User blog comment:MichaelDiaz101/Diary of a Wimpy Rich Kid: Part 1/@comment-4675595-20130308204913

I was actually going to say something about this character earlier, but giving unsolicited advice rarely goes well on this site, haha. But I'm flattered that you came to me for help :)

Right now I'm really not sure what to make of his kid. He doesn't seem particularly wimpy, but he certainly is weird - for one thing, he seems to think about his father's sexual prowess a lot. That raises all kinds of questions in and of itself, but I really don't know how many people would wanna see those questions answered, and something tells me that isn't quite what you were going for.

The way he hops around from one idea to the next, and all the random swear words thrown around without any real reason, give Jason the impression of being one of those annoying, awkward kids who tries really hard to be cool but never quite makes it. Not to say this is a bad character - with a little work, he could potentially be really interesting. Hell, if I could make Stevie work, surely you can figure out something for this kid :P

When creating a new character, I usually start off with a handful of traits, good and bad, and some kind of motivation. What is it that your character is passionate about/wants to achieve? What skills or personality traits do they have that could help them with this, and what flaws could hold them back? Then consider what they'd be willing to risk to get what they want, and how they react to opposition. Your character might not be 100% where you want him right away, but it'll help to get him started. If you have to go back and tweak things, that's fine too!

At this point, I love that Jason is insecure (it's a nice change of pace for a fancharacter, considering most of them tend to be overly confident), but to create a better balance, he should have some good traits as well, even if he doesn't notice or acknowledge that there are positive things about himself. It doesn't have to be anything major like having some kind of super special talent or rescuing kicked puppies, but maybe he gives good advice, or he's generous, or something like that. His positives and negatives don't have to balance out exactly, and he doesn't have to be more "good" than "bad," but if readers don't have a reason to care about him, he won't make for a very interesting character.

Hope that helps! If you ever wanna flesh this kid out through RP or something, just let me know - I can see Jason and Stevie going on some crazy adventures ;D