How To Write A Wattpad Story [A Guide To Becoming A Better Author]

Lesson 4: Characters Description/Character Development [Part 1]

Lesson 4: Character Description/Character Development

How do you explain what your character looks like without writing paragraphs upon paragraphs of your character's physical description? Well, you never want to give too much away because many readers love creating their own image of what the character looks like. And, most people don't like reading paragraphs of adjectives describing the character. It's boring.

Example: 

 1) Hi. My name is Emily and I'm seventeen years old and I love chocolate and shopping. I have gorgeous sky blue eyes, pink lips, perfect eyebrows and long pretty locks. I have curves in all the right places and I'm obsessed with makeup! 

That was almost painful to write. Intros like that are not only terrible, but just plain annoying. I'm not stopping you from writing paragraphs of description, but most readers will skip them to finally get to where the plot starts. Or, they'll quit reading the story altogether. 

This is a better way of describing your character: 

Example: Her muddy, brown hair fell down her back and her eyes shone with mild curiosity as she floated across the lantern-lit hallway. As her dress flowed out behind her, she began to hum an eerie tune.

Just from those sentences, you know she has long, brown hair and that she is curious about something. You also know that she can sing. You see how much more intriguing it is to read than the other example? 

Never use more than two adjectives to describe your character's hair, for example. Or her makeup or her legs, etc. You get the point. It needs to flow. Also, make sure to put some flaws in your character to make it realistic. Nobody on this planet is perfect. Do not give them amazing curves in all the right places and beautiful hip-length hair, etc. Give them, for example, crooked noses or sweaty hands. 

REVIEW:

Rule #1: Never introduce your character with a bunch of mumbo jumbo, such as talking about what they look like. It's boring, plus, many people get discouraged to read forward. 

Rule #2: Do not over-describe, meaning do not give them a million adjectives to describe themselves. One or two maximum. 

If you add in too much adjectives, verbs, etc, it stops the reader and makes them confused. You never want a reader to stop reading because they don't know what a word means (although the reader may learn a new word I suppose) or anything like that. You want your story to flow.

Refrain from creating a terrible, static (unchanging) character that has absolutely no personality. Every character should have flaws, but make sure you balance them out with some traits that your reader can relate to. Some of the most well-known book characters out there have extremely complicated, intricate personalities, yet we still love them. Embrace the flaws in your characters to a bearable extent.

Write simple. When I say that, I do not under any circumstances mean to poorly write your story or 'dumb it down.' I love it when authors write to their full extent, but when you're specifically writing for a younger audience (teens and children) don't use highly complicated or advanced words.  

What I mean is, don't go around Dictionary.com to specifically find a more complicated and more 'cool-sounding' word for a simple word. Sometimes I actually highly encourage it because it improves your vocabulary, but sometimes just use that simpler word. It won't kill you! 

In some cases, simplicity is key.