Yesterday was my weekday off from work. Today we closed early, thus allowing me to make an early blog post today. Also, it cuts my hours and thus my income, but that’s a post for another day.
Among other things, I ended up at the library and decided to grab a book. I didn’t have a particular book in mind. I looked over the new release area and grabbed one that had an interesting looking cover and interesting sounding synopsis on the jacket.
I started it yesterday and gave up after about two pages. This is often the case with me when I grab any old book from, frankly, any section of the library. I usually find myself disappointed when it’s a random book versus a book other’s have raved about. Sometimes I’m not even sure what all the raving was about. I won’t name names, but there have been a few in recent memory that everyone said was so great, that I just kind of went “eh.”
Maybe I’m picky.
That’s probably true, but I think also part of it is I don’t really like a lot of what’s out there. I don’t mind likable protagonists, but they’re usually written in such a way that they’re so darn likable that you just feel so bad for what’s happening to them. It would be such a perfect life for that character if only… Fill in the blank with a problem/conflict that creates the story. Or it’s some average person who suddenly finds themselves in an extraordinary circumstance through no fault of their own. Ick.
There aren’t a lot of anti-hero stories out there. Probably because anti-hero characters as protagonists are hard to create. Harder to make likable, because, in general, if you don’t like the main character, you’re probably not going to finish the story.
But, that’s what I’d like to read more of, likable anti-heroes. Why? All though, I’m really drawn to great stories in general, I like the idea of someone who is a jerk, asshat, whatever, being the main character. Saying all the things we can’t, doing all the things we can’t. It’s like giving a voice and legs and a body to our inner jerks and letting it run free in the world. It’s exciting.
Maybe that’s wrong of me. Wanting to give my inner jerk a voice, but I can’t help it. That’s the kind of story I want to tell.
Partly Writing 