Tips & Tricks to Writing on Wattpad

5 Tips on Characters

5 TIPS ON CHARACTERS

Okay, so, I believe I talked about good characters in the Cliche tip. To make any story good, really, you have to have a strong character.
     Someone people can relate to. Someone who will make the readers cry when your character does, facepalm when your character messes up, smile when they laugh and so on. Good characters are hard to make. Everyone has a different opinion on what is a "good character".
     For example, some people might love your badass rebel chick with a soft side, while others might think she's cliche and unrealistic.

1) Flaws

What I think, is 100% essential in a good character, is flaws. Realistic flaws.       Flaws that are used that do not actually really count as flaws:
~Blushing too easily
~Being too clumsy
~Not being a size 0
~Too naive/notices nothing
~Physical flaws that don't affect the story (too pale skin, super dark eyes, etc)
I'm not saying you can't use these flaws, or that they don't exsist, just that they should definitely not be your only flaws.

The flaws should be flaws people you know have. Such as being extremely absentminded, forgetting things easily, not being able to trust people, not being able to keep a secret, lying too much, etc. There should be more than just one flaw too.

2) Background & Reasoning

Believe it or not, but there should be a reason why your character is how they are.
A girl doesn't believe in love? Maybe it's because her parents fight all the time and are divorcing, and her first boyfriend cheated on her.
A major player for a guy? Maybe it's because the first girl he ever loved broke his heart for his brother and he's trying to get over the pain of seeing them together every day by sleeping around. Or he's trying to make her jealous.

Whatever it is, there should be a reason why they lie so much, why they're so rebellious, why they are so against breaking the rules, why they're so interested in this one person, etc.

3) Interaction with characters other than the love interest

-cue gasps-
What? My main character has to interact with other people? They have to have problems other than not falling for the cocky, arrogant, bad boy of a love interest?
So this might sound obvious, but I've seen a lot of stories where the main character does not really have a life outside of the love interest. All the other characters, the best friend, the enemy, the parents, seem to be cardboard cut-outs. And their relationship seems unbelievably cliche.
A character can be defined by their relationship with others.
Is she the leader in her group of friends, or a follower?
Does he adore his little sister, or just find her annoying?
Is she fighting with her best friend? Is the fight based on something tiny, or huge?

Also, different relationships with different people can show different sides of your character.

4) Don't use the typical cliches.

A mean girl cheerleader doesn't have to be blonde. A blonde doesn't have to be dumb. An overweight girl doesn't have to a loser. A loser doesn't need to have glasses. A muscular guy doesn't have to be a jock. A jock doesn't have to be popular. A good looking guy doesn't have to be a player. A player doesn't have to be the love interest.

I could go on forever, but I think you guys get the point.

5) Develop the character's relationships.

Unless it's a one-shot, or a short story, the character, and his or her relationships should grow. Not only should she solve her problems, and he get over his fears, but with every action, relationships should evolve too. Friends grow apart, or grow closer. Family's are torn apart and sewed back together.
If the father of the MC cheats on the MC's mom, the MC/her family won't act as if nothing's happened.
If a best friend has betrayed the MC for no reason, the MC probably shouldn't still be friends with them, and not acknowledge it at all.
If a stranger saves the MC's life, and they meet again, the MC shouldn't just ignore him, or be really mean.

Be logical. If it happened to you, how would you react? How would your friendship/relationship/family-ship/stranger-ship change?

Personal Opinion/Experience:

It's kind of strange, how people have gotten so used to perfect characters. A lot of stories have more physical problems than emotional. Like, a person or persons stopping a relationship, instead of the people themselves stopping the relationship.
I know that when I tried to incorporate a lot of physiological/emotional problems into my story, people were surprised by how almost repetitive it seemed. But that's human nature. We make the same mistakes. Sometimes without even realizing we're repeating the past. We say it's for a different reason, but the outcomes always the same.
Honestly, I like messed up/complex characters. I find it fun to watch them get over their problems, one by one, build a better future, learn to trust, all that. I feel like it gives you hope, because we see ourselves with a lot of problems. And it's kind of like, yeah, you're a little messed up, but that doens't mean you can't get over it.

That just turned into a mini like, life/philosophy lesson, lol, sorry.

There are exceptions, of corse, but that's my advice. Coming from me as a reader, and a bit as a writer.

Next Tip: Characters [Don'ts]

~JJ :)

PS. Thanks to Cade for helping with this tip. :3