As Nancy Kress says, "Characters have to be called something. And since they do, you may as well . . . make your names contribute to world building, characterization, and plot development." To that end, here's what the craft masters have to say about choosing character names. Is this post on names really necessary? Dwight … Continue reading A Particular Character Detail: Choosing Names
Character Details: How to Choose
Whether you know everything about your characters before you start writing or nothing about them, you can't include every single detail in your manuscript. (Well, you can, but you probably shouldn't.) As Nancy Kress says, you'll want to "choose artfully." You'll want to home in on the particular details your readers are looking for. Which details … Continue reading Character Details: How to Choose
Characterization: What is it?
We've been looking at character: introducing the character, forging the reader-character bond, creating contradictions . . . All good stuff. But let's back up a bit. There's a word that gets thrown around a lot about character, and, I'll admit, sometimes I feel like maybe I don't actually know what it means. The word is … Continue reading Characterization: What is it?
Character Introductions: How the Masters Do It
In the last post, we listed seven techniques to use when introducing characters. Most of the masters use a combination of techniques. Here's how. Method 1: Out-of-Viewpoint DescriptionIn this method, the narrator (not a view-point character) tells us about the characters. JKR uses this method to introduce the Dursleys at the beginning of the first … Continue reading Character Introductions: How the Masters Do It
Neigh is for Horses, Not Writers
I read a lot of craft books for this site. Quite often, within the first few pages, the writing guru lays out for me and all other aspiring authors that the odds are against us, that artistry in writing can't be taught, and that we'll probably never succeed . . . so try at your … Continue reading Neigh is for Horses, Not Writers
Character Introductions: Characterizing from the get-go
A character's first appearance in a story is a big opportunity to characterize. Here are several ways to fulfill its potential. Bring characters on in character If you take home nothing else from this post, at least take this: bring characters on in character. "To introduce any given character effectively, you must first of all … Continue reading Character Introductions: Characterizing from the get-go
Character Tags: In our own work
If you've got lots of characters in your story or just have characters who leave the page for a while--or, you know, just have characters--it's nice to remind readers who these people are. Enter character tags. A couple of weeks ago, we identified six or so ways to tag characters, and last week we learned … Continue reading Character Tags: In our own work
Introducing the WritesWithTools.com Newsletter and a FREE, 19-page Character Development Workbook
Hello, People! We started a newsletter. It's a monthly-to-quarterly-ish newsletter, a way to check in with you, give you updates, and send you free worksheets and whatnot. If you're already a Tool updates subscriber through the Feedburner link (over there on the right) or by email through WordPress, then we've already added you to the … Continue reading Introducing the WritesWithTools.com Newsletter and a FREE, 19-page Character Development Workbook
Character Tags: How the Masters Use Them
We're looking at character tags. Here's how some of the master story tellers help us remember who their characters are. Jim Butcher's Dresden seriesHarry Dresden is a practicing wizard who hires out as a detective. Jim Butcher has said that he consciously creates tags and traits for his characters to help readers identify them. In Butcher's … Continue reading Character Tags: How the Masters Use Them
Character Tags: What are they?
Tags, markers, labels, traits. The craft masters have a lot of words for the details that help readers identify and distinguish the characters in a story. Here are 6 character aspects that you can mine for tags and 5 ways to put those tags to work. What are character tags? Jim Butcher says "TAGS are words you hang … Continue reading Character Tags: What are they?
Writes With Tools 