Here’s a truth many people don’t like to admit: perfect characters are boring.
Whether you’re writing a novel, a play, or a screenplay, the one thing your audience craves, often without even realising it, is honesty. Not perfection. Not polished, grinning protagonists who always say the right thing and never spill tea on their trousers. We want people who feel real. Messy. Flawed. Like us.
A lot of new writers fall into the same trap: they’re desperate for us to like their main character from the start. So they play it safe. The character’s nice, friendly, polite, maybe has a dog. Nothing wrong with that, except… we don’t care. Because no one is that clean-cut in real life, and if they are, we probably don’t want to have a pint with them.
The best characters are the ones who reflect the full spectrum of being human. That means showing us the cracks, the bad moods, the selfish decisions, the times they said the wrong thing and couldn’t fix it with a hug and a monologue. We relate not because they’re perfect, but because they’re not.
Let’s be honest, we all have a public side and a private one. The version of us we show in the group chat, and the version that mutters dark things under our breath when someone skips the kettle queue. Your characters should be no different.
Now, here’s where it gets uncomfortable: writing real, believable characters often means revealing bits of yourself. And that’s scary. You might worry readers will judge you. That they’ll see your character’s flaws and think, Is this how they really are? Spoiler alert: probably. And that’s okay.
Because here’s the twist, it’s not just therapeutic, it’s powerful. Readers want to feel seen. They want to know they’re not the only one who’s anxious, angry, jealous, insecure, or quietly losing their mind at family dinners. When your character reflects that, even just a flicker, it creates connection. It makes the story land.
So next time you’re writing a character, don’t ask, “Will people like them?”
Ask instead: “Will people recognise them?”
Tell the truth. Warts and all. That’s what makes a character, and a writer, unforgettable.
Happy Writing!