Stereotypical Characters.

Us new writer tend to lean towards the easier characters, the ones we have know since we were young: the little old lady, the scary gang member, the blonde bimbo cheerleader, the class clown, the school bully.
They tend to be 2D and we need to give them more back story. The little old lady may actually be a tall old lady, grumpy and annoyed at everyone because her husband died in the war for them, they should be more grateful!
There is a reason for everything and we can keep the titles but you need a twist, a history, a reason for the way they are. We need to concentrate on showing the complexity of the characters. Even the worst people have some sort of good traits.

The reader wants to become involved with the life of the characters; become the characters best friend. The reader can only do if the writer actually creates a character that they believe can be real. No two people are alike and to be honest, I read enough stories of the stupid blonde head cheerleader that if I was to read another I don't think I could relate, they just aren't real enough for me. I've seen too many.

So create character that aren't so clique that the reader cringes and not so out there that its literally unbelievable. That's my goal for the week anyway.