In real life, we humans are a complicated bag of emotions, contradictions, and quirky bits. A round character is a character who has multiple-dimensions to their personality. Writers often call realistic characters round characters. They want to read about realistic characters, people like themselves or people they know. Typically, when a reader says your characters are flat, they mean the characters don’t feel real.

If you guess flat characters are the opposite of round characters, you’re right. Diagnosis: Flat vs Round Characters What Does Flat Mean? You can take your flat characters to genuine in 8 (sort of) easy steps. Flat characters are usually uninteresting and unmemorable. Does your character have little to no internal life? As your character moves through the story, does she overcome nearly every obstacle? Does she have a crystal-clear need? Is she unchanged at the end of the story? If even a few of your answers are yes, you probably have a flat character. Have you been told you have “flat characters” in your story? Reel in your emotions and re-examine your characters.

Flat character what is a flat character