A Guide to Writing

A/N This will probably be the longest chapter in the book seeing as how complex characters are. I'm so sorry I couldn't shorten anything, I just found that there are too many details that you need for a good character.

Characters. Literally the most important part of the story aren't they? Well, sometimes I see these characters in wattpad books that are so... shallow. They have no reason to be there, they aren't doing anything, and they are literally the person that screws everything up. Characters need to have layers, kinda like how cake and pizza have layers... anyways. I'm just gonna give you a list of what a good character needs.

I just rewrote Chuck Wendig's article cause it might've been a little hard to understand and he used some naughty language... just thought you oughta know in case it looks familiar to you.

[1] A Personality
Quite the obvious one, isn't it? And like a really funny author likes to say,"It's like saying,'What makes a really good tree is that it has an essential treeness.'" But seriously, this one needs a spot on the list, some characters are like a freaking piece of cardboard. Sure, the character does stuff and says stuff, but none of it has to with the character and all of it has to do with the plot. The point is, your character needs a personality and hopefully with the rest of this list you can make one for them.

[2] Active
Your character needs to be active, not passive. They need to take control of their situation, and be in control of their own destiny. They should not be someone who goes along with the flow, but rather the one who changes it. Basically, they shouldn't be Bella from Twilight.

[3] Motivation
Characters want things and need things. They need to be able to have motivation or else why would they be doing it? If the reader can't tell the character's motivation, the story seems to be written in a foreign language to them. We need to know what impels the character. Motivation should also be what keeps the character moving through the story, they need to have a goal they want to achieve.

[4] Fear
Everybody's afraid of something. Death. Fire. Clowns. The dark. Loneliness. (I'm afraid of getting things out of the oven and moths.) Characters should suffer to their own personal fears related to the story you are writing. The characters without fear are robots and boring, they drive me insane. Do not have a character without a fear. The great thing about being an author is the power you hold in your hands, not the fact that you gave the character a certain fear, but the fact that the fear will arise in the story and it shall be a giggle-fest. You shall be cruel. And it will be fun. 'Cause all authors are evil and do this.

[5] Internal Conflict
Characters need to doubt themselves. It's a part of human nature. We've all doubted ourselves at one point and our characters need to do it, too. Internal conflict is also a great way to keep your readers interested because they will want to know what choices your character makes out of the many emotional, intellectual, and soul-testing choices.

[6] External Conflict
External conflict is pretty neat, too. If your character has to deal with an old limp, PTSD, asthma, an old villain that has escaped jail, all good. It's especially good when your external conflict comes in contact with your internal conflict.

[7] Connections to Other Characters
Ok. That "lone-wolf" crap is getting old really quickly. Characters need connections to other characters. Now I didn't say they had to be desired connections. For all I care, your character could hate that character with a passion, but there needs to be a reason. Or else, you shouldn't have your character hate that person. At all. Characters need to be able to have connections to people because they make the character who they are as the story unfolds. Whether it's the class clown, their boss, coworkers, neighbors, friends, family, whoever. Now, I'm not saying they shouldn't be mysterious, but if they are give them a past with connections, it gives more depth to the story.