Here’s the scenario. You find yourself in a situation where you have to do a book in a hurry. Could be you got a letter back from an editor or agent telling you that, while they can’t use the book you submitted, they would like to see your next project. Could be you took on
Writing a novel may be hard, but finishing it is much harder! novelling take-aways & suggestions 1. Make sure you LOVE your idea. Especially if you’re writing a series. The germ for a series needs to be strong enough to set you alight with excitement; it needs to be something that you feel like you…
Wondering how to get past writers block? Here are some tips on how to get your writing started...
Tips How to Write Villains that Play Mind Games with Their Victims. Do you love to write manipulative villains? Try these writing tips to write your villains.
Hate editing your novel? Scrivener makes it fun and easy when you use Collections. Create a Collection for every element of your novel. Try them today.
There's a lot to learn from JK Rowling's writing philosophy—and a lot to leave behind. Try these 9 principles in your writing, and let go of anything that doesn't help you.
Cameo characters are minor characters who only have a very small part to play in your story, usually to facilitate the plot or demonstrate some aspect of another, more major, character’s personality. If you’re a dedicated novelist, you’ll usually write a great deal of detail and back story about all your major characters, including history,…
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TweetPin4EmailShare When writing about facial expressions, most writers are content to keep it simple. Why put more effort into describing a character’s expression when “he frowned angrily” gets the point... Read more »
“공수교대 작가님의 <스팬서> 표지 작업 한 것이 공개되어 올립니다:) 🎆🎇”
TweetPin2EmailShare Introducing a new character to your story can be difficult. There’s a lot that goes into it, and to make matters worse, you only have one chance to give... Read more »
Demonstrates how to implement the all-important protagonist transformation by using examples from the recent superhero blockbuster Thor.
It’s important for your protagonist to have some form of growth through your story—especially internal growth. Internal growth will help you create a well-rounded character, which is one step in the right direction of crafting a character that lifts off the pages. I’ve compiled a list of questions
How to Write Great Dialogue in 5 Steps: Dialogues are the soul of the character. If you can get it right, you can make any book sounds great.
There are many villains that have made history as some of the most dastardly dudes imaginable. So what can writers learn from these villains? Today I’m breaking down numbers 10-8 on my list o…
TweetPin1EmailShare Once you have a really great backstory for your character, you’ll probably feel like drawing a lot of attention to it from the get-go. After all, you worked so... Read more »
How to Write The Perfect Psychopath. Psychopaths feel nothing, this makes them able to carry out heinous acts without any bit of feeling of remorse.
There are many things that I could stand to improve in as a writer‒say, everything‒but I have been told that one of the things that I have halfway down is creating characters. Since I started sharing my writing a year or two ago, I have heard time and time again that my characters are alive, so I sat down today, thought about my character process, and put together my strategy. Getting to know your characters is a lot like getting to know real people. You must spend time with them‒or in the case of characters, think on them. You must consider how all of their traits feed into other ones, and how they affect them. It’s easier said than done, but I do believe that with some practice, it can be as natural as getting ideas, and far simpler than English grammar. So here is the list that I compiled of things to consider‒in order of what I believe to be more important to less important. Flaws Quirks Interests Preferences Kind of vague, isn’t it? Here’s the more in-depth version with one of my characters being used as an example. Flaws‒Aaand this is the one that makes people people. It’s also the one that writers seem to enjoy to leave out, and I think I know why. This is why: Flaws make people less-desirable, (while some won’t admit that they think that, it’s the underlying reason for all of the picture-perfect characters in books), and people are afraid of people not liking their characters. But with that said, people are not interesting without flaws. Character‒These are the more plot-affecting flaws, usually. They’re the problems such as “not knowing when to shut up”, “finding other’s misfortunes hilarious”, or even “a tendency to lie about everything”. The latter is one of the character flaws of my character, Riley. Psychological‒These are the flaws that give the characters more depth of mind, in my opinion. Personality disorders and disabilities are good additions to any character, even though they in themselves are not good things. For example, Riley is a borderline sociopath. That makes her very complex, as well as creating a great deal of tension between her and the other characters, Physical‒I don’t find this one to be the most important, but it adds some depth as well. Imperfect people are much easier to sympathize with than the golden people we read about who have perfectly symmetrical faces and flawless physique. I don’t really enjoy reading about those people, unless there is a good reason for it. (i.e., the character is a model or the result of a genetic experiment. In which case, perfection is almost acceptable. ;) ) Riley is short‒not quite 5 feet tall‒and weighs more than would be acceptable according to most modeling agencies guidelines. Which doesn’t quite fit the cookie-cutter character list, if ya get me. Quirks‒My personal favorite. As a person who is quite quirky, as well as loving adversity, this has always been the category that I don’t run out of ideas for. So now are your characters not only imperfect, they are also unusual. It’s starting to sound like a nightmare for every Mary-Jane in the world! (It’s starting to sound real. *gasp*) Speech‒I personally love different voices. Accents, improper uses of long words, improper grammar‒they make speech a fun thing to listen to. Not lawful, (grammarly speaking,) but fun. (What fun is obeying every rule? Not much.) Riley’s manner of speech and her isms are subtle, but “there” enough that she doesn’t sound like the others. For example, when someone asks her a question, the order in which she replies is unusual. Like this: “Are you okay?” “I’m okay, yeah. It’s been a weird week, but I’m okay. Man, I’d like a break.” And that’s the way she talks. She never says yes, just “yeah”, and she directly refers to people as “man”, even if they’re not. Mannerisms‒These are not my strong suit, but I know that they’re important. Things like wringing your hands when you’re nervous, clearing your throat when you have nothing to say, and pursing your lips are all different mannerisms‒and all people have them. That should make it obvious that all characters should have them, too. Riley smirks a lot‒very generic, I know. Don’t judge my lack of creativity, hehe‒and when she cries she does so without making any noise. (I really need to work on giving my characters mannerisms.) Fears‒(This one probably could have been placed with the “Flaws”, but I thought it more of a quirk, since it isn’t exactly something that is wrong with people.) Fears are the darkest parts of people’s subconscious. They influence the character’s behavior, the other characters’ behavior, and the plot of the story. They’re very important, in other words. In my recently finished manuscript, Riley has a horrible fear of water, caused by an accident in her teenage years, which entangles itself throughout the entire story and gives her character some flavor. (She seems completely collected and arrogant, but water turns her into a frightened child.) Interests‒These are fun, but a bit harder to think of. I mean, it’s pretty simple to give non-cliché interests to characters. But at the same time, it’s a lot of fun to give them things to do aside from carrying the plot on their shoulders‒and it’s even more fun to think about. (I daydream a lot.) Hobbies‒Ah, yes. The silver lining of the cloud of the subject. Give them a love of art, of sports, of literature‒is there anything more fun than designing lives? My only advice: to go crazy. Don’t rationalize the hobby thing. That’s the fun of it. (Riley loves to prank people, play video games, and be dramatic. She would have more hobbies, but her life hasn’t been very supportive of normal pastimes.) Dreams‒Some characters have more dreams than others. Not all characters have to have many dreams. After all, not all people dream about a better future, learning how to fly an airplane, or solving world hunger. Some people are just more grounded in the present, are more rational, and for that reason don’t dream. But for your more fanciful characters, dreams are the icing on the cake. The hopes, dreams, desires, and etc. are the things that drive the plot forward. Riley, however, unlike her fellow characters, doesn’t really dream at all. She knows what’s up and doesn’t really think about the future. (It’s a dangerous habit to get into. Just ask her.) Preferences‒The less important category of individual qualities, preferences are the finishing details of the character. But details are fun. Don’t let their lesser importance stop you from making them unique. =) Style‒This encompasses two different things‒clothes and other appearance factors. What is your character’s style like? How do they wear their hair? If relevant, do they wear makeup? What kind of clothes do they wear? Do they dress eccentrically? These are all fun things to consider. Riley doesn’t wear makeup or do her hair, and she dresses very casually. These things make her much more real, personality-wise. Her personality and her style match perfectly, which is the way it’s supposed to be. Dislikes‒Haha… how fun. Give them something to hate. Find a food, an animal, or basically anything that they can’t stand, and let them do the rest. Whining makes it authentic, if the character is prone to that sort of shenanigans. Riley doesn’t like nosy people or following rules. Does that help you? I hope so‒that was my intention with sharing the list, anyway. Tell me what you think! And I’ll see you all again next week, with another post. (Don’t know what about yet, though.) ~Alyssa
TweetPin2EmailShare Introducing a new character to your story can be difficult. There’s a lot that goes into it, and to make matters worse, you only have one chance to give... Read more »
TweetPin5EmailShare Annoying children are unfortunately overly prevalent in literature and media. It’s not that writers deliberately create these characters to be annoying, but they end up that way when they... Read more »
Writers often enjoy crafting their characters' appearances, yet just how important is appearance in the grand scheme of your story? Well, that depends. In some instances, appearance plays a large role, informing a character's struggle, defining important cultural context, lending
TweetPin2EmailShare When it comes to writing a story, there’s no denying that the characters play a large part in the process. The plot is the story, but without good characters,... Read more »
Learning how to create tension in writing is important whatever your genre. Read more on writing a page-turning novel.
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.
When studying the English language, you may have come across the concept of non sequitur, you may also have wondered what this is. In this article, we are
TweetPin1EmailShare Once you have a really great backstory for your character, you’ll probably feel like drawing a lot of attention to it from the get-go. After all, you worked so... Read more »
