I think that people like to relate to characters and, if the character spends the entire time whining, then that becomes difficult. Because no one likes to think that they would be that way. Even if the character has been through great suffering or loss, if they spend the whole time simply brooding or whining about it, it comes across as them just feeling sorry for themselves, and that's not a very inspiring character. However, it is a very real character. That's the thing. If you can work it into their personality and not make it gimmicky or overbearing, so they become a 'person', who happens to be whiny, that might be more accepted. Especailly if they work to get over that whining. I'd love to read about a character who slowly get's over their constant need to bitch and moan and feel sorry for themselves. Like, say, Sansa Stark from 'A Song of Ice and Fire'.
Funny you should bring up Sensa Stark from A Song of Ice and Fire series. There seem to be mix feelings about her from what I have seen in reviews. Some people love her and others think she is completely whiney. Yet, this is a girl who is being held prisoner and who has been tortured as well as being separated from her family. But according to some fans she should act like her younger sister who is strong and resourceful. Yet her sister is the one who is somewhat odd for the time in which this story is suppose to be taking place. Sensa is more the gentile woman of that time, who over times grows due to the circumstances surrounding her.
I know what you mean about comparing her 'strength' to Arya. (Spoilers ahead.) I do find it really funny that people associate Arya with being strong - smiply because she weilds a sword. Arya is the most weak-minded person in the Stark family bar her baby brother, I'd say. She gives in to a cult, can't let go of material possessions because she is transfixed by their meaning, and often complains. She also begins to lose it, and ends up stabbing a man over and over and over while screaming at him. How is this strong? People have really screwed up ideas of what strength is, sometimes. But you have to decide whether you want to pander to your audience or try and change their perceptions.
The problem with whiny characters, when their complaints are too excessive, is that the character has fallen into those mode of thinking that has them irrationally believing, to put it bluntly, "I'm unique." And it's akin to the young boy or girl whose scope of the world is so narrow, they think they're the only ones that exist, that no one is like them, that they are one of a kind, because they have yet to experience other people, complexly, have yet to develop an awareness that understands it's not so much about what they know, or are just discovering, but more about what they don't know and cannot see. When the realization hits that there is more to the world that meets the eye, to borrow a cliché, the idea of being unique begins to lose its colorful credibility. So, with that said, if you have a teenager, or a late teenager about to graduate high-school, viewing the world in such a way, most are going to dismiss them as spoiled and self-absorbed... which implies that age is heavily important when considering this trait or type of character... The other way to go about it, disregarding age for a moment, is to maybe consider the level of excess, or moderating the language so it doesn't sound so unique and so limiting.. shying away from naïve statements such as: "You don't know how I feel,"; "You'll never know what it's like to be me,"; "If you could only imagine,"; etc. etc. etc.. These are all examples of a young mind, or someone who has yet realized, or better, met another person who shares a similar plight--and the moment they do, it opens up another box of emotions.. They could reject that person, because it threatens to dissemble the unique reality they've mistakenly, yet innocently created, or there enters a sense of relief into their hearts after finding someone who "gets it," so to speak... Hope this helps.
I think you've got to sort out how deserving the character is. That is very subjective but there are certain things that most people agree with. Think of it in real life. Let's imagine you are on a hike. Suddenly two people start complaining that they are injured. The first is someone who has dragged his feet the whole way, moaning, groaning and being rude to other members of the group. The second was the one who is carrying the heavy stove, who helped clean your wound when you cut it on a thorn and who has motivated the whole team onwards and upwards. Who does everyone sympathise with? You've got to show that the character deserves our respect. John D Brown wrote an excellent blog series on Suspense where he raises this issue. He suggests these characteristics of deserving characters: Unselfish, do nice things for others Stand up for little guy Funny Sacrifice for someone else Good-humored, don’t take themselves too seriously Courageous Hard-working Actively trying to fix their own problems Hopeful In my eyes the problem with Bella is that she was so passive. The only decision she ever had to make was between Jacob and Edward and she couldn't do that. So I didn't like her. You perhaps saw something else in her, maybe her humour, her unselfishness. Not everyone connects with one character (and lets face it, lots Bella connected with the target market) and you don't need to have everything on this list to be deserving. You've just got to stack the odds in your character's favour. Don't let whining be their defining characteristic. No one likes a "martyr", unless they actually are a martyr. Let me know if you need any specific help. Happy writing
Lots of people enjoy reading about other people's problems. It allows people to vicariously experience things without actually having to risk anything. Also, it can be carthartic and people enjoy that. For example, many popular TV shows are dramas. Simply put, drama draws people in. To make readers sympathize with your character make sure your character is relatable. Also, establish a rapport between readers and the main character before the character becomes "whiney." Readers will find a character "whiny" if it doesn't seem like the character is doing everything they can to help themselves out of a situation. So have the character do everything they can to help themselves and then some. Also, when you describe the character's anguish make a point of focusing on how that manifests itself physically. Does the stress give them a headache? A nervous tich? Do they stutter when they talk about their personal problems? Readers will also find your character "whiny" if the character constantly stews on their own thoughts so be wary of this.
You'll have greater impact by brutally dismembering and exsanguinating a character the reader was starting to like.
Generally I find psychological issues annoying and whiny, personally. Unless they're serious psychological issues. Like the movie Secret Window. Then it gets good. One of my characters in a book I'm thinking up was physically and emmotionally abused by his father as a teen. He hates his father, but never complains. Instead that experience caused a rebellious streak in him which comes out against authority figures.
My idea of a whiny character is they never stop complaining about anything. Bella, Harry ect are not whiny in my opinion because they do have their moments but its not continuous all the way through the series. If they were bad enough to be my idea of whiny both series would be utterly different and most likely non-existent as they'd never have got anything done. They would be too busy worrying about everything instead of having enough motivation to go off cliff diving and getting stuck into house work. I might just be a tad extreme but there you go.
Whiny can work, but like many other personality traits it can be a tricky one to convey interestingly and not irritatingly in writing, as it is in real life. In the same way people don't usually enjoy being constantly interrupted by annoying whining people all day every day, this isn't something people usually look for in fiction. Reading is often escapism after all, but there are a few simple techniques to make whining fit a story: make it realistic (people like believable things to happen and it not the story to be all a giant Sugar Bowl all the time), make it funny (whining can be funny, usually in the form of humourous rants, and people like funny things and funny characters) or you can make it fit in the sense that it adds to a character or the story (making an awesome character less awesome, adding some depth to a character, giving some needed exposition, having a villain or unlikable character seem douchier because of the whining, etc.)
