A Guide to Wattpad Popularity

Part 5 - Effective Characters

The most read stories often times have dynamicly ambiguous characters, or at least the ones that deserve the most attention. 

It is important to remember that characters should never, ever be one-dimensional. That is not realistic by any means. Great characters have depth, interesting quirks, and reasons for doing what they do. Awful characters appear to have no motivation for anything and only serve to forward the plot. I hate it the most when these characters are villains and inherently evil. 

I'm telling you now that no character is ever inherently evil. There is motivation and drive that gets them to commit these crimes, not just blind joy. In the same sense, there is no character that is ever inherently good. Even Harry Potter screws up quite a bit and is never perfect or completely brave. It's what makes him such a great character. He's more than one note; Harry's a symphony. 

I will also get extremely frustrated with people who write themselves in a non-realistic way into their stories. We all know you're the girl obsessed with Doctor Who, with photographs of Benedict Cumberbatch and David Tennant taking over your bedroom walls. It's not like you'd write in a character like that if this wasn't true for you. Chances are, you don't scream about Matt Smith's non-existent eyebrows on the hour. I get it, you really enjoy the show and you want your character to be similar in that sense. This is not an effective way of writing at all. This is another example of portraying characters as one-dimensional and GOD is it awful.

While on the topic of one-dimensional, I have to bring up the race issue. News flash, the entire world isn't white. I don't have anything against white characters, I have everything against white characters who don't care about their culture in even the slightest. We all have these traditions that make us who we are, so don't omit them. If you go to church every Sunday, don't omit it, just don't have your story centered around them. The same goes for atheists who like to rant on every Sunday in spite of the church, in case if you were wandering. What's really cool about the modern age is that so many biracial families are becoming a thing. I speak as a biracial child, for the record. Biracial relationships result in really pretty babies and cuteness, okay? Don't be afraid to write for another race or culture, just make sure you aren't feeding off of the stereotypes you perceive them to be. Make a new friend and ask. Truth be told, modern stories need racial diversity to be successful and as accurate as possible. The world is a diverse place, so don't make your story an exception to that.

Another important topic to cover is stereotyping. Don't ever stereotype anybody, regardless of race. People don't fit into neat boxes anymore. Everyone can be such a wide range of possibilities, and that's quite amazing. The Christian can be out there, weird, crazy, and even rude sometimes. The Muslim girl wearing the hijab isn't timid in even the slightest way. The black girl doesn't have to be the sass master. Not everybody likes starbucks. I actually hate coffee so much and hot chocolate, and chocolate ice cream, so... Oh, and vegetarians aren't all Indians in case if you were wandering. I became a vegetarian about two months ago on my own accord. Okay, this is getting really off topic.

Let's see...Ah, characters making their own decisions. Jesus Christ, we don't have to be copies of each other. Let your characters see that love isn't all that it's cut out to be and make their own path. Fairy tale endings for them isn't realistic at all. Just make sure they're choosing something for themselves, you know? Make their personalities shine through their decision making, show, don't tell.

Well, I'm getting really out there and ranty right now so here's what you should take away from this:

-Avoid single dimensions
-It's not bad to have main characters as different races. 
-People of different races don't have to be sidekicks
-Personalities have to shine through decisions. Show, don't tell.
-Avoid unrealistic personalities and stereotypes
-Effective characters don't always choose the fairy tale ending
-Diversity, I beg of you
-Make sure your characters aren't an accessory of the plot. They must stand alone and work with the plot. This plays true especially for romances. Avoid character cliches. 

All right, that's all, folks! See you later with a short rant about dialogue. Oh, the fun. 

-Emily