Power over a reader's emotions is one of the most rewarding experiences that you can have. That being said, it's important to remember that when a reader is crying, laughing or even shouting - it's because they're resonating with the characters in your story. They don't fall in love with a plot twist, and they don't cry over the death of a well written chapter. Readers become characters, perhaps even more than the writer does - partly because the writer knows that they are in control. This means that a story's characters are the most integral part of the whole thing.
Your character cannot be 2D, otherwise your whole plot will fall over faster than a daisy in a hurricane. Too often, I see wattpad stories which have gripping plot lines, and are the height of eloquence - but I can't feel anything for the characters, because they're just not developed.
Contrary to popular belief, 'nice', 'growly' and 'hot' are not personality traits. Well, nice is -but it gives such little depth that it's hardly worth mentioning. 'Bad boy' and 'good girl' are also not personalities. They're personas. You need something unique about them, like there is with every real person. People can be arrogant, awkward, confident, nerdy, shy and every colour in between.
So why deprive a reader of that rainbow?
What I think that you should do if you feel that you are one of the people lacking something, is that you take a triad approach. This is something that my friend and I developed and still use when writing together. When your character is still in the foetal stages, choose three things which are key parts of their personality. Often a character can get drowned by being too complex (we've all seen it before - they're both easy going and deep, innocent and sassy, fun and mature) so whittling it down to three bones is crucial for a strong character. Then, when writing, remember the triad for your character and their personality will instantly be both complex and relatable in their simplicity.
Sometimes you hear that knowing everything about your character is key. That is a total lie. Sometimes, knowing less makes your character more realistic. Do you know all of the deepest, darkest secrets of all of your friends? Or what the one thing they would change about themselves is? Do these things define them to you?
For example, the heroine of a novel written by my friend and I (let's call the heroine L) has a triad.
1) She is underestimated but incredibly charismatic when she talks
2) She's unusally intuitive and empathetic
3) Book smart not street smart
As you can see, it doesn't need to be just three words.
The hero's (E) triad is:
1) Cool and collected
2) Dry humour
3) Street smart
This allows you to focus on the essential parts of your character, and readers will be able to identify the triad of your character easily, making them memorable.
Stories on wattpad move me already - but with some more character development (aside from the nice, friendly, helpful girl and the hot, perfect, possessive, growly alpha male) they could move mountains.
Recommendations:
She's One of the Boys by lilly-rain
Marked by the Alpha by zabellerain
The Bad Boy's Girl by JessGirl93
Accidentally Kidnapped by HessianKills
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One Cliché Too Many
WerewolfDespite what you might think, this isn't going to be a treatise against Wattpad authors. This is meant to be for all those times that authors, trying to share a bit of themselves with the world, think that their bit isn't worth sharing. It's a guide...
