So, most book characters are hot. Heroes, villains, nerds, magical beings, I have read six full-length novels since the start of the month and only two of them had characters whose appearances are described and are not attractive. One was a retelling of the Princess and the Frog which ended with the horribly unattractive love interest being turned hot once the curse is broken and the other featuring a plain looking princess in two or three of its roughly thirty chapters. Villains used to be hideous by default but over the past decade or so it has become habit for all characters—especially in YA—to be attractive. Cassandra Clare's Shadowhunter novels are probably the most egregious offenders; I challenge you to find one character in at least five characters who is stated not to be good-looking. Television and moves have even become notorious for making plain or ugly characters look really great (ex. Hermione Granger). This trend of perfect characters has also extended into the perception of characters. Rey from the Star Wars sequels is pretty, is virtually never wrong, is tempted way less by the dark side than almost every other character, and is confronted with little to no conflict. So, why are writers making perfect characters, why are readers growing tired of this, and what can someone do to keep their story from falling into this trope?

     I cannot speak for every writer, but I think a lot of people make perfect characters because society has conditioned people to have certain standards. If the author does not provide a description to a character, most readers will imagine the character to look like either an idealized version of themselves or similarly to an actor or actress. Because movie and television stars are usually quite good-looking, most people will imagine characters in books to be equally attractive. So, if I write a book about a stubborn but courageous and kind superhero named Alex, readers will likely imagine a star of the same race as themselves if not the same gender. Few people imagine a character to be unattractive unless the author describes the person in that way. Almost not authors describe a person being plain or unattractive because they, like readers, tend to picture their characters as actors/actresses who have the basic characteristics of the character. People also like attractive looking people so they imagine characters in that way because they are more pleasant to look at.

      It's interesting that, though the majority of people picture attractive characters, readers have grown exasperated by gorgeous characters, especially main protagonists and their love interests. Cassandra Clare's books in particular haven taken a lot of criticism for the importance they place on appearance. I suspect this development stems from lots of varying reasons, one major one being the lack of relatability between readers and the characters. If you're worried about your attractive characters driving away or annoying readers, here are some tips to reduce the negative effects of this trope in your work.

1. Make the characters relatable. Perfect looking characters are most unrealistic when they are also treated as perfect by the narrative. Mortal Instruments protagonist Jace Wayland/Herondale is often considered the author's golden boy due to the glorification of him by other characters. Giving your characters flaws or deep characterizations will help downplay the characters' looks. Maybe someone is good-looking but wears glasses the entire series (contrary to Hollywood's beliefs, someone with glasses can be attractive. Harry Potter is implied to be relatively good-looking in the books). Maybe a character has a disability or a terrible home life or is in some shape or form going through things that someone might actually suffer from. Give them some character depth. Make them feel like a real person. If they're just a generic protagonist, you've created a gorgeous piece of cardboard, not a character.

2. Have them aware of their attractiveness but not vain. A lot of the hatred towards attractiveness in novels blossomed from the "character thinks they're plain but they're actually drop dead gorgeous" trope, which was actually where the idea for this article came from. Most authors either have their main characters ignorant of their own appearance or completely self-centered. Both sides of this coin are found, again, in The Mortal Instruments. Main character Clary is the "pretty but doesn't know it" character while her love interest Jace is insanely narcissistic, especially about his appearance. I'm reading a book right now where the main character, Ava, knows she is very beautiful but isn't full of herself. She actually reflects that she doesn't trust appearances because good looking people can disguise their true intentions/nature behind a pretty face, as she herself has done. If your characters are aware of their good looks but not preoccupied about them, readers will not be so annoyed. It's frustrating to read about a character whom is clearly intended to be gorgeous but thinks that they aren't so they seem relatable. That is lazy. 

3. Downplay your characters' attractiveness. This is a way to help readers grow to like your characters. Maybe have the love interest be beautiful but don't mention that every time the character is seen/thought of. Let a character have "eyes that sparkle like sapphires" the first time they're introduced. Readers probably won't care. They will care after eight chapters of hearing about the character's "sapphire eyes" every time we see them. If their appearance or physical characteristics are plot/character important, then by all means bring them up. Maybe the character's "sapphire eyes" are used to let readers in on their emotions or to hint at an important plot thread that will come up later. Just please do not have your protagonist gush about the love interest's muscles every five paragraphs or how their golden hair glistens in the sunlight three times a chapter.

4. Don't tell the readers what to think. 

Which description is better? 

      The girl who walked into the room was gorgeous. When she sat down a few feet from my seat, the first thing I noticed were her bright grey eyes and the way they seemed to flash as they landed on me. She wore her golden hair in a messy braid, the end drapped over her shoulder. As she turned her head, the room's light seemed to make her bronze skin shimmer.

Or, 

     The girl walked into the room and sat down a few feet from my seat. The first thing I noticed were her bright grey eyes and the way they seemed to flash as they landed on me. She wore her golden hair in a messy braid, the end drapped over her shoulder. As she turned her head, the room's light seemed to make her bronze skin shimmer.

You could probably tell in both cases that the girl was attractive, at least to the point-of-view character. In the second case, though, I allowed you to come to your own conclusions rather than explicitly telling you she's beautiful. Perhaps the girl actually isn't traditionally pretty but the main character thinks she is. Or, she might be pretty in our own society but is considered ugly in her own. The opposite could be possible as well. The second example, while still conveying the girl's general appearance, lets readers fill in a lot of the details. Someone could imagine her as someone looking more similarly to themselves. The second example has not isolated anyone who would feel inadequate compared to the character. 

5.  Deal with how their looks effect their lives. If all witches are insanely beautiful in your world, how does that impact their people? Do they have trouble finding people who will love them for who they are? Have they given up on love because of the difficulty finding people who really care about them? What would be the implications of so many attractive characters? Does your protagonist or love interest take advantage of their appearance or use it to manipulate people? Don't just make their hotness a set dressing for your story; incorporate it into the narrative or the character's arc.

So, there you have it, five tips for making your hot characters more relatable—or at least more interesting. Comment ways you've gotten around this trope or ways you've made the trope more interesting!

Anonymous asked: "What's a good way to organize world-building?"

There is a LOT to handle in worldbuilding! Ultimately, there is no easy way out (in my opinion) if you want to create a really rich world, but it can be helpful when starting from scratch to have a list of bases to cover. I'm going to break this down into three suggested tiers.

Primary tier

Start with the basics. This is a good place to figure out if there is one feature that defines your world and factors heavily into the story because of its uniqueness. I'm thinking of a published fantasy I read where the planet had a locked rotation: one side was always in darkness, the other always in sunshine. Other things to consider when starting out are:

The geography of your world. What does it look like? (Make a map; it'll help you visualize, and it's fun!)

People groups. How many ethnicities, races, and cultures do you plan to work with? Is your world fairly homogenous or more diverse?

Magic system and mythical elements, if any. How fantasy is your world?

With these down -- who's in your world, and what their surroundings are like -- you can move on to narrower topics.

Secondary tier

Here you branch out to make your world deeper. Draw connections wherever possible ("If this, then...?"). For instance, choose where in your world your people groups live, and figure out from there how the terrain, climate, weather patterns, etc., might influence the way their culture develops. This is the stage where you might want to start developing a fake language if that's your thing.

There are waaaay too many facets of culture to make a comprehensive list here, but areas to consider:

- political/government system

- economic system (are they self-sufficient? Primarily agricultural? Mining community? Something else?)

- cultural mores and values

- religion

- history (don't forget to draw connections! What happened in their history that might affect the culture now?)

Tertiary tier

Now you have a solid world. You're fine tuning and adding new tidbits here and there. You'll probably never stop, but who would want to? Troubleshoot for inconsistencies. Chart travel distances for handy reference. Create a weird new species based on your last dream. This is your world, so have fun with it!

***

Now, this is just one way to do it (and not an exhaustive list, either!). If you're not an organizing type of person, you may just dive in and start brainstorming/exploring with no plan whatever, and that's totally legit. But for those who want to approach worldbuilding in a systematic fashion, I hope this list will serve as a helpful starting point.

Got questions? Ask below or in a DM! We're here to help!

Check out these fantasy books and their authors!

Woman of the Sea by CelticWarriorQueen17 - a Celtic-inspired deep sea fantasy teeming with mermaids and betrayal

The Younger Prince by Silvan_Elleth - a gripping intrigue of complex loyalties, dark missions, and the meaning of family

The Monster Within by Lyssagirl7686 - Snow White, the fairy tale retold

— with a shocking twist...

Heart of Midnight by Cross-Warrior - A would-be lady, a stable boy, and pirates, all tangled in the same deadly game...

Faerie Tale by rachelwrites27 - a total mashup of retellings with all the ingredients: rebels, magic, and vanished wizards!

Check-in time! Summarize your story in one compelling sentence.

Variant spellings for words like magic? Yes or no?

Have you ever fallen asleep while writing?

If all your characters were pitted against each other in a fight ring, who would win?

Do you have any alternate-universe versions of your world?