All strong narratives need well-developed and interesting characters.
Explore the captivating world of fantasy book reviews, writing tips, and Bookstagram advice on our blog. Join L.T. Ellis on a journey through enchanted realms, where imagination knows no bounds. Discover hidden gems, sharpen your writing skills, and create stunning bookish content with L.T. Ellis Blog Posts.
Character development gives your characters depth and takes readers on an engaging journey. Learn more about character arcs.
All strong narratives need well-developed and interesting characters.
Writers Write is your one-stop writing resource. These lists will help you select the character traits you need for the characters in your books.
For readers to care what happens next in your story, they must first care about your characters. It’s your job as a writer to foster this reader-character connection, to build the bridge that encourages readers to invest in your characters’ stories. Establishing your characters’ motivations isn’t th
In stories and books, the names of characters are super important. They help make the story interesting and connect the readers with the main characters. A character's name can tell you about their identity, where they come from, and even give hints about their personality.
Wondering how to 'raise the stakes' for the characters in your story or script? Let's take a look at why stakes are important and how to write them!
In stories and books, the names of characters are super important. They help make the story interesting and connect the readers with the main characters. A character's name can tell you about their identity, where they come from, and even give hints about their personality.
Today is the third in an 8-post series on preparing your novel for Nanowrimo. In today's post, we focus on character development for your NaNoWriMo prep.
Character archetypes share core truths about people's personalities, goals, fears and weaknesses. Learn how to use them well in your own fiction.
Writers Write is your one-stop writing resource. These lists will help you select the character traits you need for the characters in your books.
In stories and books, the names of characters are super important. They help make the story interesting and connect the readers with the main characters. A character's name can tell you about their identity, where they come from, and even give hints about their personality.
When we create fictional characters, we want them to be realistic. Use this resource to explore 123 ideas for character flaws.
Characters are hard to create. So consider this book a giant cheat sheet of all your writing needs. This book not only helps writers create their characters, but is a menagerie of descriptions for your stories: Smells. Sounds Instead of Said Describing Clothing Collective Nouns Adverbs Edible Plants Different Colours of basic colours & Lots more. This book also does requests if your stuck on something in your story. Cover Art by Charlie Bowater.
Looking for a list of personality traits? Here's a list of 145 personality traits and qualities with examples.
Character development gives your characters depth and takes readers on an engaging journey. Learn more about character arcs.
TweetPin2EmailShare When you’ve put a lot of time and care into crafting the perfect character for your story, it can be difficult to give them any trait that could be... Read more »
In stories and books, the names of characters are super important. They help make the story interesting and connect the readers with the main characters. A character's name can tell you about their identity, where they come from, and even give hints about their personality.
In stories and books, the names of characters are super important. They help make the story interesting and connect the readers with the main characters. A character's name can tell you about their identity, where they come from, and even give hints about their personality.
Seven toxic seniors were leeching off of their classmates' hard work during group projects to maintain their grades, and the other kids were too nervous and scared to do something about it. So their teacher took action.
When writer’s block is getting you down, this simple game is perfect for sparking new ideas.
This redditor made sure his daughter knew how to take proper care of herself. However, to his surprise, his MIL was lacking knowledge about personal hygiene, which led to a huge fight.
Idk… I just wanna know some weird things about your virtual kids…. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Send a number and the name(s) of the OC(s) you want answers for. *It helps if you put the names of the OCs you’re willing...
Stephanie Morrill is the creator of GoTeenWriters.com and the author of several young adult novels, including the historical mystery, The Lost Girl of Astor Street, which releases in February 2017. Despite loving cloche hats and drop-waist dresses, Stephanie would have been a terrible flapper because she can’t do the Charleston and looks awful with bobbed hair. She and her near-constant ponytail live in Kansas City with her husband and three kids. You can connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and sign up for monthly updates on her authorwebsite. This is the first year I've participated in NaNoWriMo. In previous years, I've observed some of the pre-November writing buzz, but this is the first time I'm part of it. The vibe reminds me of the moments before a race, when the runners are in the chute. The music is pumping, and there's a feeling of camaraderie and excitement. During November, Go Teen Writers is hosting nightly check-ins. Whether you're officially doing NaNo, or just wanting a bit of extra community during the month, every night there will be a fresh, "How'd the day go?" kind of post. This will be a place designed for you to share how much you wrote (or didn't write!), encourage each other, and build relationships with other writers. Last week in the Go Teen Writers Community group, Bethany Baldwin asked about character goals and was looking for good blog posts on the topic. We've talked about character goals a lot on Go Teen Writers, so I came here to grab a link to a post to send her ... and found nothing. While we've covered the topic, it's always been entwined with crafting a strong plot or a likable character. So here is a list of seven questions you can ask to create compelling character goals: 1. What is your main character's primary external goal? Another way of phrasing this is, "What is the number one thing your character wants?" In Cars, Lightning McQueen wants to win the Piston Cup. In Tangled, Rapunzel wants to see the floating lights. As you can see in both of these examples, I'm talking about a goal that your characters KNOWS they have, that they TAKE ACTION on during the course of the story, and that DRIVES THE MAIN PLOT. 2. Why does he or she want this? This is where the fun starts. Sometimes your character knows exactly why they want something. Lightning McQueen wants to win the Piston Cup because he wants the glory. Rapunzel wants to see the floating lights because she has a gut feeling that they mean something unique to her. But there is also often a piece of this that the character doesn't know, or that they can't yet articulate or admit to themselves. Lightning McQueen would never admit that he struggles to feel good enough, and that he thinks winning the race will give him the sense of acceptance that he craves. Rapunzel, on the other hand, knows that she's craving adventure. Yes, she thinks seeing the lights will be special, but also she's just desperate to get out of that tower and go do something. When we have big life goals, we tend to have multiple reasons for wanting them, right? Some are good, likable reasons. Others are more self-serving or less socially acceptable. Teasing out these complexities will help you figure out how to push your character's buttons. 3. How does your character try to achieve their goal, and what stands in their way? Wouldn't it be strange if Lightning McQueen's goal was to figure out who his parents are, and yet he spends the whole movie trying to get to California for his big race? That would make no sense, right? Figuring out your character's goal is almost always equal to figuring out the plot of your book. Once you know what your character wants, then you can figure out what actions they can take to try to get it. Because it wouldn't be very enjoyable if Lightning's goal was to win the Piston Cup, and he spent the movie watching other cars race. Not that you can't have some things happen to fall upon your character. In Tangled, Flynn Rider shows up in Rapunzel's tower, but then she seizes upon that opportunity. Some things will be out of your character's control, but your character needs to be as active as possible. That's one reason why The Hunger Games is such a powerful story, because Katniss chooses to take her sister's place. And while the character's goal should make sense, it also needs to be big enough that they can't do it alone, and that they have to overcome obstacles. 4. How does this goal evolve over the course of the story? This is another question that will help you solidify the plot of your story. When Tangled starts, Rapunzel wants to see the floating lights. As the story goes on, Rapunzel wants to see the floating lights and she doesn't want to lose her newfound freedom. It would feel false to the viewer if Rapunzel was content to see the lights and then return to her tower forever. Or another way to think about this is that as your character moves closer to meeting their goal, there should be times when they see that the goal is just a piece of who they want to be. It isn't "everything," the way they once thought it was. 5. What are several other external goals they have during the story? As your character works to achieve their goal, it's natural for other goals to crop up. Often this arises in the romance thread of the story. Rapunzel wants to see the floating lights and become free, but she also wants to be with Flynn. In Cars, Lightning McQueen wants to get out of Radiator Springs so he can get to California to win his race, but he also comes to care about the town, and he adopts Sally's dream of it becoming great again. Giving your character multiple dreams is a great plotting technique, because it means you can put them in situations where they have to prioritize one over the other. This is how you set them up to make personal and meaningful sacrifices. Even with how many times I've watched Cars, I tear up every time Lightning McQueen hits his brakes moments before crossing the finish line. 6. What is your main character's internal goal? This is a goal that is often hidden from the main character, but it's clear to the reader. Lightning McQueen longs to be accepted for who he is, not what he can do. That's what he finds in Radiator Springs. He doesn't know he needs that until he finds it, but the audience has known since we saw him have that phone call with his agent. Another way you can think about this is that the external goal is what the character wants, but the internal goal is what they need. It's the heart of the story. 7. What do the other characters want? The other characters in the story should have goals too. That's where a lot of organic conflict will come from. Lightning and Chick both want to be the next racing hot shot, so it's obvious how their goals conflict. But let's consider Sally for a moment. Sally's goal is for the town to return to it's heyday. Lightning's goal—to win the Piston Cup—and Sally's goal don't conflict with each other until Lightning ruins the road, and Sally is bent on him paying for what he did. See how that works? I talk about this in the Story Workbook Tutorial (which you can get for free when you sign up for Go Teen Writers Notes) but something I brainstorm is the main goal for each of my prominent characters. I love how seeing their goals laid out side by side gives me all kinds of ideas for conflict, not just with my villain, but also the rest of the cast. I want to hear what goals your character has! In the story I'm in the midst of brainstorming for NaNoWriMo, my main character's goal is to make money to support her family. Her internal goal (the one she doesn't realize she needs) is to be free.
Since I started this blog, I've been trying to figure out something that I could do that hasn't been done a thousand times before. All the...
Whatever type of fiction you are working on, you need strong characters. A writer needs to arm themselves with a character development sheet.
To recreate deep and nuanced humanity on the pages of your story, you must seek to create excellent subtext in your characterizations. Here's how.
Every one of us has a fundamental flaw, an immaturity of character, a dark side or negative tendency. This character flaw, also known as a ‘Chief Feature’, tends to take control whenever we feel stressed, anxious or uncertain. To the extent that you can identify and handle yours, you are doing well in your personal growth. ... Read more
She came to you in a dream, at the dinner table, in the shower. What did she tell you? Did she speak at all? Did her looks explain everything? The majority of writers understand they cannot completely control their characters. Why? When you create them they become their own person. The writer is just there to report the journey through the conflicts they made. (If you need help with conflicts, start here: Conflict and Character.) I've read from several reference books on how I go about creating characters. It's not so much that they help me come up with one, they help me dimensionalize (oh yes, new word) them into helping me create plot. Once you understand your characters it's easier to make the plot-plot-plotting as you type-type-type your pages. Your characters are the ones that move plot as they deal with the conflicts you've put in their way. Does that make sense? Comment if it does or doesn't. To figure out your character the best way is something we all know and love, but somehow we get the descriptors prioritized differently, perhaps wrongly. What do I mean: the color of your character's hair does not matter when it comes to the reader (unless it's purple, or it's an indicator into something else in the story, or both). The reader cares about caring: the heart, the mind, the soul. Create your character from the inside-out, and let the outside reflect inside. Designing Your Character Establish Goals and Motivations Prioritize Traits Believe The Lie Cue their "Aha" Moment Flesh Out the Face (and body...and hair) Here is my character template sheet I customized on Scrivener. If you don't have this application, I wish I could throw it into your computer right now, so you could get to work on it right away. But I can only send you this handy link from Literature & Latte. (It's a free trial; please take advantage! I adore Scrivener. It makes outlining and note-keeping so much easier. I'm an index-card kinda gal and this app really works for me. ) BRIE'S BODACIOUS CHARACTER TEMPLATE: Look at all that craziness. Okay. It's not totally crazy. Actually makes some sense. Are you ready for the explanations? Here we go: Establish Goals and Motivations This is foremost because this is your plot-driver. Your character is nothing without desire, and your book is plotless if the character isn't wanting enough to be motivated. Establish a concrete goal and figure out why they are motivated to achieve it. A motivation might be an over-protective family and the goal might be freedom to be their own person. I have a character who comes from an abusive household. She wants to be independent and do her own thing but her family restricts her. The motivation might also be the conflict. It depends and that's another subject. Focus! Prioritize Traits You don't want an info-dump to make the reader groan and toss your book aside (or over the fence...cough). Put your character in pieces throughout your story. What trait do you want to show first? Choose wisely. The first trait is the one that'll stick to them the entire book. Like a first impression. This trait will be in their first scene. Are they a womanizer? Lazy? Hot-headed? Family-oriented? You choose. And then choose another. Remember Shrek? Your characters are onions. Make them sweet, sharp, or purple (purple poppin' everywhere today!), but peel the layers one by one, and give your reader a taste. Just a taste. Believe The Lie The Lie is their belief. What do they strongly believe in? What are they convinced about that is their truth? Possible Lies: all women are manipulative See-You-Next-Tuesdays You can only rely on yourself money brings happiness people are too stupid to live independently killing murderers is not murder, it's justice K.M. Weiland wrote an excellent post on Believing the Lie and it's where I got all the questions for it: The Lie Your Character Believes Cue their "Aha" Moment Characters will grow. They will change. Their belief system may be shattered. An "aha" is the moment of realization. Their Lie will be put in the spotlight and crushed before the character's eyes. Truth rises from The Lie's remains and the character sees everything, from their first scene up to the "Aha" moment. What has changed? Why? How? If your character has no "aha" moment, there is no growth, and the reader will be left empty, and your book flying over their fence. Flesh Out the Face (and body...and hair) I said the outside should reflect the inside. Now is the time to look at their personality through their goals and motivators, their traits, and beliefs, and consider their physical appearance. A lot of factors come into play here: their location, origin, discipline, vocation, positive or negative traits, finances, etc.. You're not going to have a soldier with long hair and a beard (unless they're special ops) but maybe they have a tattoo that indicates something more. Or a woman who is very uptight and doesn't have a single wrinkle in her wardrobe. Maybe you have a rebel teen who can't afford a professional haircut, so they cut and dye their own hair against their parent's wishes. Physical descriptions are lesser priority than what will help move your story. There are a couple exceptions that I use, but they don't overrule the goals and motivations which push the characters through conflict. Ultimately, it's up to you. I have given you my template in hopes of inspiring you to build your characters with depth. My character sheet is from months of adding and subtracting what I need to make it work for me. As you can see, I have "Food" and "Song" as a helper. I'm a former chef who worked in the Navy for eight years. The culinary world is a part of me and I know how it feeds into people's lives (you see what I did there?). Favorite food might not be priority, but it gives me perspective on my character. Kinda like going out on a date with them outside the book and just seeing them as a person. That's this blog, by the way: Dating Your Characters. Their food doesn't even have to show up in the book; it's just something to help dimensionalize them. Just like the Song, which is my interpretation of their theme. When I need some motivation to write and need to get into a character's head, I have a playlist. But their theme song generalizes that playlist. For instance, my boy Caelum's song is "King Me" by Lamb of God. I listen to it if I need to and feel the anger, the frustration, the driving factor of him. That's why it's in the template. Add Song to your template, if it helps you. What would you add to your template? Would you take away anything? Please comment below and tell me if this helped or didn't help. I'd love to hear from you. I'm also on Facebook if you wanna stalk me there. Say Hi! Hi!
Your main character is the platform for the message of your story. They ultimately embody the realities we one and all can understand. So how is it that some authors are able to create such unforg…
Colorful poster for use in classroom. Guides you on how to build your very own character by giving a name, distinguishing features, facial expressions, body language, and emotions. All of this will make your character more believable and real-sounding. This poster makes a great tool for creating characters for stories and personal narratives. A hard copy 17" x 22" version of this poster can be found on our website at: www.thewriteprescription.com Feel free to message us for information about Math, Writing, Grammar Trainings/Workshops with your students and/or teachers! The Write Prescription/Bill MacDonald
A template to use in the classroom when creating character profiles.
Creating real fictional character is one of the most important steps in writing a novel. When you write a novel, the first thing to learn is how to create fictional characters, from heroes and heroines, to baddies and villains and other minor characters. Without a compelling character you don't have a story! Whether they will be an animated object, toy or animal, a monster, alien or fantasy fabrication or real human beings, they need to be fully developed with emotions, flaws, hurts and habits or quirks. But even if a writer creates an archetype character, a fictional person from a star sign, or a hero or heroine from the enneagram types, they must end up being a character with personality. You have to give them unique traits and characteristic to make them real and not a walking cardboard. After you've started with a basic character and then added 'real flesh' to your character's bones with different personality traits and emotions, you'll need to put a lot of thought, research and time into developing a fully-fledged individual. Another way to ensure your characters are like real people is to give them habits and quirks. One of the hardest and most satisfying parts of writing is making your characters fully alive so your readers can recognise them, visualise them, believe in them and care about them. And worry about them so much that they keep turning the pages to see what happens to the character and how they cope with the plots twists thrown at them. Of course, this requires careful use of story events, flashbacks, memories and dialogue. Along with disorders, traits, past hurts and personality flaws, it's also helpful to flesh characters out with distinctive quirks and habits to make them memorable and distinctive. Don't Just Create A Character ~ Create A Memorable Fictional Person Quirks and habits serve several purposes in fiction. Inside, bestselling author of Pimp My Fiction, Paula Wynne explains a few major uses for character habits and quirks: * Bringing Characters to Life with Quirks and Habits * Identifying Characters * Defining Character * Creating Conflict * Habits and Quirk Shifts As part of the Writers' Resource Series, the A~Z of Writers's Character Quirks will give you a long list of Behaviours, Foibles, Habits, Mannerisms & Quirks in easy to find alphabetical order to help you create memorable fictional characters. | Author: Paula Wynne | Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform | Publication Date: Mar 28, 2016 | Number of Pages: 138 pages | Language: English | Binding: Paperback | ISBN-10: 1530622026 | ISBN-13: 9781530622023
Are you ready to dive into developing stellar characters? This free course explores fine details and characteristics that convey fascinating insights!
Writers Write is your one-stop writing resource. These lists will help you select the character traits you need for the characters in your books.
By Christine Frazier of Better Novel Project. By Christian Frazier of Better Novel Project.
