We’ve covered ways to make your MC (main character also known as the protagonist) appealing. However, we must also ensure that the readers see their scars. Over the course of your novel/novella, they’ve emotionally risen, fallen, and stood a final time.
In a romance they connect, feelings are hurt, and the problems are finally resolved. However, they are not the same at the end. Harse words have been said. They have realized the person they love can cause them pain. MC has learned that love is risk but one they are willing to take. The wounds from their fight heal, to become thin scars.
If your Protagonist solves a mystery or survives a killer, they too have marks. What they have experienced has forever changed them. They no longer view people with an openness.
Shows your charters pain and how they evolve. Yes, what they have gone through has shifted who they are and how they interact with the world. How could it not?
peascoaching 