Character Arcs & Their Screwiness

(P&N arc) What Your Character Is Missing [Part II]

Yes, hi, I'm back. Wohoo.

Did yall miss me? I bet you did.😏

Sorry for not being particularly active and all, I had to attend to a boatload of book cover orders I got recently (yes, this is a shameless plug for my book cover services).

*cough*

Anyway, now that we got that shitty marketing out of the way, I can now finally talk about that missing dough thing I mentioned a while back. Remember that?

Of course, you don't. Who am I kidding? But if you do, there's still no extra points for you.😀

So just to recap for yall: the missing dough is the essence that your character is missing at the start of your book. Your character does not start out as perfect. 

Though your character might think they are perfect (or, on the other side of the coin, think they are useless but then realise their worth and blah blah blah), THEY ALL HAVE FLAWS.

Flaws can be practically anything, but we can always split them up into two subsections that I like to call: the poor man's and rich man's flaws.

A poor man's flaw is a flaw that is typically held by characters with small egos and is generally less fortunate and pessimistic or people who think they are unworthy.

A rich man's flaw is characteristic of people who are more narcissistic with more fortunate circumstances and enlarged egos that do not allow them to value the smaller things in life or what they are already gifted with.

To further explain, a rich man's flaw might generate in the following form:

Maybe your character is so exceedingly talented at everything and perfect that they don't realise that hard work is valuable and either looks down on those who simply cannot keep up with them or is oblivious to why people dislike them because they believe everyone is as naturally gifted as they are.

Then maybe this character with this rich man's flaw will meet another character who will change their view (effectively gaining the "dough" they were missing) and go through a positive character arc where they become a better person.

Or if you want to be a bit of a dick (and if you fancy yourself a sadist), you could give your character a negative arc and make them die in a ditch or (god forbid) become a villain. 

*gasp*

[P.S. I'll be delving further into how characters change through meeting other characters (plus some nature vs nurture bullcrap that is actually quite important in books) in a later chapter, so do look out for that.]

Meanwhile, in a more typical, YA bullshit "I'm-just-a-teen-with-a-tragic-past/upbringing" style, you could opt for the more fashionable and easy-to-write poor man's flaw.

I'm not going to bother explaining this one cos it's your usual: "Oh! I'm just your regular humble little street kid who somehow discovers I have a hidden past/I conveniently meet a handsome/pretty they/he/her whatever person who gets me involved in their world, and I feel so useless in comparison to everyone else, but I discover my true worth!" dogshit.

But I myself still slurp up that dogshit, so how could I complain?😒

But anyway, yall get the idea. There are always plenty of flaws to choose from but just remember that your character's flaw should ALWAYS tie in with your story and be able to get influenced by other characters who have their own unique flaws as well.

Otherwise, you'll have LITERALLY BLOODY NOTHING to keep readers engaged with your book.

But then again, this is Wattpad, so you could always just add in senseless smut.🤡

(not that I approve)