Hi, my name is Jeremy. For about 4 years, my wife and I have been going on a journey to figure out how to get paid to write, work from home, and ultimately

Discover the power of the Everyman archetype in storytelling: Learn how this character embodies the "average Joe" while seeking to do what's right.

The first tip for writing realistic fiction is to write your story with a first-person narrative. Writing in the first-person narrative creates an immediate connection between the reader and the character.

I asked my Instagram followers,“What are some signs of amateurish writing, in your opinion?” Here are the results!

A woman starts ignoring her husband's parents when they won't stop calling her Florence despite her full legal name being Flora.

How to write a book in 30 days? Is it really impossible? A feat on par with slaying a dragon? Maybe so, but writers engage in this adventure every single year

The writing process can seem daunting if you're just finding out how to start writing a novel. Here are some tips and resources from my own writing process.

Common writing errors include SPAG, tense, POV and narration trouble, issues with argument, dialogue and more. Read tips to fix easy mistakes.

If you’re an avid reader like we are, odds are you have spent a moment or two dreaming of writing a book of your own. Together, let’s build a community where we can help one another ach…

The present world is stepping towards an information era and everything is getting digitized so rapidly. When considering writing, books and notes are printed in digital format as PDFs and the prac…

Carmen Varner is a San Diego-based blogger who writes about food, drinks, travel, and lifestyle.

Ah yes, torturing readers, your favourite hobby!

How DO you write a character smarter than you? Moreover, smarter than all the other characters around them? It's not as hard as you may think.

Engaging activities and ideas for teaching students to add dialogue

If you’re an avid reader like we are, odds are you have spent a moment or two dreaming of writing a book of your own. Together, let’s build a community where we can help one another ach…

10 Toxic Bad Habits for Fictional Characters. Use these bad habits to write fictional characters that are larger than life, and that readers can relate to.

If you want to know how to write a book with no experience, this post shows you exactly how to get started writing. Yes, even without a degree.

Because mistakes are the portals of discovery.

Let's create characters, and weave plots, and imagine new worlds. Let's pull words from our pens and pour our hearts into the page. Let's tell our stories. Let's write some novels.

Some people don't take breakups lightly. These people are a great example of that. Breaking up with someone after you have loved them so deeply and without any division can be very hurtful and break you into pieces for a very long time, hence the name 'Breakup'. Some people take breakups to heart and drown

The Third and Final Act of your novel is where everything you've been writing about will finally come to an end. But... how do we write it?

My college major was among the most rigorous on the planet. Based on the Oxford Philosophy, Politics, and Economics course, we had one 5-7 page paper due every Friday of our sophomore year. Other st...

Elizabeth Gilbert has created an easy note-taking system for writing a novel that helps her avoid writer’s block and keep her research and ideas organized.

Is this about a generation gap or some people are just plain rude? What have we come to? You'd think people would be more sensitive towards other humans. Whether it's a different cast, religion, race, or if someone has a different sexual preference. The world of social media has made us so much more modern

We help you secure legal rights and profits from sales: ISBN number ownership, managing upload accounts + more. Paper Raven Books: Where writers become published authors.

On Wednesdays, I share posts, fables, songs, poems, quotations, TEDx Talks, cartoons, and books that have inspired and motivated me on my writing journey. I hope these posts will give writers, arti…

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

If you’re looking for more literary laughs, please explore: Writing Humour and Reading Humour

Every girl dreams of finding the right man in her life and settling down with him at some point and starting a family. She craves the goodness of life, her man's love and all his attention. Well, all those beautiful dreams and fantasies go down the drain when she finds out her date is nothing

How to Write your Character Hitting Rock Bottom. When creating problems for our beloved characters we sometimes are afraid to put them through hard times.