Characters Can’t Be ALL That!

Beautiful, smart, kind, humble, strong, courageous, and on top of all that, funny too… Sounds like the most amazing heroine, doesn’t it?

Actually, it reminds me of one of my first heroines from a story never finished and never looked at by a publisher. That’s a blessing. I would not want that work representing me today. It was fun to write, but I still had a lot to learn. For instance, my heroine needed a few flaws.

Characters can’t be perfect. They need to feel authentic. They’re human, right? Well, they typically are in my genre anyway.

The issue wtih perfection is readers can’t relate to it. And that is a problem. If readers can’t connect with your characters, they’ll stop reading. I know I will. The more I relate to the characters, the more invested I become in the story.

It makes sense, right?

So, if your character is crazy smart, consider also making her a klutz. I can relate to that more than I would like to. 😉

Or, if your character is sexy and well spoken, consider giving her a junk food habit that keeps some unneeded weight around her hips. What woman can’t relate to that? Ha ha!

Another level of characterization is perception. What flaws do others see in your character verses the flaws she perceives in herself. Perception is a powerful tool. If the character believes it, the reader will too.

Who would have thought perfection could ever be a bad thing? So, when building your heroine, don’t forget the bad with the good. Flawed characters are some of the best!

Happy writing! 🙂