101 Writing Tips from an Exhausted Reviewer

Good Girl; Bad Boy

Before you read this chapter! Please tell me: when I say "bad boy" to you, what do you picture?

Okay.

So, before starting this chapter, I did an experiment. I asked my friends to describe what they see when I say 'bad boy' to them.

Some of these are about to get interesting.

Person #1 said:

A bad boy is the type of guy who gets bad grades, wears sunglasses, has slicked back hair, and wears sunglasses.

Yes, a bad boy wears sunglasses twice. I love my friends.

Person #2 said:

The guys in Grease?

With a question mark, because he was confused, because I then went on to ask if he thought I'd make a sexy bad boy.

Person #3 said:

Skinny. Tattoos. Snap score over 400K. Slick. Has a pocket knife. Does small crimes, but is not a piece of shit.

Person #4 said:

When you say bad boys, I imagine you being a teacher and you about to hit my wrist for being a bad boy [insert drooling emote].

Okay. I hate my friends.

For real! I just realised now that all four of them that I asked are guys, themselves.

But, basically, when we hear the term 'bad boy', it looks like people picture the same thing -- leather jackets, rebel who lies in the face of facts, probably being very snarky, and completely, undeniably sexy.

As for the good girl?

The opposite -- sweet, kind, thoughtful. Gets amazing grades. Probably very shy. Does not see why people are so obsessed with the bad boy.

And then, they make eye contact near their lockers (alternately: she's asked to tutor him to help him get good grades), and she realises that her cheeks keep turning red... her heart keeps pounding... and her panties are on the floor.

They fall in love. He turns into a sweetheart for her. Lets down his walls. And she... well, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure what she gains. Sometimes confidence. Sometimes an entry into the mafia lineage.

Here's the thing! It can come in multiple shapes and forms.

Maybe the good girl is a sweetheart in high school, and the bad boy is the rebel who breaks into lockers and smokes in the bathroom despite it literally setting off the freaking fire alarms. Is this only a me thing? I get so bothered because, when you burn a piece of toast at school, the fire alarm starts wailing. And for some random reason, these boys can literally breathe fire onto the alarms and no fire alarms--

Okay, I know why authors don't include fire alarms going off but still. The toasters at school just traumatised me. Back to focus.

Sometimes the good girl is a princess, and the bad boy is a rebellious rogue in the village streets who is committing crimes and beheading people. Because, you know, murder is totally an attractive thing.

Sometimes she's a girl whose personality resembles a cardboard box, and he's a vampire.

Sometimes she's a girl living a life and he is into BDSM contracts.

Different shapes and sizes!

And it's really... really popular.

Why? People seem to complain about it all the time, and yet, they're always so popular on Wattpad. Those are the books that sell so much, that make movies out of them, and still, even if we don't like to admit it, make us swoon.