𝐒𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠ᴮᵒᵒᵏ ᴴᵉˡᵖ

ᴠ. ᴀʙꜱᴇɴᴛᴇᴇ ꜱʜɪᴛ

Lovelies, there's a thing about every human. There's no human that doesn't have it, and it's not very likable for some and lovely for others.

Guessed it yet?

If you haven't, or if you've guessed wrong, then the correct answer is, 'A PERSONALITY'. 

For the last goddamn time, give your OC a fucking personality. 

It absolutely does not do to have an OC who is a personality-less piece of shit. 

A personality refers to the various qualities of a person's character that make them different from others, but y'all have basic and not to mention, stereotypical, personalities for all your characters. 

No, being female does not mean we spend all of our time thinking about what dresses we're going to wear or how we're going to do our making. I don't speak for all females when I say this, but most days we just look like hot messes because getting dressed up isn't even part of the day's agenda. We have work to do, you know?

Also, being gay does not mean you have to wear make-up. Gay means that you're attracted to the same gender as you are, that is, male. In no manner does it involve wearing make-up and dolling yourself up, so please, for the love of God, stop making sick and homophobic jokes in your books about a male who wears make-up and the MC goes, "Oh, you must be gay!" ( Spoiler alert: They ALWAYS turn out to be gay. )

And maybe even stop with the gay best friend trope? I'm sorry it's just annoying that the over-possessive and jealous boyfriend sees that 'hIs gIrL' has a male best friend and, oh, the horror, hugs him! Bam. We have the soon-to-be-boyfriend/boyfriend go psycho because he doesn't know that that dude is gay. 

If you're looking for different sexualities, THERE ARE OTHERS! Bisexual, pansexual, biromantic heterosexual, queer, aromantic, asexual, lesbian people exist! And while we're on here, stop making a lesbian OC who has a crush on your MC and is solely there for drama and for the OC to reject.  

I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen, in the books here on Wattpad:

1. Feminism

2. Accurate LGBTQ+ Representation

3. A personality

4. Diversity

Let's delve deep into this, shall we?

1. Feminism

Feminism means the belief that women should have the same rights and opportunities as men.

Now, as a feminist myself, I assure you that 'feminism' and 'misandrism' are two different things. 

Feminism means that you, as a female, would like to have the same privileges and rights that men enjoy but you don't. Misandrism means that you hate men and feel that women are superior to the other gender.

We want feminism, not misandrism. Hating on men isn't feminism, and please don't portray it as such, with our 'feminazi bitches' who make the MC's life so fucking miserable and hate all the men in the vicinity. 

( And just for the record, 'slut' is a derogatory word. Just because a girl flirts with your MC's 'man', does not mean you have the right to call her a 'slut' or a 'bitch', because it's just sexist that your man begins the flirting and they're the ones being blamed for it. )

Please, stop this. My eyes bleed from what you feel is feminism. ( most of the time, y'all just prefer to ignore it )

So, here's what I feel you can do for there to be feminism in your book:

1. Make the OC fight against misogyny. 

2. DO NOT make the OC be ok with an over-possessive boyfriend. 

3. Make the OC want to have her own rights.

Honestly, that's all I can think of right now, but check the comments next to this, I'm sure my friends will correct my sleep-deprived mind.

2. Accurate LGBTQ+ Representation

As a person who is an ally and most probably part of the LGBTQ+ community, I feel that accurate LGBTQ+ representation is missing in the books here on Wattpad. 

The most rookie mistakes people make are making the characters either gay or lesbian. And then too, they follow stereotypes for their personalities. 

Please, stop this. I beg of you.

1. Use sexualities other than gay or lesbian. People are queer, bisexual, pansexual, unlabelled, aromantic, asexual, bicurious, et

2. Maybe add in a bit of the person being wary of telling others their sexualities? I mean, most people don't come out for a while, and they don't easily tell others that they're not straight. 

3. Don't use stereotyped personalities.

4. Add a homophobic person they hate, maybe?

( Oh, and also, f**/fa**ot is a derogatory slur for gay men, and it's fucking offensive. Don't use it, and also don't use d**e for lesbian women. It is ever so offensive, and no one has any right to call people that. )

3. A personality

Basic enough, every person has a few character traits. It can be the way they talk, the way they act, and all the things about them that make them them.

The crux of the matter is that the personality of a person is shaped by their past. So, if they're really cold and cruel, something has to have made them that way.

Another way to go about personalities is to make them familiar to that of a person you actually know. That way, you're able to create a believable personality and know what a character is going to do and how they'll react to a particular situation. 

Give every single character a personality, no matter how minor they are. Sometimes, you end up pouring your own personality into a character, and that makes that character so much more believable. 

A point I'd like to add here is that no person's personality is completely black and white. For instance, in every good character, there has to be something dark. Something that makes them not-so-good. Likewise, in every so-called 'bad' character, there has to be a redeeming characteristic that makes people sympathize with them. 

Think of it this way: Your ultimate goal is to make grey characters, and it doesn't matter if they're the protagonist or the antagonist. 

4. Diversity

Please, please, PLEASE, for the fucking last time, give me OCs who are POC or black. White OCs are too over-used. 

I do not know how many times I have mentioned this, but this is important. I hate the lack of diversity you have in your books. it makes me barf. 

Please, get diversity in your books.

If you don't find FC's, then google them up. And also, if you're putting diversity, google the cultures. For instance, in a POC OC, you need to search up their culture. For instance, if you're writing an Indian OC, then you need to search up a lot on the culture. 

And here, I'd like to add another point: Do not add stuff you don't know about that hasn't been completely verified by many sources. 

So, in short, here are the things you need to remember: Appropriate FCs, Culture Checks, No stereotypical personalities, and last, but not the least, making the OC have some thoughts on their heritage. 

That's all for this chapter, I'll see you soon with another one!