My character has finally hit rock bottom and even I don’t like him anymore. Do you think it might become off-putting to the reader if it looks very crumpled, or should we just not keep it in that position for long? I think I have to keep his dignity inside, even if that outside is tragic…
It’s a great idea to absolutely crush your protagonist, so you’re probably fine.
Two things to consider:
Did you do something to help the reader like the character at the Save the Cat moment? If you give us a good first impression, we’ll stick around through the hard stuff.
Do we know what your protagonist needs to accomplish? If we know we’re there going, we’ll stick around to see if they get there.
It sounds like you’re on the right track!
There are small drops of hope aimed at the unknown, just enough to keep it from being completely crushed.
From hope springs eternal so readers will be drawn through the depths with that sprinkle of hope.
As long as they’re not completely crushed, readers will still like them. As a bookworm myself, I’ve read books like that and I’m always more crushed in that I feel bad for the MC and want to hug them than I dislike them. One of my favorite books did that to me recently and while I could’ve hated him if I wrote him myself, as the reader I cried instead because I just felt so bad for the MC.
The hero has no idea how he will defeat the Mega Antagonist, but he has a strong desire to do so.