How to write a solid character

Today we will be talking about characters, i.e. how to make good characters and how to not make bad ones.

Personality: I often find the worst thing authors do is create a character with zero personality and then they wonder why no one likes their character. The most common place I find this is in reader insert books. The best way to make your character relatable is by giving them traits, hobbies etc. If you need help with that I would recommend checking out The Negative Trait Thesaurus and The Positive Trait Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi. They have written way more books and its a lifesaver for me so definitely go and check them out.

Toxic relationships: Now, you can write characters who are in toxic relationships thats perfectly fine but often I find that when people write these type of relationships they romanticise it. If you want to write a love story I would try and avoid aggressive behaviour, controlling a persons actions, emotionally abusing someone. These do not signify a healthy relationship and sometimes the author will use excuses like the "love interests" past to explain why he is like this. Thats a big no! If someone has such a dark past they need to see a therapist and not have sex.

Good at everything: I get that in books you want a perfect character but that shit isn’t realistic. If you want people to like a character then you have to make them relatable and if they are good at literally everything then that’s stupid because in real life who is good at everything? You can have a character be good at some things, awesome at others and awful at others. For example, Tara is great at many things. She can cause a train to be delayed, however, she is awful at talking to people unlike Timothy who can speak to people but he probably couldn’t do half the things Tara does. That’s what makes a character likeable. You can even make a villain likeable if you showcase their strengths and weaknesses.

Stereotypes: This one I see far too often in books I am talking about characters such as the shy girl who sits in the corner alone, the bad boy who gets every girl he wants. Also, that’s very fake as every girl has a type and not everyone pines for the same dude. For me, stereotypes are people just being too lazy to give their character a personality.

The best friend role: This cliché is one I hate so much. Having the best friend only in the story to help the protagonist is boring. You should make the character have her own life and her own interests, sure she can help the protagonist but that doesn’t have to be the only purpose she has in the entire book. Does she have a sport she likes? Is she a couch potato? Give me something, anything.

Diversity: The best way to make a great character is to include a wide range of people, for example, black people, LGBT+ people it will make your world seem more realistic but whatever you do not give them the typical stereotypes that’s a big no, unless you want to use it as a comedy element but that does depend on the type of stereotype.

I hope these tips worked! Thank you for reading my blog. Let me know if there is any other topic you would like me to write about. Have a great day/evening/night. Love ya!