A Hypocrite's Guide to Not Sounding Hypocritical

Regret

Hello. Welcome.

I'm just going to get into it really.

I don't think I've ever read about a character having regrets in a story on this site before. Not like long lasting regrets or ones that don't drive the plot forward. I'm talking like regretting getting into a fight with a coworker or eating a donut instead of a banana. Regretting the words chosen to speak in front of the class. Regretting an outfit. I haven't seen a lot of it.

Real people have regrets all the time. For instance, I regret falling asleep at 3 AM on a school night when I knew I was getting up early to shower at 5:30. I regret drinking the milk from the cafeteria for breakfast. I regret not charging my phone throughout the night. That's already three small things that I regret doing in the span of maybe five hours.

To make your characters seem more real give them small regrets. There's enough regretting giving your child away or regretting leaving the comfortable life inside a home. I mean it doesn't have to drive the plot. It just needs to convince the reader that your character is real.

I regret writing this at 8:30 after taking a math test. I'm so god damn tired.

Grab some caffeinated punch on your way out. I still have gallons of the stuff.