Yeah, I'm Weird. But Aren't We All?

Okay, confession: I'm a bit of a dork. I'm one of those people that gets really attached to dumb little things. For example, we were at Walmart getting supplies for a camping trip I was going on, and my dad wanted to be buy me a nice new flashlight. But I told him no. Why? Because I wanted to take the crappy old blue one I've been taking for the past three years.

So yeah, I'm weird , but there's alot of people like that out there that have some weird little quirk to their personality. And one of the things I love the most while reading is seeing a character like that.

I like it when an author adds some little quirk, pet peeve, obsession, etc. to a character that makes them real. Like in Paranormalcy, Evie wishes she could raise just one eyebrow, but she can't, so she has to raise two and look surprised or startled. And when I read this, I about fell out of my chair because I was thinking " SAME!!" It just about made my day.

In another book I loved, Sean Griswold's Head, the MC Payton is way into organizing (okay, so more like OCD), to the point that she spent 50 bucks to buy a leather organizer. Now, would I do that? Heck no. But it was endearing, and she was so into it that it was hilarious, and I liked her even more.

I once read a book where the MC brother died. She was always sad that she lost him, and said he was a great brother and all, but honestly I didn't really care much about him until later on, when she talked about how goofy and funny he was, and how when she was sad, he would make a dog with his hands and pretend it was talking to her. Yeah, he was kinda wierd. But in a funny, goofy, approachable way, and suddenly I loved her brother.

What I'm saying is that we shouldn't be afraid to give our characters some weirdness to their personalities, because it makes them more real, more likeable, and even more relatable. In fact, I think we should. Nobody likes a flat character, and one of the best ways to dimensionalize (yes thats a word, its just not... official yet) your character is to give them a little bit of personality that sets them apart from others. And your readers will thank you.

( Note: If you make your MC enjoy kicking kittens, licking themselves, or just being obnoxious to point of near insanity of those around them, for the sake of adding personality, that might not go down too well with the readers...) So yeah, don't make them weird in a sadistic, gross, or annoying way; we want it to be endearing.

So, do you have some irrational obsession, practice, fear, favorite object, you name it, that gives you personality? And do you prefer it when authors add quirks to their characters, or do you find that wierd? Share your thoughts below :)