Watt in the World

With Great Power Comes Great Characters

"When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature." -- Ernest Hemingway

Ohhh Mr. Hemingway how spot on you are. So this post shall be about characters if you haven't already guessed. Where do I even start on this? Hmmm.

I love reading, that's no secret. One of the things I love the most about reading is becoming engaged in the characters. The characters are the most important part of a story. It's completely stupid that I even have to say that because it seems that many people on Wattpad don't understand that. Yes one can argue that the plot is the most important. But tell me this? Without the characters and their actions where is the plot? You may have one very distinct plan for your plot but once you begin writing these characters you may just be surprised by where they take your story. And honestly I'm sure listening to your characters will only improve your story rather than hurt it. 

Tell me when you're reading a glorious story that traps your heart don't you just love sharing those moments with the characters. A main character falls in love doesn't it make your heart race while you're reading of this epic love? Don't you just sigh imagining this love? When one character experiences a great loss isn't your heart tearing apart as well? When your favorite character has an injustice committed against them doesn't your blood boil and fury seeps through your veins? And when the story is all over don't you just take a moment and reflect on everything that has happened to them and everything you've read. 

If the characters in a story can make you feel for them then it's a successful mission is it not? 

When writing your characters should definitely be actual people you create. And no I'm not talking about creating "casts" and choosing actors. Although we'll get into that in a bit. 

Watt wattpadders seem to do on here: 

1. Asking for characters or "holding auditions." Umm what the fuck? I highly doubt JK Rowling went around the cafés in her hometown asking teenage boys for their information so she could create a boy named Harry. I doubt she went around asking any old man she saw to create her a Headmaster. As much hate as Twilight may get I doubt Stephenie Meyer went around asking models for their charactersistics so she could create the Cullens. Why the hell would you want others to create characters for you? Why!? If you're writing a story you should be capable of creating your own characters so you can fully say they're yours. If you're too lazy to create characters then get the hell out of here! Writing takes a lot of time, thought and dedication! It took me like two weeks of literally just creating six of my main characters BEFORE I even started writing the story. It took me whole month to decide on a title for my story and I spent hours on it thinking of different ones. I would lay in bed at night thinking of each of my characters and their appearances and above all their backstories. My story is told in the POV of five different main characters. A lot of people are turned off by the idea of it switching POVs so often and not only that but many people fail to differentiate the voices but I'd like to think that I've done an okay job at making sure they're all different because in my head they are. They've all got their own goals, dreams and fears. 

Every single thing about your character (if you're writing a story) should be important decisions that you make. Everything from their appearance to their name and the way they speak. I spent hours no joke going through names on a website for naming your baby. Once I had a couple of options I did go and ask some of my friends which name they thought sounded better but in the end I made the decision and I chose what fit best for the character I was imagining. Wattpadders don't seem to realize that writing although is very fun and a hobby is not something you should half-ass. Ignorants bastards.

2. Asking for plots. I won't get into it too much because this isn't about plots. But once again if you can't think of a plot to write then DON'T WRITE. Seriously. Go and read and perhaps educate yourself. 

Now this is personal thoughts but I truly believe this: you can be a reader but not a writer however you can't be a writer if you're not a reader. 

Many reasons as to why I believe that. For one the shitty ass writing I see on here makes me wonder if these people even know what a book is. When my sister was in kindergarten she had crappy handwriting, she mispelled words but whenever she wrote her stories guess what? She at least imagined a plot and knew what she wanted to happen in her stories. And even her mispelled words were still easy to understand what she had been trying to say. That's so much more than can be said for some of the people on here. 

Reading improves your reading skills (obviously) but it also tremendously helps your writing skills because you start seeing what you like in a book. You see the right way to create characters and plots. And if anything it'll spark you with inspiration to write. When writing you should definitely think of yourself as a reader. What would you like to read? What characters would interest you?

3. Mary Sues and Gary Stus. Man do I hate them. Don't know what they are? Mary Sues are the female characters who are flawless. They're perfect, they're beautiful and intelligent and powerful. I have nothing against strong independent women. I love them. But Mary Sues are not realistic. They're fake and perfect. NO. Oh and Gary Stus are the male counterpart to this.

Watt Must Be Done: 

Character Fucking Development. Please! I'm begging you! When you start High School you're some little naive or negative Freshman. Do you honestly leave high school being that same naive and negative Freshman or do you, I don't know perhaps, change? Grow, mature? Live through pleasant and not so pleasant things that change the way you think? Seriously. If you want your characters to be realistic then they must learn through their mistakes. Create them. Create the story and have them grow. Have the vengeful character realize at the end of the story that revenge is not the answer. Have the high school girl realize that her and her high school sweetheart just weren't meant to be. Live goes on. Have the character that committed suicide realize that he had something worth living for in the end. Even though it was too late. Have them all realize their mistakes and have them accept them and learn from them.

An interesting thing to do if you really don't know how to create characters (and use this method simply as a crutch in my opinion) is just use people in your life. Don't ask them to tell you everything about themselves. Don't hold auditions. If they're in your life I would hope you're observant enough to know who your family and friends are and the way they act and the things they say. Use them for inspiration in your story. That's what I did in my first few stories. People I liked were the main character's friends. People I didn't like got the role of the villain. Simple as that. And it's quite easy. It's like training wheels on a bike. Then move on and mix personalities. Your sister and your best friend. Mix their personalities into one character. And so on go from there and create these new people.

Give your characters flaws. This is what essentially makes them people. We aren't perfect. We make mistakes. We need to in order to live and learn. In life's imperfections we find true perfection. Make us fall in love with them because they aren't perfect. Not because they're flawless. 

Please have some respect for your characters. Be consistent with them and realize that they are essentially people. Make sure that every action they do is because it really is something they would do. Don't think that it's a great twist to make them do something out of character because guess what? It's not a twist. It's you being a dumbass. Sorry but it's true. 

Casts in stories. I think casts are a great idea. I love reading a story on Wattpad and seeing that I can see actors that fit who these characters would be. It's like an extra tidbit I enjoy seeing. I personally though suck at casts. I can't do it for my own because I have an image of what they may look like but I don't want to choose a cast for fear of making it concrete. I'd rather give vague descriptions that are enough for you (the reader) to get an idea and let you decide who you see as your favorite characters. 

So in conclusion writing is not for everyone. If you can't write characters then just stop. Go back to Twitter or something. Or better yet stop posting half-assed things. Stop being ignorant and arrogant and sit back and find good stuff to read on here so that you may learn. There's no shame in needing to learn. No matter how old we become we can still learn something new every single day that we're breathing and apply it to our lives. 

So with great power comes great characters. The power really is in your hands (and brain). It's up to you whether you unleash that power or you don't.