Writing sympathetic characters

[NoodleCoyote]

I'm currently working on a story meant to kinda vent my frustration with the people around me.
I'm having no trouble writing the main character, who is a sadistic psychopath. However, Another character in the story is meant to be a bit of a smug jerk, but also sympathetic andfrightened when my other character puts him in danger.
I have trouble writing this character for some reason, so does anyone have advice?

[Fiesta_Jack]

The problem is unless you plant redeeming qualities beforehand, your reader is going to pigeonhole the character as a smug jerk. They lose most of the sympathy they'd otherwise gain if they don't already have some redeeming qualities. First impressions last for awhile in books, although depending on your length of the written piece, there may be time to change them. Typically for shorter stories though, your initial portrayal of a character remains mostly dominant.

[M. LeRenard]

Sympathetic means that the reader can find common ground with the character. This isn't as hard to pull off as you might expect.

[NoodleCoyote]

Thanks guys.
Especially you, Fiesta Jack

[sunandshadow]

Personally I think the key to sympathy is making the character care deeply about something. It doesn't even have to be something sane - if the character is genuinely distressed that stop signs exist, or genuinely charmed and enthused by cacti, that's enough to build sympathy.

[Fiesta_Jack]

Personally I think the key to sympathy is making the character care deeply about something. It doesn't even have to be something sane - if the character is genuinely distressed that stop signs exist, or genuinely charmed and enthused by cacti, that's enough to build sympathy.

Also, this. Very this. Adding quirks go a LONG way toward the likability of a character.

[Furryjones]

Give the character something that he must accomplish to feel whole, having a little sub plot for a specific character is always nice.