Crawl. Stand. Walk. Run.

Many of my clients must have been told by previous writing teachers that their characters were flat.

I say they must have, because what I read, especially from my young writers, is adult characters who absolutely can't make up their minds.

And I know the students want to push back when I tell them to make decisions about their characters.

Because they're characters.

Totally made up.

Their motivations don't matter.

Like when an adult tells a child to clean a room. What is the point other than exerting authority?

From the young person's perspective, I get it. Honestly.

Writers are creating characters. Writers have the challenge of creating arbitrary characters to move their plots forward. Those plots, and the characters that drive those plots, are as varied as infinite numbers. But those reasons must exist in relation to the plot of the story.

And (MOST) writers must learn to create and develop characters the same way they learned to run.

Readers may not want flat characters, but writers need to create simple characters consistently before they can build complex characters that still make sense to readers. And if readers are reading the work of new writers, I hope they will understand and encourage writers at each step of the way. This includes encouraging young people to read LOTS, reading young writers' work and providing constructive criticism (emphasis on the constructive, not so much the criticism). And if those things aren't in a reader's wheelhouse, help connect the young writer with someone who will read their work and help them be better.