70 Deadly Wattpad Sins (The Book Of Evil Advice!)

Sin #03: Character Interest (Why won't they die already?)

"I don't care about you, or our children for that matter..." Tamara North Dizzle muttered under her breath as she kicked her disabled husband down the rickety staircase.

"I just want all of your life insurance cash, so that I can buy and demolish that orphanage across the street... make all of those stupid brats starve to death already. I won't get into trouble though, because I'm sooo much prettier than everyone else."

Wow, she kinda sucks, doesn't she? What kind of name is T. North Dizzle?

Hey, we finally agree on something! The reason why we all had to suffer through that interaction with Tamara, is because today we're going to be discussing something called 'Character Interest'... and how it can pulverise your interest in a book mid-read.

Oh boy, I sure as sugar cannot wait for this exciting and totally-not-boring life lesson!

That's the spirit! Now, let's dive into the bare bones of the topic. Character Interest, as you probably guessed, is how much the reader likes (or dislikes, but we'll get to that) a certain character in an author's story.

Simply put, if you've been getting lots of positive comments that pertain to an individual in your story, it means that your readers love the character concept that you have weaved into your book's world.

I haven't had much feedback yet... How am I supposed to tell whether my characters are likable?

It is usually tricky to judge your own book, without looking through rose-tinted glasses. After all, you can probably understand your character's actions better than the reader does, depending on how accurately you conveyed the scene.

To keep things moving here, let's assume that there are three core practices that will be able to flesh out a character to a more significant level. Being able to utilise all of these on the protagonist takes trial-and-error experience, and it is even more complex to apply them on each of the supporting characters.

The first concept is development, how much your character has changed/grown over the course of the plot. Common questions include:

- "How does the character compare from the first chapter to the last?"

- "What plot points can I add to influence a certain behaviour?"

- "How do the other characters perceive his/her development?"

The second practice is intensity, which relates to the emotions and likelihood of activity within your character. Ask yourself:

- "How furious/devastated/relieved would they feel if 'X' happened?"

- "Are they more passive than active, or the other way around?"

- "What would influence them to intervene in event 'X'?"

The last of the three is your character's role, the strings that move them throughout the story. Search for the answers to:

- "Why does this character require the role/status I assigned, and how will they use it?"

- "What secrets/events in the past will the reader discover after being introduced to the character?"

- "What motivates them to act in such a way, and how do they interact with other roles?"

That's a lot of work! I bet there are tons of more questions though, aren't there...?

Yeah, pretty much. From dialogue quirks to multiple levels of depth, there is no limit to how much you can tweak a character's behaviour and traits. Think of them like putty in your hands... You just have to type them out to get the shape that you ultimately want.

If you can master development, intensity and role within your story, it is almost guaranteed that you will come through the other end with characters interesting enough to hold a reader's attention.

We know that growing our characters to be expressive in their respective positions is important, but what exactly makes a bad character?

Tamara North Dizzle, duh!

I'll give you that one... but remember, not all villain(esses) are bad characters simply because they behave in a negative manner. Antagonists can be rather interesting as well, they just have to be handled differently than the rest of the cast.

You don't want a character that's basically a blank face like Tamara, constantly hissing down her loved one's neck and irrationally being aggressive with no motivation whatsoever.

These characters with zero personality are sadly rather common on Wattpad, and since they are usually the protagonists, we don't get the pleasure of seeing them die as often.

That's dark, man. There are people like that in real life, too! Why is it so bad on here?

Shallow characters in stories can work, but they need a genuine justification. Not just a bland admission like "Two of the most popular boys in school are totally love with me, I'm so pretty and healthy... but my daddy only bought me three cars for my birthday!! Why does everything happen to me?! OMFG@$#!%".

I mean, readers like being pulled into a fantasy and all, but that mess is even more delusional than a unicorn dystopia where Harry Styles is the king of the vampires.

I think I understand... so to make a character likable, they don't actually need to be... well, likable?

Now you're on the money! Readers will stick around to see what happens to a character, good or bad as long as they are somewhat relatable with clear motivations. The key is generating intrigue, and the addition of diverse scenes to show off the full range of emotions that your character is capable of.

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So, now you know why it is important to make sure that your characters are three-dimensional beings, and not just cardboard cut-outs of Kristen Stewart's... erm, expressive face. Keep in mind that some critics specialise in character analysis, so feel free to seek them out in the Wattpad Clubs if you feel like testing your creation's identity!

"I can't believe you only sent me one kiss at the end of that text, Kelsey!" Tamara cried, slapping her best friend across the face in front of their class. "I'm sooo done with everyone backstabbing me! You ain't nothing but  a frumpy little troll anyway, and your mom is such a slu-"

You're, umm... You're not writing a fan-fiction about Tamara North Dizzle, are you?

W-What, me? Don't be silly!

God, I hope not. *shudder*