In my story TAOCMJ college years, the MC best friend has me vexed. Every time I start to write about him and try to redeem him it's as if the character just doesn't want any part of that. I've thrown out multiple chapters because of this issue. My question is do I just fo with it and let him meet his natural end. Or is there some way ro fix it. It's driving me crazy
it's as if the character just doesn't want any part of that
That's telling me your subconscious doesn't want any part of redeeming the character. Your brain tells your fingers what to type. A direction might unexpectedly pop up where it seems the character leads you, but it's you who truly decides. Sometimes your conscious brain chooses one path, but then you end up throwing out those chapters because your subconscious demands something else.
Among the ways for a person or character to have a significant (moral) change are:
Near Death Experience many people make a significant reassessment of themselves after such an experience. Serious consideration of is there a God, an "afterlife" or just how will people think of me when I am dead. This could be a mistaken diagnosis of cancer, or brakes failing on a steep and winding road, nearly drowning, or while engaged in a nefarious activity a crony gets his brains blown out, then the gun is pointed at the character. Or even being shot and expecting to die... only to wake up in the hospital, or even on the ground.
Kernal was already there earlier in the story it was established that the character had a moral compass; a particular firm grounding, such as "Never Hit a Woman." When they face a "Moral Event Horizon" they refuse to cross That line. Resulting in a re-assessment of what they have been doing for some time.
Road to Damascus moment Not necessarily a "Thunderbolt from God!" perhaps the character always wanted to be Respected, suddenly he notices he only inspire fear, not respect.
I have not yet read your story, but intend to. Let me ask, "He is the MC's best friend. ...does He view the MC as his best friend? If faced with Losing the respect and friendship of his Best Friend, would he change his ways, or remain willfully irredeemable?
Depending on the story's POV, you might be able to introduce new information that suggests that the "irredeemable" actions were solely one person's view of events and do not match up with what actually happened. So the character isn't actually irredeemable, they've just been operating under a false narrative.
How ro redeem an irredeemable character
You can't.
By definition, irredeemable means they cannot be redeemed.
So your character is almost beyond redemption, and can be redeemed.
Switch Blayde makes a good point: if you can't write it, it's because your gut is telling you no, and generally writers should listen to their gut. After all, it's your story.
But, sometimes our guts can be educated. Sometimes we don't want to write it because we don't know how. We can see the end, but not the path. When I saw your post, I remembered a book by Drew Hayes called Underqualified Advice. In it, he has a chapter on "Lessons from Wrestling" that discusses "Heel/Face Turns" -- story arcs that take a villain to some version of a hero, maybe edgy, but still a good guy. He says this happens all the time in pro wrestling and gives these three necessary elements:
A) Always root the turn in a relatable emotion.
B) A bigger heel can be a catalyst. (The enemy of my enemy...)
C) Don't make it too easy; change doesn't happen overnight.
For even more ideas on heel-face turns, see https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/HeelFaceTurn. It's a lot of fun.
I wrote a story with the intent of making my MC a despicable person. I think I succeeded and I am happy with the character, even though I do not like him as a person. However, even despicable people have their moments when they do something nice.
Did you create the character to be an irredeemable person? It sounds like that was your intent, and you succeeded. It doesn't matter if you dislike the character for he has a place in your story.
The real question is, has he served your purpose? If so, you can keep him in a minor role, let him fade out of the MC's life, or use your removal of him from the story to advance the story line. If he still has a place in the story, what do you hope to achieve by retaining him as an active character?
These are questions that you need to answer? Your answers will hopefully resolve the issue you are having with the character.
spic
"Dictionary
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spic
nounOFFENSIVE•US
a contemptuous term for a Spanish-speaking person from Central or South America or the Caribbean."
De spic able means can be de spic.
