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…
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.
There are small drops of hope aimed at the unknown, just enough to keep it from being completely crushed.