What makes Harry Potter, Sherlock Holmes, or Elizabeth Bennet unforgettable? It’s not their perfection—it’s their flaws.
When I first got this feedback many years ago, I didn't know what to do. I wondered whether my characters were likable. I even questioned what likability meant in this context.
Why were my characters unrelatable?
What is the one thing I could do to bring them to life?
The answer wasn't obvious. I looked in all the wrong places and did all the wrong things, which only exacerbated the issue.
It took me several years to realize the problem that I had introduced. My characters were too perfect, especially my main character.
When I first started writing at the age of ten, I remember thinking I would make the lives of my characters easy. That they wouldn't have to struggle like the characters in my favorite films and books had to, but ironically, that's the point of storytelling.
To put your characters through some tough situations and force them to make hard choices. To give them flaws that gave them a disadvantage when faced with these trials and tribulations.
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