An Author's Hermes-A Guide to Writing on Wattpad

𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐑𝐎𝐃𝐔𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒

To write a novel, one needs characters. And to entice readers, one needs interesting characters.
How does one go about introducing interesting, relatable characters?
First and foremost, one could try to base them roughly off of real people, just to be sure that their character traits are some one might have in real life.
If you are trying to make relatable characters, giving them horribly tragic backstories might not be the best way to go about it. But if you choose that path anyway, you can compensate by giving them normal human flaws.
For example; some people might get angry easily.
If the hero of your story is a self-sacrificing superhero, you could try to make them more human by making them easily frustrated, or even tired of their responsibilities.

Making characters utterly selfless is not a good idea either. Take Bella from Twilight; in the whole of Midnight Sun, she is described as someone selfless and beautiful. I can guarantee that no one in real life would sacrifice themselves for everyone else. Everyone is a little selfish. After all, you come before everyone else in your life.

I would also avoid making perfect side characters. A clear example of this is Cedric Diggory from Harry Potter. He is handsome, smart, loyal, selfless, and funny. But is anyone all those things in the real world?

Everyone has flaws, and, although your book is fiction, you must include that humanness into each character to avoid making a cliché 2000s movie remake.

   Secondly, how does one actually introduce characters into the story?
I would 100% suggest avoiding the cliché Mean Girls type of introduction, where a side character gives a description of everyone.
Another thing to avoid is by writing a long monologue about every character in your story; it will inevitably bore the readers.

The best way to go about this is to introduce characters gradually, as they appear.
For example, say an unknown character enters the room.
You can describe their physical features and then state their name. That will also make names easier to remember, as they are automatically attached to an image of the character in the reader's mind.

Lastly, please ensure not to tell characters' mental traits, and show them instead.
I used to include things like, "She was often mad at others" in my so called stories, but I've learned that the "Show, don't tell" rule plays into this as well.
You could add an inciting incident which pushes your character to react a certain way, showing the readers a glimpse of their personality. This will make it more memorable than if it were simply mentioned in a lengthy description which the reader would most likely forget.