When writing any kind of story, one thing always remains the same: you need to keep your main character interesting. While plot and dialogue can also move your story along, it's important to have a constant character who your readers can relate to. Next time you're writing, keep in mind these quick tips for making sure your main character is interesting. 

Remain curious about your character

While you're the expert when it comes to your main character, it's always a good idea to make them do something unexpected to keep both your reader and yourself curious. When you have a main character who does something out of the ordinary, it keeps things fresh. 

Make sure you know your character's strengths

Giving your characters weaknesses is important but if they always remain weak and don't show signs of strength, they can quickly fall flat. Give your main character clear strengths and you will instantly have a more well-rounded person on the page. 

Get detailed with their appearance

One way to keep readers hooked on your characters is to give them a clear picture of what they look like. Just when you think you've written enough about their appearance, find a small detail that will give readers an even more vivid image of the person you've created. 

Give them fears

Fear is something everyone can relate to. Whether it's a fear of spiders, heights, death or even something completely abstract, giving your main character a certain fear or set of fears enhances their connection with readers. 

Don't play into stereotypes

One quick way to pull your readers out of the story and disconnect with your main character is by making them stereotypical. While this isn't a tip as much as it is something to avoid, do not–by any means–feed into stereotypes that could offend or dissuade your audience. 

Challenge them

It's usually uncommon to read about characters who get things right all the time. Why? Because no one can relate to a character who is constantly on the upswing. Throughout the writing process, make sure you're challenging your main character to rise to a challenge or conquer something they never thought they could tackle. And if you really want to make your main character interesting, let them fail. 

Give them a secret

Nothing makes a story or character more interesting than knowing that there's a secret you can't quite know about yet. While you will expose the secret over time, making sure there's some mystery behind your main character is very important when it comes to hooking the reader.