Oh, the overused muscle-y love interest with washboard abs and distant, troubled brown eyes. Jacob Black? Is that you? Hopefully not, because he's boring and one-dimensional as hell.

Your male characters look just like Jacob, and it's time for a rewrite.

Jacob Black is the Mary-Sue of the male character creation. Jacob Black is smoking hot, yes, but that's all he is (other than entirely loyal to Bella so take that, Cullen scum). Why must men also be sexualized? Before you go questioning my feminism and pretending I support the patriarchy, maybe re-read my last chapter.

Because the truth is, as much as we may all deny it, women sexualize men, too. Not to the extent that men sexualize women, but it does happen. Don't believe me? Think about the romance movies you've watched. How many of them have handsome men complete with drool-worthy muscles, perfect smiles, and shirtless scenes?

A lot. And why is that? Because women like to see hot and swoon-worthy men as much as men like to see beautiful women. This is not uncommon in reality, but maybe it should be in your writing. The men are all the same! So, let's jump into some stereotypes you're using and why you need to kill them.

1. . Oh, Lord, this is a popular one. You know what else is popular? The jock, in every. Single. Story. He's handsome as hell (of course), the most popular guy/athlete in the entire school consisting of thousands of kids, and he's always as asshole. Oh, and I almost forgot, he's terrible in school and usually needs a hot nerd to tutor him.

Stop writing these guys. They're not only completely stereotypical and unrealistic, but they're unlikeable. I don't care how sad and tragic his backstory is, if he's arrogant and treats the love interest possessively like some piece of property, the reader will never like him. Like his mom dying when he's four is supposed to excuse and explain his horrific behavior and treatment of others. And enough with the female loving him despite this and accepting him as is! That encourages toxic relationships.

He changes, or she leaves. There's some drama right there.

2. This can be considered a stand-alone category, but it also bleeds into literally every other stereotypical male trope out there. You're focused on mouth-watering facial features and sexy smirks and disinterested gazes, and then your character is bland when it comes to personality. It is hard to really root for your character when they're underdeveloped as people, and the only purpose they serve to the story is objects of masturbation for preteen girls.

This trope is also a womanizer, and boasts about various female conquests. Whenever one woman (usually Main Girl) isn't interested, it becomes his sole mission to bed her. Likewise, the love interest is completely swept away by his physical appearance, and the entire relationship is drawn together on the basis of sexual/physical attraction. I don't care if she "resists" for half of a chapter. That's what's happening, and it's shallow and needs to be stopped.

3. No, I'm not referencing Dwayne Johnson. I'm talking about all of the male characters that you're not allowing to feel anything. They treat girls like trophies and then dump them without batting an eyelash, their mom dies of cancer and they don't shed one tear, they work alone and never seem to experience loneliness or a desire for even one friend.

Contrary to what appears to be popular belief, men do have feelings. The idea that they never express them is ridiculous. Sure, men probably spend less time crying over romantic movies that women do, but they'd definitely cry and feel devastated if their significant other broke their heart or whatever. To some extent, sure, I definitely like to see a character who is fairly stoic struggle to admit feelings.

But just because he doesn't show them doesn't mean he doesn't have them. If you're going to do the "he doesn't show feelings, but he has them" idea, maybe try to write from his perspective. Then we can actually see the war of emotions raging inside of him and he doesn't just seem like a prick.

Other than that, just as a rule of thumb, try to stay away from stereotypes completely. "Nerds" don't have to be skinny, covered in acne, and sport large glasses. When guys compliment women, they often don't have any underlying motives, and many are not trying to seduce a female into bed.

If you feel your male character is a cliche, ask yourself this: would anyone like him if he was hideously deformed? Would they still care about him? Would the main girl still want to date him? What if he suffered from Aspergers? Then would they? Be honest. If your female character's first thoughts toward him involved heart pounding and breathless awe, maybe tweak him a bit.

Jacob Black was hot, yes, but if he hadn't been, no one would have cared.

Don't let your characters be Jacob Black's.