Unchanging Characters

I've noticed a pattern in my writing.

My characters don't really... change.

I tend to make my girls stronger as the story progresses (if they start out weak), and everyone generally kinder than when they started out, but for the most part, my characters basically stay the exact same.

Is that bad writing? Bad characterization? Or something else?

Well, call me biased, but I tend to think of it as "something else." I'll explain, before you start thinking I'm all full of myself or something. ('cause I'm not. Really. Or am I...? No, I'm really not.)

I tend to think of myself as a pretty strong person. Not physically strong--I scream at the sight of spiders and I whine at the first inkling of manual labor--but mentally strong. I don't let other people (besides my family and my work) tell me what to do. I'm pretty confident in who I am, what I want, and if someone that I'm friends with wants to do something I don't, I don't necessarily go with them unless they can't find anyone else. I'm not someone who tends to do things because I'm "supposed" to... Not really 'cause I'm a bitch (I hope!!!) but because I don't like to spend my time doing things I don't like doing. Nothing crazy about that, right?

How does this tie into my characterizations? Well, because I tend to be pretty happy with the way I am, and know what I like and what I don't, I tend to create characters that are the same way--flaws and all. Sure, they change a bit over time, but for the most part, they're pretty set in their ways, and the trick is to find the right person to match them with, not to change them. I think people SHOULD be happy with who they are and be comfortable with themselves, so my characters tend to be that way. (Except my latest, Annabelle. She's not exactly happy about who she is. But that's a different story.) Is that bad? I try to make them grow up a bit, you know, to stand up for themselves and become stronger people, but for the most part, they stay the same.

And I discovered, as I was talking aloud about this with my husband upon my realization, that I was pretty happy with this.

Stubborn streak? Maybe... But I'm happy with it! <3 Just like you should be happy with yours. ;)