How To: Make An Original Character

drugs, alcohol and cliches

What I've noticed is that whenever drugs or alcohol are mentioned in some story, the writer decides to just go cliche and forget everything about making their character unique.

Maybe it's because some of the people writing these books have never taken drugs or got drunk but they usually either skip over the side effects of taking these substances or basically make their characters do the most cliche stuff.

Character has one shot, character is black out drunk and making out with everyone. This character could have been a nerd, a crime detective or a psychopath but that doesn't matter because when they get drunk, the character is suddenly lost and becomes a frat boy.

I think that if you are mentioning drugs or alcohol, educate yourself about what they make the body do. How different people react to the substances. Not every drunk person gets excited, some people become philosophical or even depressed.

If your character is a heavy, heavy drinker then you need to consider more than just bloodshot eyes or heavy bags under their eyes. If they are drinking every second, their skin may turn yellow and they will die eventually.

If you're gonna mention drugs and alcohol be my guest. But be realistic. And don't lose your original character.