Some characters are born with “lovable” written all over their cute little faces. But some pop out mean and rough around the edges.
Most of my protagonists are people who have made major mistakes in their lives. They’re scarred, they’re cranky, sometimes they’re just plain wrong. Even I wouldn’t want to run into some of them in a dark alley.
There’s a little trick authors can use to make even their darkest antiheroes sympathetic.
Revision and Self-Editing by James Scott Bell (affiliate link)
This trick is what TV writers call “petting the dog” or “saving the cat.” All you have to do is insert a scene in which the character—presumably embattled on every side—pauses a moment to help something or someone who as, James Scott Bell explains in Revision and Self-Editing, is “weaker and more vulnerable than he is.” Bell goes on:
A pet-the-dog beat, properly executed, creates great sympathy for the character, while at the same time may add to the suspense. It doesn’t have to be a literal dog, but any other character who is vulnerable.
For example, in John Robinson’s mystery Until the Last Dog Dies, gruff PI Joe Box adopts a scruffy alley cat and mourns when he believes the cat dies in a house fire.
In the Coen brothers’ recent movie adaptation of True Grit, “notorious thumper” and general rough character Marshal Rooster Cogburn nonchalantly wallops two boys who are mistreating a mule.
True Grit (2010), Paramount Pictures.
And who could forget assassin Léon’s devotion to his Japanese peace lily in Luc Besson’s The Professional?
Léon: The Professional (1994), Gaumont.
Your hero might also win audience sympathy through his devotion to a person, such as Katniss Everdeen’s sacrificial love for her younger sister Prim in Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games.
The Hunger Games (2012), Lionsgate.
Or Dr. Richard Kimble’s risking his disguise to diagnose a car wreck victim in Andrew Davis’s The Fugitive.
The Fugitive (1993), Warner Bros.
Or the people of Guernsey’s adoption of a war orphan in Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows’s The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (2018), StudioCanal.
Your pet-the-dog scene must be organic to your character and your story.
Having your hero dive into the middle a firefight to save a lop-eared puppy won’t work unless the puppy’s survival drives the plot forward.
In some stories, petting the dog becomes the story, as in L.M. Montgomery’s classic children’s story Anne of Green Gables, in which a crotchety woman adopts an orphan girl and is transformed by the experience.
Anne of Green Gables (1985), CBC.
Or as in Frank Capra’s movie It’s a Wonderful Life, which features its cranky, unhappy hero looking out for other people over and over again.
It’s a Wonderful Life (1947), Liberty Films.
If you find yourself with a dark character, stop worrying about whether or not audiences will like her and up the odds by giving her a dog to pet. After all, even bad guys love their mommas. A pet-the-dog beat won’t salvage an unlikable character if petting the dog is her only good deed, but audiences will be much more likely to connect to even the crankiest, grumpiest, most misunderstood antihero when the character reaches out and shows compassion to a brown-eyed puppy dog.
Wordplayers, tell me your opinions! Does your protagonist pet the dog? Tell me in the comments!
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I don’t know, I’m less likely to sympathize with someone who has a dog. But then I hate dogs. 😉
I would also say that just one incident of this kind of behavior isn’t going to do it for me. It has to be a pattern of behavior. A single incident strikes me, as a savvy reader, as contrived to get my sympathies. Like the politician kissing the baby. I’m not fooled. It has to be deeper than that.
The notion of petting the dog must flow organically from the character. An otherwise unlikable character won’t be transformed with a little pat to the head of the neighbor’s chihuahua. In fact, a bad guy who shows a burst of unwanted kindness can be all the creepier for it. But utilizing an organic instance of compassion can serve to demonstrate the character’s softer side in a way readers can grab hold of.
Great post! I’m a total sucker for any character doing something nice for others. I’ve heard this pet-the-dog thing called “save the cat”. I believe there’s a screenwriting book by that name.
I was recently told by an agent that her love for one of my characters was cemented the moment he helped another character feed a bunch of very newborn, and therefore very ugly, kittens. 🙂 Nice post!
@Tamara: Ah, yes, the cat in the tree routine? Never fails!
@L. Scribe: Aw, newborn kittens are adorable. Not as adorable they get in a few weeks, but still adorable!
Sarah might glean a bit of help from the book, SAVE THE CAT. In it, Blake Synder says essentially what you did : we must begin with a “save the cat” scene to cement reader identification and empathy to our MC. He relates one of the first scenes of SEA OF LOVE, where the cop, Al Pacino, spares a criminal caught in a sting operation because he is with his son. He flashes the criminal his badge on his belt, warning him of the sting and warning him that he will eventually be arrested with his dry, “Catch you later.”
How could you not root for a guy like that? Roland
Haven’t seen the movie, but I already like the character! Hard characters with soft spots – those are the characters that inevitably grab and refuse to let go.
That must be why stories about knights errant, searching for princesses in distress are so popular. 😀
I generally try to make my heroes sympathetic.. to some degree. Unless it ruins the point of the story.
I’m still trying to figure out what my pet the dog, or save the cat (I like that one better :p) scene will be. I’ve had a few ideas, but none of them move the story forward.
@Gideon: Not all heroes are meant to be sympathetic. Some are intended to be downright unlikable. But, for the most part, popular fiction demands a character readers can like.
@Lorna: The trick is making this beat inherent. It has to be a domino that influences the dominoes to follow.
Great post!
My save the dog moment–my teenager male MC (who is a little on the horny side) looks away when a girl who doesn’t know he is there begins to undress. It is just a small moment–but one of my crit partners pointed it out as the reason she really started to become attached to him. It is amazing how much one small detail influences a reader’s thoughts.
I’m not sure if it has to move the story forward. Perhaps it can just tell us more about the character. I’m thinking of The Closer. Brenda is hard as nails yet found it difficult to allow the vet to put “Kitty” to sleep. In previous episodes, she actually fought against this softer side by never naming the cat–hence the name Kitty. Reminds me of Breakfast at Tiffany’s. I believe the cat was just “Cat.”
In my YA novel the main character shows compassion to her dog by rescuing him from a rooster (obviously takes place on a farm!).
Chivalry – for all that it’s supposed to be dead – still appeals, particularly to the ladies.
@Sheila: The fact that the cat in The Closer was a recurring character gave its influence upon the MC enough weight to work. Had the cat showed up and died in only one episode, it likely wouldn’t have worked as well.
The protagonist in my next book saves a cat from drowning while the villain looks on. He doesn’t help her. She wonders why because she still thinks he’s a good guy. She pets the cat and the readers see the face of evil for the first time.
Nice job making the beat do double duty to characterize both the protagonist and the antaognist!
LOL. Save the cat!
The neighbor’s a crotchety crank who would just as soon grab a kid by the scruff of the neck and throw him out as not. But he still “pets the dog” (or “saves the cat”).
: )
Crotchety neighbors are some of my favorite characters – especially when they turn out to be lovable.
This is good. Overall, it’s about humanizing our characters. “Good people” do “bad things” at times. “Bad people” do “good things” sometimes. Since as writers we must choose how to represent such concepts in simplified terms, having your flawed character pet a dog, save a cat, nurture a plant, etc, provides that image to symbolize the “good” quality in him or her.
Exactly. The most important part of petting the dog or saving the cat is that it actively demonstrates the character’s good side. It’s one thing to tell readers a character is a good guy, but readers won’t really believe it until you show them the character’s heart of gold in action.
I love this when I read it in books or see it in movies. The trick for me is doing it myself…organically.
“Organic” is very possibly the most difficult word in a writer’s vocabulary. It’s way easier said than done! But the more we know about our characters, the easier it is to figure out how they would organically pet the dog.
I think every noir character I’ve read (or wrote) literally pet a dog somewhere during the story. They play a bigger role than a character building device, because they are often used for symbols of abandonment.
My WIP character has a few, pet-a-dog moments. He had a hoarding mother, so he loves to give stuff. Sometimes he steals even, only to give. Makes him feel useful and helps him distanciate himself from what he thinks might be a genetic disease.
Good stuff. The movie Million Dollar Baby used its literal pet the dog scene as excellent metaphor of abandonment.
Didn’t realize that there was a name for these moments! 🙂
I also didn’t realize mine already had this moment until I really thought about it. Without this moment, my adolescent male MC would probably come off surly and a typical rebellious teen. But, his PTD moment is with his 6-year-old sister, who’s quite sick. After she’s finished taking a bath, he carries her, wet towel and all, to her bedroom, and tucks her in bed. He asks her if she’s alright and if she needs anything else, then hugs her hard, sincerely. The reader then realizes that all of his reactions to his parents and the bullies at school is all harping back to this point – how to save his dying sister. All of my current beta-readers love him because of this sweet side.
Very cool post! Thanks!
Perfect! Little kids are often even more effective than animals, since not only are they super cute, but they’re also more intricately related to the plot and the character’s development.
Great post. And how interesting it is when a villain is seen petting a dog. The reader thinks, “How bad can this dude be if he stops to pet a dog before knocking over that grocery store?” In fact, now that I think about it, the bad guy in SILENCE OF THE LAMBS has “Precious” — the love of his life. But that relationship only makes him scarier, rather than compassionate. Hmmm… something to think about as I write my next thriller. Keep up the good work!!
Bad guys – especially the *really* bad ones – are easier to compartmentalize if we can’t relate to them. The moment they become relatable is the moment they become scary – because it’s also the moment they become real.
Thoughtful and useful post. I love animals, both wildlife and pets, so I always put them in my books. Usually my characters are animal lovers from the get-go, but in my latest mystery, I had the detective start off ready to take the pets his ex-wife left behind to the pound, but then over the course of the book he comes to appreciate the intelligence and personalities of all animals. So I certainly hope that readers and pet lovers who get upset at my protagonist in the beginning keep reading!
Animals are always one of my favorite details in any story. I grew up around horses, and I love dogs and cats, so they’re a no-brainer for most of my stories.
omg, yes yes! I’ve heard about this pet the dog trick, and I didn’t even know that’s what it was called, but I SO use it. It’s like Shakespeare’s yin-yang trick. All bad guys, a spot of good. All good guys a spot of bad. Makes them more real. Good stuff, girl~ :o) <3
Verisimilitude! None of us are pure white or pure black. That’s what makes the human race so interesting.
This was so insightful! I really loved it, I shall have to add this aspect to my stories. I have a villain who has a habit of “petting dogs” and yes it certainly makes him more creepy.
Thank you so much for sharing!
Jessica
Oh, sorry this feels a little presumptuous but I am having a little music giveaway at my blog and I’d love to have you join. It’s a young film composer with some amazing music.
http://safirewriter.blogspot.com/2011/08/200th-post-giveaway-and-interview.html
Have a lovely day!
Jessica
Petting cats is a trope in itself when it comes to villains. The cat-stroking villain is a sure sign of evilness in the western world.
Thanks for the info about the giveaway! I’ll check it out.
I’ve heard this before. A ‘save the cat’ moment.
Yes, based on Blake Snyder’s screenwriting book, “Save the Cat,” which contains much more good advice re movie-making, including beat sheets, etc. “As Good as it Gets” contains a “punt the pooch” moment to give the audience a quick grasp of the MC’s character when he tosses the dog down the garbage chute. .
I’d point out that movies are different from books, and the movie STC moment is usually just that–a moment. For cost reasons, movies are extremely compact, so STC build-up and payoff may take only 1/3 of a page. We may never see the “cat” again. In a novel, you don’t need a moment; the MC’s good character can be shown over an entire chapter or more, and the cat may be integral to the plot. Paper is cheap.
As with anything, once it becomes formulaic, once people are mumbling “pet the pup” at that moment, it’s stale and needs a new approach. Oil the tin man?
You’re right. It’s alternately called a save-the-cat beat.
My MC watches over her dad and sister and protects them, even from herself.
Sounds like an interesting MC!
If you are going to steal from Blake Snyder’s “Save the Cat!” at least give him credit!
This idea didn’t originate with Snyder. “Petting a dog” is a well-known screenwriting term.
I’m totally with you on this. It makes a big impact to me as a reader to see that compassion in a protagonist.
I’m curious though — why do you think some books gain popularity without it? The first one that comes to mind for me is A Clockwork Orange. Really awful main character that the reader feels no sympathy for until midway through the book (I think . . . it’s been a while). Yet a lot of people love this book. In fact, it was required reading for me in college.
The exception that breaks this rule is usually a story of the tragic variety. Negative character arc stories have long piqued humanity’s interest, but it’s usually more the fascination with the unlikable characters’ descent than any personal connection (such as would be created by a pet the dog moment) that keeps us reading.
(Reading through some of your older posts). It is probably absurd to comment after all this time, but I think a really good example of a `pet the dog’ moment in `Emma’ by Jane Austen. At the start of the book, Emma is rather self-absorbed and meddlesome, BUT she really loves her dad, even though he’s overly controlling, petty, and a hypochondriac. It makes her likeable because you see that she’s been making a lot of sacrifices to stick around home so he won’t be alone, but she doesn’t seem to realize she’s sacrificing anything. She thinks she’s perfectly happy to never marry. In fact, it’s when she’s trying to reassure Mr. Knightly that she is not going to be board at all now that her only female companion in the house has married and moved away where she gets the idea to play matchmaker. 🙂
Yep. Also not just antiheroes. In my Neanderthal time-travel adventure, there literally were no dogs (or cats), so my hero adopts the next-best-thing: a hyena cub (which is also integral to the story).
And another note is: WHERE to put this scene/beat? Bell says: sometime within Act II, usually either just before or just after the Mirror Moment (Midpoint). I put it immediately after. Works for me!
I’d say it depends on whether you’re using the beat as characterization–in which case earlier is better–or a demonstration of character change, in which case later is better.
Righty-o!
My protagonist is likeable enough from page one, but this post made me realize that I’ve given my antagonist a Dog to pet without even knowing it. I suppose that’s why I suddenly didn’t want him to lose everything, even if I couldn’t let him win either. It’s a pretty big dog… everything he did was for the dog.
That’s cool. Bad guys need redeeming traits too.
I have whole string of these moments. Jane invites kid and grandma onto the flight deck of her spaceship:
‘Betty, come here.’ Jane lifted the child into her lap, where she sat alternately enchanted by the brilliantly coloured complexity of the panel, and fascinated by the sight of the planet.
The fierce spaceship designer has her moments as well:
‘That was the tricky bit, getting it designed, built and tested in a week. I (Jane) had to get the engineers at St. Barbara to go at it like the devil, or more exactly Heloise herself, was after them. Incidentally, all praise to Heloise, once I went and explained it to her, she pulled people and materials off other jobs to get it done.’
Keefe’s eyes widened in surprise. ‘Are you telling me you actually went in the she-wolf’s lair?’
‘I went in Heloise McAlister’s office at St. Barbara. Why not? I don’t see why everyone is so frightened of her.’
‘Because she keeps that slavering wolf pack in her office, that’s why. I only talk to her on starline.’
‘It’s not a wolf pack; it’s three collies, and if you sit on the floor and talk nicely to them, they’re all big softies.’
I may have missed something her with the villain. The only affection he shows is for his son:
‘He’d say, “When the lad is old enough, he’ll have them all.” And then he’d turn to face me, and he’d say, “All the money, and all the women, the lad shall have his fill, and the old bastard won’t be here to see it.’’
Honestly, “save the grandma” just makes this trope feel so much fresher. :p
Very interesting but (I must be truly bizarre), one of my antagonists actually kills a dog, without reason and very violently. When my protagonist finds out, this adds to the rage he feels against the other guy.
So I’ve actually used the pet-the-dog in reverse.
That works too–in a different way, obviously.
That’s OTT. Some readers will put the book back on the shelf and move on. It will get mentioned in reviews.
An insane character is a loose cannon in your story.
Seeing a person love their dog also makes me like that person in real life. :0)
“Must love dogs,” right? 😉