Don't get attached to characters?

For the longest time, I've had such a hard time getting attached to characters in basically anything, but this is more prevalent in any sort of literature. I mean, I'll like the characters and find them to be a cool concept, but if they die or something absolutely horrific happens to them, I just won't care. My friends might be crying over them, and I'll just be going "Yeah alright, they're dead. Okay."

And I just want to know if anyone else has this happen to them.

What kind of fiction are you reading?

Just anything really. But lately it's been fanfictions, so I'd say the fantasy setting.

With Sturgeon's Law in place, a lot of characters simply aren't worth caring about like that.

And some people just don't connect with fictional characters as well as others, anyway. Keep reading for fun, and if you find a character who resonates with you, you'll connect on your own.

Creating a character worth getting attached to is a rare trait, and most writers never achieve that. If you've never experienced this when reading a book, don't automatically assume that the problem is you.

It isn't really weird to feel a little detached from folks who don't actually exist.

Like the above poster, yes. It is not really weird NOT to get attached to characters with ease.

I would add that it is also normal to get attached to characters with relative ease. It is probably healthier NOT to get attached, though...!

I'm so the opposite of the OP. It's way too easy for me to get too attached.

If you don't normally get attached to fictional characters, that will just make the few times it happens just that much more worth it.

Alright then. Thank you all of you for answering my question. It helped a lot.

Apparently it's advised when you are reading A Song Of Ice And Fire.

I haven't read it myself, so I don't really know how much of this whole "Every main character dies" bit is true or exaggeration.

It is an exaggeration. Some of them are still alive

So...less than half?

I don't think I've ever felt a connection to any fictional character, ever. I didn't know you were supposed to until I started reading criticism.

I hate it when the character I care about dies. So I tend to read all the spoilers beforehand and disengag with the characters that are going to die

when I get to a part where a character is in danger, I skip ahead to see if I can spot that character's name....sometimes it works well, other times, not so well.

I tend to get very attached to characters, but my twin never does, so there's that.

I would never read spoilers or look ahead, but if I know that many characters will die (not a literature example but this worked when I watched Dangan Ronpa), I just...look at them differently. I'm like, yeah, they'll die, I won't even think about getting attached. And, surprisingly enough, that works.

When anyone tells me "don't get too attached", it has a perversely opposite effect. (Chances are I'm attached already, after all, or I wouldn't be warned.) I just keep biting my nails and going "this is it isn't it isn't it" in every spot of trouble.

I rarely get attached to book characters, but it happens. It works best for me with videogames, then I can really get attached strongly to characters. Although I'm not the kind who gets an emotional breakdown when they die, either, since, you know, you can always play from the start again and there they are, alive.. it's just not quite the same as in real life.

I cried when Courfeyrac died in Les Miserables.

I don't get attached to characters only when I read....