewing on a “topic” that would not leave me alone that I need to write an unlikeable character again.

How did I come to this conclusion? Well, I’ll blame it all on the show In the Dark. When I look back, I see why I connect or identify with characters that are usually the most “hated” in literature, tv or movies. The “unlikeable characters.” I don’t always understand them, but they fascinate me on so many levels.

Enter: Murphy Mason. Beth Dutton. Walter White. Gemma Morrow.

I’ve seen all of those names on lists before claiming they are the “worst” kind of characters. They’re so “unlikeable” or “annoying” or “over the top” or some other reason they suck. But not to me. These “unlikeable” characters are what I thrive on.

Take Murphy Mason from In the Dark as an example. On paper, she’s a horrible person. She’s selfish and needy and codependent and has substance abuse issues. She also has a lot of fucking trauma, too. But Perry Matfield, the actress who plays her does such a good job with her acting that the nuances and things she doesn’t do speak louder than anything. So instead of this 2 dimension “villain,” we get to see a Murphy that shows us what vulnerability looks like. She shows us what self-loathing can cost us. She shows us what happens when we make everyone’s lives around us feel like a suckhole of misfortune. She shows us what it means to be human and endure suffering and trauma and realizations.

Beth Dutton is another example of a character that gets her share of hate. And for good reason. Again, on paper, she is sneaky, manipulative, and cold. She’s the consummate “bitch” who gets shit done, no matter who she drags down with her. But she’s also endured a lot of trauma. And what we see in actress, Kelly O’Reilly’s performance of her is the softer side of Beth. The weight of her loyalty drives her actions and behaviors and her moral compass and we understand why it’s worth doing all the bad shit to keep hold of the thing she thought she would never get from her mother. Love. But she also loves deeply. We see that in her relationship with her father and Rip, her love interest. Rip’s character could be considered “unlikeable” as well, but I find him fascinating, too. But his relationship with Beth is what grounds this story in reality. Because the reality is that we’re not all good or all bad. Just as we are not all light or all shadow. We are a mix of it all. The brutally beautiful human condition. And when we see Beth with Rip, we see the goodness in her. We see the part of her that wants to come out and lay down the armor. We see vulnerability and courage as she puts her heart on the line for him (something she would NEVER do with anyone else).

And the ironic thing is — I’ve been repeating this pattern my entire life and it took me until this week to realize that I’ve always gravitated toward the characters (in fiction and in life) who are unconventional, unlikeable, complex, nuanced.

I mean, I’m the kid who won at a “speech club” monologue about serial killers.

I was #teamsirius before it was ever a thing.

My idea of a “role model” was Stephen King.

And most importantly, I’ve spent my entire life writing characters that seek to explore the parts of us we don’t reveal.

It’s why I wrote Whiskey and a Gun — I wanted to understand that facet of an “unlikeable” character. And in doing so, I unveiled so many different layers to what made him the way he was that I found myself drawn to his character.

My character Lacey Caldez from my Back to Bad Series is another unlikeable character. She does some really shady and unscrupulous things but she is always doing them from a place of protecting herself and her family. Even bad guys have a “why.” (Why do you think everyone loves Dexter so much?)

And Izzy from my unreleased novel, Until They Burn, is another example. She seeks and enacts revenge without any mercy or care for who will get hurt in the process. Yes, there’s a part of her that is doing it for her own sake, but there’s another part of her that knows if she can burn the most important players in the game, then the truth will be revealed. She’s selfish and selfless.

Basically, what I’ve realized is that these “unlikeable characters” are the people I want to know more about. And when I get that nagging feeling, I know it’s time to write the character I want to know more about.

I don’t know what that looks like right now, but I can say that it excites me. The idea of diving into a complex character with flaws and hidden secrets lights me up. Will it happen? I don’t know. I’m giving myself permission this year to be okay with not knowing what something will look like, right away. I’m leaning into the joy and the sparks right now and I’ll see where that takes me. (Spoiler alert: It usually leads to some pretty awesome things).

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