Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly linkup of book bloggers hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl! This week, we’re talking about the character traits we love. As a reader, I’m drawn to character-based books, so this was a great opportunity to really put some thought into the kinds of characters that really capture my interest!
Female: Sorry, dudes, I have read and loved plenty of books about y’all, but I am really more interested in women’s stories.
Smart: I like reading about smart people! They don’t have to be book smart, but an intelligent character always get my attention.
Repressed: Repression has the potential to bleed into all kinds of juicy, interesting conflicts.
Confused: There are plenty of storylines with people who are sure about what they want only to have it derailed, but I find people who have conflicting motivations that are pushing them all over the place much more compelling.
Funny: Or at least, with a sense of humor. People who take themselves super seriously 100% of the time are boring in real life and to read about.
Curious: An occasional curmudgeon is delightful, but someone open and interested in the world is much more engaging to read about.
Loyal: Not to the point of being a doormat, but a character who’s always there when it counts for the people that are important to them warms my heart.
Proactive: A character whose actions drive the plot, at least part of the time, is almost always more interesting to me than one who only reacts to the world around them.
Condescending: This one is for villains only! An antagonist who’s basically the stereotype of a snooty aristocrat (especially if they toss off devastating one-liners) makes me cackle with glee.
Reliable: This applies specifically to characters who serve as narrators. An unreliable narrator can be executed well, but it’s usually not.