LET THE UNDERDOG STAR IN YOUR NEXT NOVEL

 Relating to the Underdog

Photo from Pixabay

What do you think when you look at the photo to the left? Everyone's pointing a finger at the little boy. Tears stream down his face. What's he feeling? 

Fear, shame, distress come to my mind. People are judging him, and he's in a bad situation. They're all ganging up on him. He represents an underdog. Though this photo was staged, I feel sorry for him. I want him to escape. 

Readers Love the Underdog

The underdog is one of my favorite characters to write. The plot is near and dear to reader's hearts because it represents strong versus weak, rich versus poor, healthy versus sick, imprisoned versus free, unloved versus loved, and the list goes on and on. That’s why this character works in any genre. 

In my upcoming novel, Run Girl Run, my protagonist Tracie is an underdog. She escapes her violent father only to find herself swept into an invalidating world that owes her nothing. While on the run, she must solve a family secret that comes at a cost.

Who doesn’t love the disadvantaged? In his or her world, the scales tip in the wrong direction, forcing the character to fight for justice. From the time we were children we felt sympathy for Cinderella and Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer.

Later we watched movies like Lord of the Flies, The Shawshank Redemption, Never Been Kissed, Rudy, and The Blind Side. And we read books like The Girl with the Pearl Earring, Red Queen, and Memoirs of a Geisha. Why? We liked to root for the main character. It felt good when he or she finally got their just reward.

Tips for writing the underdog character:

1.    Make sure the audience understands your character’s motivation. Why does he/she want to succeed so bad? What happens along the way to make it harder? Why does it matter on an emotional level? According to Alfred Hitchcock, emotion is an essential ingredient to suspense. (Suspense is another topic I will cover in a future blog.)

2.    Let your character take the action needed to reach his goal. Otherwise, he/she becomes a punching bag for the plot. If someone else saves the character, your protagonist fails to earn their reward.

3.    Raise the stakes during his/her journey. When he/she reaches the goal, the story ends, so make winning difficult and interesting.

4.    Don’t make the disadvantage so lopsided that no one will believe your character can beat the odds.

5.    Ronald B. Tobias, the author of 20 Master Plots, has some excellent advice. He said if you want your reader to feel empathy for the protagonist, make sure the emotional/ intellectual plane is equal or lower than the reader’s. Readers want someone they can relate to, not someone superior to them.

6.      Reaching goals must come at a cost for the protagonist or someone else. This is the emotional conflict that must accompany the external plot. Pit what your underdog wants against what she needs and you’ll write a hell of a story.

 

Have you written a story about an underdog? What is your favorite underdog story? Why is it your favorite? Do you have a writing tip I didn’t list? If so, leave a comment. I’d love to hear from you.

For more blogs, Click here to go to my official website. Rather than shut down this Blogger site, I linked the two. There is a link on the website header if you wish to come back to Blogger.