Your main character should be a hero, even some odd stories and movies like Gru from Despicable Me, was the hero in a way. In the story the hero is the one you should be rooting for (unless it’s someone like Scrooge). Make your hero someone your reader cares about. Show them doing things, they don’t necessarily have to be heroic deeds, but things that will make your reader see them as being good and as someone worth reading about.
Purpose:
In order to give your story meaning it is best to have the hero learn something and therefore teaching the reader something, (that is how Scrooge could be the hero and have it work: based on what he learned he became a better person in the end). Everyone wants to have purpose and without purpose life becomes very dull, this is true with books as well. Don’t simply insert a random lesson to be learned in the end but have pieces of it appearing steadily throughout the story. Make it clear in the very beginning what the story goal is (what should be accomplished by the end of the book). It should be clear that the bad guy needs to be defeated somehow or the mystery solved for the story to end, it’s the how that keeps people reading. Make it unexpected but not random.
More on this subject (and even more subjects) can be found in the writing curriculum One Year Adventure Novel by Daniel Schwabauer. Find it at: http://www.oneyearnovel.com/
It is kind of expensive but it is worth it! If you're not sure if you'll like it on their website you can request a free dvd that tells about the course and includes the first lesson as a sample. I've been taking this course and I highly recommend it for anyone interested in writing a novel (whether you already know what you want to write about or you're interested in writing but don't know where to start this course will be perfect for you)! I haven't tried out their science fiction and fantasy course yet but I'd really like to sometime.
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