The easiest way for readers to connect with characters and feel

Hear, O students of story and weavers of tales, the wisdom of Randa Abdel-Fattah, who proclaimed: “The easiest way for readers to connect with characters and feel sympathy is to make the character entertaining, sympathetic and likeable.” In these words she unveils the ancient secret of storytelling: that men and women, when confronted with words on a page, yearn not merely for plot or setting, but for souls in whom they may find reflection, warmth, and connection. The heart of narrative is not only action, but sympathy, born from the bond between character and reader.

The meaning is thus: a story lives or dies not by its cleverness of design, but by the strength of its characters. To stir the emotions of an audience, a character must be made likeable—not flawless, but human, vulnerable, and real. They must be entertaining, so that the reader delights in their company, whether in joy or in sorrow. And they must be sympathetic, so that their struggles feel like our own. For when readers see in the character something of themselves, the wall between fiction and reality dissolves, and the story becomes life itself.

The ancients themselves knew this truth. Consider the hero Odysseus, whose cunning mind and restless heart drew generations of listeners into his trials. He was flawed, at times boastful and rash, yet endlessly likeable for his wit and courage. His tale entertained with adventure, but it also stirred sympathy as he longed for home and wept for his family. It is this blend—entertainment, sympathy, and likability—that made the Odyssey endure not for years but for millennia.

History bears witness again in the works of Charles Dickens, who filled his novels with characters that readers embraced as living companions. Consider Tiny Tim in A Christmas Carol: fragile, innocent, and hopeful, his simple cry of “God bless us, everyone!” has moved countless hearts. The boy’s role is small, but his likeability and innocence awaken sympathy, giving the story its soul. Dickens knew what Abdel-Fattah reminds us: to reach the reader’s heart, one must create characters who are not only observed, but loved.

At the heart of this teaching lies the truth of human nature. People are drawn to people. Long before the written word, around fires in ancient villages, storytellers crafted figures who were brave, foolish, kind, or tragic—figures who entertained, who were remembered, and who taught through their likability and suffering. Audiences followed these characters not because they were perfect, but because they were alive in spirit. The bond between audience and character is as ancient as storytelling itself.

The lesson, then, is clear: to touch the heart, create characters who can be touched. Do not build them from cold marble, flawless and distant, for readers will admire but never love them. Give them warmth, flaws, humor, courage, and hope. Make them entertaining to journey with, sympathetic in their struggles, and likeable in their humanity. Then, the reader’s heart will follow them through every trial, and the story will live beyond its pages.

What, then, should you do? When crafting a tale, ask not only what happens, but who it happens to. Shape your characters with compassion, allowing them to stumble, to laugh, to weep. Let them carry both weakness and strength, so that readers may see themselves reflected. And above all, do not forget that sympathy is the bridge between imagination and reality. Build that bridge, and your story will not merely be read—it will be lived.

Thus let Abdel-Fattah’s words endure: “The easiest way for readers to connect with characters… is to make the character entertaining, sympathetic and likeable.” For in them lies the eternal wisdom of the storyteller’s craft: that the secret to moving the world is not found in spectacle or cleverness, but in the beating heart of a single character, drawn so true that we cannot help but care. And when a reader cares, the story becomes immortal.