(A/N: So it's midnight and this chapter is about 2000 words and a few opinions longer than I thought it would be. Call me out if I said anything you disagree with, respectfully. You know the drill. To be honest my commenters are pretty good, but hey, you can never be too careful. Night.)  

So if any of you have known me long enough you should know never to expect consistency from me, ever, because I don't know her. Chrona's Corner? Dreamland Lore? Who knows what else?

... ehhh actually no lie I've been thinking about them both but I don't know what character to do next without spoilers since I've effectively given away multiple twists from Amalgama and the big one for Lux (don't worry both books are just RICH with pain and character development though) and Dreamland is... hard to know where to start with. Last time I attempted to worldbuild on the fly people were treated to a 4k ramble about angels weak spots and behaviors and I'm liable to explain basics or interdimensional diplomacy and obscure Evelscan cuisine history with little to no preface.

That said, there is one thing that is relevant to y'all and doesn't spoil any of my books, and that is general writing tips. I always like to say that characters make a story because if your characters suck I'm probably going to hate your book. Even short stories do a lot to establish and build on character, and they're much more concept driven and have a lot less time. Wattpad writers also tend to... write the same character over and over again? There is a lot of focus on concept here because concept sells best but I'd argue character is more important even on here just because you want your readers to keep reading and 

reading a story with a host of bland characters is like ingesting cardboard 

for hours.

So, before I begin, let me just say that the first and most important writing tip is to feel free to ignore writing tips. No one knows your characters like you and a lot of things are very case-for-case. A lot of famous stories and great characters blatantly ignore these principles and as writers, it is our job to put our foot down when we know what's best for our kids. Most things are about a sense of moderation that comes with practice. Given that, these are general enough that I highly doubt most characters shouldn't abide by at least a few of these principles. 

Also I totally have broken these myself so hey we're all learning here.

Dos and Don'ts of Character Building 

(with Chrona)

DO

...work from real life.

The best place to draw ideas from is reality, hands down. People are fascinating and you should absolutely capitalize on this. I'm not just talking people you know (in fact, in the don'ts, I'm going to get to how careful you need to be with 'inserting' characters), although I wouldn't shy away from it- a lot of mannerisms my characters possess come from my friends or I, down to inside jokes or conversations (the "Naval Brigade" of Deja Vu is a shameless ripoff of the unorganized conglomerate my friends had in middle school and a lot of one-liners, especially in the DragonClan trilogy, were filched). 

Often, strangers can be just as interesting as people you know intimately. People who pass you by in liminal spaces or exist for a few minutes before blinking out of your life all have stories and lives of their own. Look for interesting outfits, posture, just watch people and take them in. Furthermore, listening to people talk in general will help your dialogue so much. Normal conversation has a certain flow to it and certain people hang back, step forwards, act different in groups- I could go on. The point is that you will learn a lot from listening and watching people.

Just try not to be a creep about it. We might suffer for our art but I think I speak for everyone when I say I don't want to get punched in the face by a total stranger. 

...create a root system.

When you're creating a character, do not worry about how much of the information you'll actually 'need'. It has been said that authors only put as low as ten percent of their material into their books. I don't know if this is true or not (personally I just can't write fast enough to pack everything in there) but it's certainly important to give your character strong foundations. I'm not saying you have to know their favorite ice cream flavor, because to some extent, who cares, but you should spend time getting to know them as if they were a real person. Furthermore, if you can get a sense of their aesthetic, tastes, and habits, it can help influence the more "important" parts of their personality. To use an earlier example (again, this can work with any detail, ice cream is not a must), a character who likes vanilla might be boring by nature, or they might be indecisive, or maybe they really like Rocky Road but they're trying to cut down on luxuries or their own weight. A character who enjoys really violent video games but won't admit it might be worried about keeping up reputation (which you can then echo in other parts of their personality) or they might be quiet but have PENT UP RAGE. Maybe they're just a guy. Violent video games don't make one violent, after all. 

In conclusion, you can build down from a sweeping personality or up from small details, creating a cohesive map of who your character is as a person. The roots anchor down the trunk, and so forth.

...establish an identity.

Given the above, you should be able to summarize your character in two sentences or less. This does not mean they're simple, it means they have a clear identity. There can be practically infinite layers to a person but you should be able to sling some adjectives out there.

For example, Natrina (from my Dreamland stories): "Natrina is a maternal but often withdrawn character, owing to her immortality. She struggles with insurmountable grief over the past."

This is incredibly basic and doesn't even begin to go into her relationships, history, or most of her psychology, but you can immediately get Natrina. You should at least be able to pick a few stand-out traits, 

ESPECIALLY WITH YOUR PROTAGONIST. 

Please don't make your protagonist some generic potato unless you're being incredibly deliberate with it. Give them some personality traits that makes them right for the job or else some history that ties them into the conflict. Even then, give us something to cling onto. Side characters, even minor ones, should be more than one-note without being needlessly complex.

Another benefit to this is that it helps you avoid 'distilling' your characters. If you end up trying to do everything with one character you might end up with an overcomplicated mess whose issues are never fully implemented and then, even if they're very well thought out in your mind, the audience isn't gonna get it, especially if they have no screen time. Keep them clean and distinct, and once you have that identity, build from there. 

...play with voice.

This is especially important for people doing first-person stories because otherwise there really is no advantage to doing first-person stories whatsoever. 

(This is also one of the things I'm most guilty of doing. Yikes.) 

It is so tempting to make every one of your characters a sassy, one-liner dealing coolkid but experimenting with how your character thinks and even fills the prose is so, so important. Catcher in the Rye is a good example- compare this to ANY other first-person story. Look at how Holden Caufield's voice fills the space, litters it with subtle mannerisms and personality without the character doing a thing. This story would be impossible in third person because Holden Caufield is the story. I'm not saying you need to write Catcher to write first person, but give your character patterns of thought (do they like lists? metaphors and fancy prose? Are they formulaic and concise in their trains of thought or do they meander before snapping back to reality?) and suddenly your story is going to be a whooole lot more interesting. This is also a great way to decide if you want your story to be third or first person, try both.

This applies to dialogue as well. Give your character catchphrases or quirks, inside jokes, little things they do that make them unique. Watch real people for this, too- see above. 

...practice scenarios.

Quick, your characters are in a burning house. They can take one thing with them before their house burns down. What do they grab?

Okay, generic question. Let's say... a portal to another dimension opens up and a strange being jumps out yelling "Hurry, there's no time!". Does your character follow?

What about the trolley problem? Wouuuuuld they flip the switch? Push the person?

Now try it with thirty or so characters, if you have that many. If you know them well, this should be pretty snappy. If you've done your job well, they should all have different answers, and more importantly, different rationale behind their answers. One character might be too connected to their family and loved ones to jump ship to another dimension while another might not trust this alien. One character might snag a family heirloom to sell while their family perishes in flames while another takes the precious heirloom out of sentimentality. 

Hell, one of them might have set the fire. I don't know your characters. 

Regardless, run through a few of these, or imagine what your characters would do if all their roles in the story were swapped. If the story would be the same, you might want to consider revision. If you can cut out a character to almost no effect, ESPECIALLY CHARACTERS WHO TAKE UP LARGE SWATHES OF SCREENTIME, consider in revision if they're really necessary to the story you want to tell. If you want to keep them no matter what, then make them crucial.

...work with relationships!

Your character's relationships are often where they'll shine most. They might be a completely different person when they talk with different people. How do they react to their allies? Foes? Are they cold to their significant other but warm to everyone else, indicating a failing relationship, or quite the opposite? If you can show sincere rapport between two characters and bring out their history, you'll have very compelling characters right from the get-go. Same goes for large group dynamics. 

...draw them out. 

If you can't draw, consider starting. Everyone was a beginner once. If you can, visually differentiate your characters and see if you can match up their designs with their personality. Why does your character wear the clothes they do? Are they lanky? Broad? Are they a gentle giant or... otherwise? Short? Are they ever belittled for their appearance? What's their self-esteem on account of said appearance? Trust me, you can play with this. You can't judge people off of looks, obviously, but most characters in media are designed such that you can discern a great deal from a glance (it's what makes famous cartoon characters so iconic). 

 At the very least, try to differentiate them (geometric shapes and references are your friend!) so you don't end up with a few thousand skinny white kids because that's boring. Forcing yourself to think about these things usually fixes issues you'd make simply by not realizing there was anything to consider.

(If you really don't want to draw, visualize them and write down, in detail, what they look like.) 

...ask yourself, 'why'?

Once you have certain mannerisms for a character down, don't be afraid to go deeper. Obviously not everything has to be of relevance, but by exploring certain background alleyways for characters, you might find there's a lot more to them than you expect. You might even be able to fill in plot holes (I have).

Why do they have this certain tic? Why do they carry around a certain necklace/ornament/etc.? Sometimes you'll hit dead ends, but if you find the right button to push? Gold mine. 

...bring a friend.

People never cease to understate the value of community in the "solo act" of writing. Sitting down with a good friend and talking about your story and characters will do wonders for you, especially in the planning process. Furthermore, you'll probably learn what does and doesn't work just by saying it aloud, and you'll surprise yourself with how much you can improvise on the spot. 

If you don't have friends talk to me because I'm lonely and I want to meet your children :VVV

DON'T 

...don't be afraid to make to make them a little inconsistent.

Real people are inconsistent. No one sticks to their guns all the time. Morality is relative. Even your lawful good Paladin has probably, I don't know, filched cookies at some point (oh the horror!). Having characters 'break character' is a good way to establish desperation in a scene (going against morals) or create humor (someone who abhors lying fibs about something incredibly petty). The trick is not having your character drop their whole personality EVERY time you want a joke or "railroading", which is the act of having your characters do whatever you want just to fit the plot. This is one of those tricks best used sparsely, but regardless, it is a sweet one when executed well and adds an extra level of humanity to your characters.

... don't take out a vendetta on people (aka 'overdoing it a little').

When I started this, I mentioned "taking from real life". While I do believe this is important, even crucial, to quote one of my professors at camp, "never write from spite". You will hate these characters looking back on them. This is almost impossible to do right and to be quite honest? You're on Wattpad. I understand that someone probably ticked you off and we've all seen those quirky posters that read something along the lines of "Don't make me angry, I'll put you in my book and kill you off" but it just... seems petty and out of place. It often kills suspension of disbelief just by lowering the author's ethos, but there's also the chance you'll end up with a character who drags the whole story down. 

On a similar note, there's a very tricky road to be walked with "volunteer characters" or family members you've put in your books. I'm not against the process, as I've seen it work, but if people offer up their OC make sure they understand that THIS CHARACTER IS NOW YOURS. If someone is going to complain about whatever you do to their character, it's not yours. Throw it back at them. If your family is going to get ticked if you make them antagonistic or if they say anything stupid, it's probably not worth the hassle. 

If you want to write your parents in because they "don't get you", you're going to laugh about this in three years and it will age your book really fast. A lot of great writing comes from legitimate places of emotion, and it's true that some people have certain biases that you feel compelled to write about (not that I even have to list them for you to get an idea), but give things time to settle. If you have something legitimate to say, it will still ring true with you long after the incident has passed, while most petty anger is ephemeral. Breaaathe. 

On a non-malicious note, if you think people will recognize themselves, be prepared to deal with that. Try not to use the names of people you know who are going to cry wolf even if the character is nothing like them. 

[and now for the testy ones.]

...don't focus on labels.

Quick, what's the first thing you think about when you think about your character?

If the first thing you have listed for your character is the sexuality/gender/race/Myers-Briggs/horoscope/whatever twelve year olds are putting on their Wattpad profile now (phobias I think? thanks that's really relevant to your writing) and then essentially nothing else, you haven't really created anything outside of an incredible cardboard cutout you're probably going to use to preach at us. 

That said, there is nothing wrong with having race, sexuality, or gender as major themes in your story. Do not shy away from doing so.  Do not be afraid to have your characters be majorly effected by their sexuality/gender/race etc. and the way people react to it. In this world, people DO react to it. We are not living in a bubble. The world is still biased as all hell. These stories need to be told.

Given that, even if your story is themed around this aspect of your character, there has to be something more to them than just that. If there isn't, if they legitimately are just gay, you're probably going to be writing a white piece of bread with some rainbow butter on it. It's still a white piece of bread, friends. Not that interesting. Similarly, if you're writing for other ethnicities and you just wanted to flesh out that white cast and you've inserted this new character, with no other personality to stand for, into your story, you should be really wary of stereotypes. 

PLUS YOUR CHARACTERS ARE GOING TO BE A BORING, MORALIZING MESS TO READ THROUGH. 

Make your characters characters first. Even if their identity plays a huge role in who they are, deciding that this is all they are or that there's one prominent way to be (literally anything) is such a mistake. Make them human. Give them interests. Literally use all of the above like you would with any other character. The world needs diverse stories, but they also need good diverse stories. Reducing anyone to any one trait is so counterproductive to that. 

Furthermore, where you do see good diverse literature, especially written FROM authors of that community, support it. 

With money. 

(As a side note, if you're white and writing characters of color or want to write outside your race... well, this isn't my jurisdiction, obviously, but I would suggest trying to meet a diverse range of people and reading diverse literature. What's most important is treating your characters like people first and labels second.)

This topic stressed me out about writing human characters forever because I was super nervous about writing characters who weren't literally me in terms of demographic. However, if your intent is good (read: you're not being a deliberate assclown) and your mistake is honest, then heck, you messed up. People will tell you what you did, you can bow out gracefully, and keep going while implementing this new knowledge. Do not let critique or the potential of it deter you back into a corner. It will limit your horizons so much.

We need supportive, open writing communities for this very reason. There is legitimate racism, homophobia, and heaven knows what else out there, but calling out people over trivial mistakes in ways that are rude, incriminating, and trying to drive "impurity" out of our communities often leads to witch hunts that do nothing but scare potential allies and drive in the stakes of hatred and ignorance further by forcing these people out of these communities and fostering bitterness, built apon ridiculously small issues or assumptions blown out of proportion (see Zamii070's suicide attempt). There are ways to call out people without telling them they're literally worse than Hitler for making small mistakes. 

Of course, I'm not saying you should let everything slide, but please give people a chance. 

(Finally) moving on. 

...don't worry about similarities you and your character might share. 

I tend to find my characters have "inherited" things from yours truly and this isn't an issue in the slightest. Years of bitching about Mary Sues has wronged ye, friends. You're allowed to write what you know. The issue is in making ALL your characters ENTIRELY like you. There's room between "everyone is a self insert" and "these characters are nothing like me at all" and it is ours to frolic in. Plus, it's almost impossible to write a character you don't get in the slightest. How else would you empathize with them?

The key here is not to give favoritism based on alleged similarities, seeing as this is how we create our ticket into the dreaded land of the Mary Sues. I know a lot of us writers already have low self-esteem (or at least it seems to be a chronic issue in the community) so it's not like we'd be giving our expys sheer badassery and reign over the land, as it stands, but make sure your characters have flaws? If there's enough of you in a character that a stranger can point them out and say "this one" there miiiiiight be an issue, especially if they're just guessing this because you made said character completely infalliable (and they just happen to have your good looks and charisma! For shame!). To better illustrate my point, see Eragon by Christopher Paulini. 

If you do want to get creative with it, though, I highly recommend throwing some of your personal failings at your characters (it can be quite therapeutic) and watching them suffer. I threw my anxiety at Red and his whole character fell into place. Magic. 

...don't sock puppet.

[Breathes in]

People seem to be under the impression that your characters should all agree with you politically so you're not sending the wrong message to anyone. If you can't write characters with differing view points without making them villains, then you are going to have some really shallow stories filled with black and white morality. People do not usually stumble into ideas in a bubble. They are shaped by the society they grew up in and the lives they lead. Your characters are allowed to disagree with you without being the villain, and they might hold certain views for reasons that don't have to do with outright maliciousness. It is highly preferable that at least some of them do. If some of your characters hold views you really can't reconcile with, well, that's a great place for character growth. Have them realize the error of their ways. Have GOOD characters realize they have room for improvement, or have them realize they misjudged people. 

Anyways, give your villains some shard of humanity. Give your heroes a dark side. Make your side characters people instead of an echo chamber. Show the drawbacks to your hero's way of thinking. Make them wrestle with it. If your story is your perfect hero beating up a sock puppet, it's probably not going to be terribly exciting.

That said there are certain areas where it's hard to excuse certain behaviors aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand of course there's political novels (like anyone is writing 1984 on Wattpad pffffft) where you ARE trying to just HAMMER IN a certain viewpoint but this is highly subjective advice. The gist of it is not to preach the hell out of people and to try to make your characters at least a little dynamic.

Hopefully this has been helpful. Have a good day/night/life and please don't murder me in the comments.