It's important to find characters that share sympathy with a young audience, not just in the story but their role in the world.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The easiest way for readers to connect with characters and feel sympathy is to make the character entertaining, sympathetic and likeable.
You have to have sympathy for and an empathy with a character in order to play them.
You can't mess around with young readers - you have to cut straight to the heart of the story. The character can be complex, the plot can have some surprises, but the emotions have to be clear.
You have to have empathy, knowledge and compassion for your characters if you're a writer.
Supporting characters add depth to a story, and great actors leave their imprint with the audience.
I don't really distinguish between sympathy and honesty when I'm writing. The two go together - I'm interested in inhabiting my characters, seeing the world through their eyes.
What is more important is finding the soul of the character, and making sure it fits well into this story. And that it be dramatic and interesting and captivating, because these people weren't entertainers, you know.
There's a great tradition of actors taking on parts of much less obvious sympathy.
Although I'm not particularly troubled myself, I do have a lot of empathy for troubled characters.
I don't care about sympathy. I care about playing a character who's understandable and clear.