How to Make Characters Believable: 10 Flaws to Avoid at All Costs

Just like in real life, characters vary, not only in appearance, but in their actions and their personality, as well. Treat every person in your book as you would were they to exist in real life. That means you must avoid any of these stereotypes:

1. The bad boy: having a guy like this in your story is fine, as long as you stray away from the norm, which is something along the lines of: a bad attitude, ripped jeans, emotional, PTSD backstory, and combat boots. This is something every established reader has seen before, and will see again in your story if you do not switch it up. 
2. The weak-willed girl: we've see this too many times to count, whether in movies or books. The girl who stands on the sidelines as she is fought over by two love interests, or who refuses to take the reigns regarding her own life. AVOID THIS ONE AT ALL COSTS.
3. The loner: this is yet another creative writing stereotype I see all the time. Being a real-life loner, I can tell you right now that if you do not of a loner, if you aren't one yourself, and don't know what they're like, do not attempt to insert one in your story, as it will inevitably come across as hollow and ill-inspired.
4. The bitchy mean girl: I HATE THIS ONE. It is so overdone, and worse, many people can't even do the mean girl correctly. You have to make sure that if you want to use this kind of character in your book that you can make it believable. Otherwise it will fall flat. Problem is for most writers, they don't have the personal experience required to make it seem realistic. And if a place or a storyline or a character doesn't come across as realistic, then your entire story will fall flat.
5. The villain with a sad past: let's face it, a lot of times, someone is cruel or evil for no good reason. Maybe they just enjoy making people suffer. Point is, not every single antagonist needs a backstory. Remember, your readers are supposed to feel sympathetic for the protagonist, not the antagonist. It is okay to have reasoning behind a villain's actions, but make sure they don't become the good guy in your story, which ultimately defeats the entire purpose for a villain in the first place.

DON'T BE AFRAID TO DESCRIBE YOUR CHARACTER!!

Which sounds better?

1. The girl was small. She was nice and smiled a lot. Her hair was blonde and long. 
2. She was underdeveloped for her age. She was kind to everyone, and never walked by someone without offering them a passing smile. She had long blonde hair that fell down her back in long waves, accenting her small stature..

If you said one, then get out. If you said two, then ding-ding! You're right. This is not simply a matter of good descriptions, but a matter of sentence structure. If everything you were writing was written like that first one, then readers will quickly get bored. It becomes monotonous, and even annoying to read. 

Other common problems:

1. Creating romantic relationships between two characters too early on in a story before you've given their relationship a chance to develop.
2. The cliched death of a parent figure: including automobile accidents, heart attacks, getting killed by characters you haven't bothered to explain, etc.
3. Giving a character a really pretentious name just to make them unique. Don't do this! It may seem like a good idea, but it isn't--especially if the reader can't pronounce the name.
4. Especially in fantasy, making a character some type of supernatural but never explaining how or why, or the extent of their powers. This creates a rift in your story.
5. Lastly, creating too many characters you forget which ones are which. Good rule of thumb: don't make a character that doesn't have an essential role to play in your novel.

~Your Personal Writing Jedi