Jessie's Tips for Better Writing

Writing a Perfect Love Interest

WRITING A PERFECT LOVE INTEREST

(Note: I realized as I was writing this that this could also apply to the main character. However, I wasn't in the mood to write one about the Main Character so that's why this is the way it is.)

You want to make a perfect love interest for your main character? Well, here's a tip: They can't be perfect. Wait, what? Yeah, confusing. That's what I'm here for.

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Not every guy/girl is a supermodel - Gasp!

It's true, seriously.

Why does every story on Wattpad have a guy who is "sooooo dreamy, and hot, and perfect, and has six-pack abs, toned arms, tan skin, mysterious eyes, perfect hair etc."? 

I don't know a single guy like that, and I'll venture to say that out of all the attractive guys you know, none of them have the entire package mentioned above. So why do writers write this?

a) It could be because of how Hollywood promotes perfect guys. Every guy in every movie now-a-days sets a standard that people look to, so this promotes the idea that to have a good story, you must have a great looking guy. Noooooo.  You can have a good-looking love interest without having to describe him like he's a statue.

b) It could be the author's dream guy she's describing. Yeah, I don't really need to say much else about this. Most girls have an idea in their head about what they want in a guy, and when writing, what better way to create a character than to create it like the dream guy? Please don't.

(Once again, this doesn't only apply to guys. This also applies to stories describing a girl.)

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Now that I think about it, this is actually kind of offensive to whichever gender you're describing in your story. Does your character seriously only have an interest in that person because of their dreaminess? If you want to make a convincing love interest, don't make physical attractiveness the only reason to love them.

Once I co-wrote a story, a pure romance story (Okay, now I know better. I like to add other genres too)....and the main guy was perfect. He was good-looking, all adults loved him, he was popular, played sports, was kind to people, respectful, etc. etc. My lead character loved him, and at first I I thought it was great.

But after writing for a while....I HATED HIM. So much. He had such a shallow personality, because all I'd been focusing on was the positive things about him, I'd never really taken time to give him a deep personality.

Basically, give your love interests flaws. And I don't just mean physical, but I will address that also.

1. Physical. Please don't be like nearly every amateur writer on Wattpad and describe your character's love interest as sooooo dreamy, or like a 'god.' They can't be perfect physically, unless they're a statue or someone from a Hollywood movie. Give them a flaw or two and get over the desire for the 'perfect guy.' Of course it's alright to have an attractive love interest, but you should leave out a lot of the physical description so it doesn't seem like that's all your character is attracted to in them. If all you focus on is how beautiful the person is, it'll seem like that's their only good quality. If you must describe physical, focus on just one element about them that the main character particularly likes. His eyes, his smile, his dimples, his ears (weirdly specific example from my other book, I know), etc.

-On a side note, I'm not saying your character can't be attractive. I'm not saying you have to make him the most hideous guy in the universe. All I'm saying is that when writing about him, don't over-describe his attractiveness. Focus on what makes him unique instead, and THAT is the physical attribute we're interested in.