A belated happy Christmas and New Year!

My last post was on the 16th of December. I know what you are all thinking, ugh, why do I even bother if she doesn't care about her readers and audience, well I do care, just believe me enough to carry on. I want to help people, I'm too soft not to care if someone comes to me with a problem I want to help. But I am also a little needy and like to hear every once in a while how much I helped someone. A flaw, oh believe me I know, but we aren't all perfect.

So......

Why is it we make our characters perfect? Is it because we are trying to create the perfect versions of ourselves? Are we so insecure about ourselves that we have to make someone comforting for us to follow?

I suggest we stop doing such things, characters aren't perfect, they are flawed and troubled, just like the rest of the human race. It's a bit rich for someone to say they are perfect in every way because I can bet you any amount of money there is something. Perhaps they are a little insecure, its not a flaw as such, it's just a trait that can damage who we truly are, it makes us doubt our choices and it might lead us in a direction we didn't really want to go, for example staying with a partner you know deep down isn't right, but just didn't want to hurt them, didn't want to cause yourself pain. Perhaps its a fear of being alone.

All of these things we have all felt and all need to understand its just human nature, they are there for a reason, they make us human, and not just a robot wandering around the world dipping in and out of the conversation.

Your characters should be the same, if you want people to connect with your characters, you give them a flaw your audience can relate to. Low self-esteem is one trait we can all relate to. Or emotional because of a past lover, again, everything knows how it feels to be hurt in the name of love. A little cliched, but still something people relate to.

If you use these bad habits and traits to create your characters they will become three dimensional and your readers will fall in love with the worst parts of the character before they love the good bits.