Today's rant shall be about characterization.

Specifically, the main female character if she is not an idol.

There are several types of stereotypical lead female characters that I often see.

The first, as I believe every one of you reading this is acquainted with, often has some combination of the following traits:

-looks like an ulzzang
-clumsy
-nobody likes her
-everyone likes her
-sarcastic
-super nice
-all the guys immediately fall for her
-she's unpopular
-orphan or rich parents
-she and the ‘queenka’ of the school hate each other
-must be multilingual (Korean and English of course, sometimes Japanese, Chinese, French, Spanish, or whatever else the author decides to put.)
-she has a transfer student or is hit on immediately by transfer students (yay for transfer student fics!)

Obviously, one single person cannot possess all of these traits unless they have multiple personality disorder. Think about it: how many people do you know in real life that are like this? Odds are, absolutely none.

To combat this, some authors create sort of a reverse of this under the guise of creating a strong female character, usually with these traits:

-beautiful (but she doesn’t think so)
-often orphaned
-hangs out with guys who obviously like her but she’s so oblivious
-when she does find out that they like her, she refuses to admit it
-refuses to show emotion
-usually a gang member or some sort of fighter

Now once again, you’ve created a flat character. Some authors go so far in their attempts to create a ‘badass’ character, that they try too hard, and that shows in their writing.

It is difficult to create a balanced OC, as I know very well. However, I find that a good way to start is by basing it off of someone you know, whether it be an idol or someone you know in reality. Switch out some things and tweak things until you’ve created a good character.

Some things to keep in mind are:

-What makes your character tick? (i.e. Did someone in their family die? Are they an environmentalist? Are they poor? Are they rich? The possibilities here are endless!)
-Where are you setting your story? (Obviously, most of these stories will be set in Korea or China, as this is a site for ASIAN fanfics after all, but make sure you do your research beforehand, which shall be covered later.)
-Who does your character hang out with? (i.e. smart kids, cool kids, rich kids, nerds, etc. Although you think it may be cool to have a character that ‘floats’ around, 99% of the time they will go back to one dependable group of friends.)
-What do they look like? (Please don’t use a picture of an ulzzang or I will hunt you down. No, I’m too lazy to do that. But please, don’t. DESCRIBE YOUR CHARACTER WITH WORDS.)
-Do NOT use conflicting character traits to describe them. The main one I see is that the main character is apparently a loner, but everyone loves her. THIS. IS. NOT. POSSIBLE. IN ANY SHAPE OR FORM.

Please do pardon me for the excessive use of caps in this, although I do feel that it’s necessary to get this point across. I probably forgot a lot of things, so if you feel like there are things I should add, please drop a comment below.