Clusterfuck Draft To Legible Story

Element 1: Character: Relatable vs Realistic

Relatable vs realistic

So now to my all-time favorite, or maybe I should say least favorite, topic. If any of you know me, you are aware of why that is.

Anyway, what is relatable and what is realistic, but most importantly, what is the difference?

Relatable character is a character that shares traits with you, the reader. Therefore, this character feels relatable to you.

Realistic character is a character that is real as in, their personality makes sense with the setting of the story in mind.

In other words, a character may not be relatable to you, but this character still feels real because the author took the time to develop them that way.

Now which one is better? Obviously, this is subjective and anyone could have their own opinion on this, but simply because of how many relatable characters plague the wattpad books, I have to say that realistic is better. Just to stand out somehow.

At this point, if your character is a nerdy, tomboyish but somehow cool girl, you might not have that many people caring about the story. Again, this is just because of how overused this is. Most of us like reading books so most authors find it easy to write about a nerdy character. That is just a fact.

But where is the fun in that? Let's stop writing what we are comfortable writing and start experimenting. This is what a realistic character is for. This character is supposed to pull you, the reader, from your comfort zone and make you try to understand their personality and worldview. Whether they are good or bad, this is what fiction is about! Ey, that rhymed… kinda...

To be continued in the next chapter.