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. Continue reading
Filed under Character, Literary Devices, Monday Tool Day
Forging the Reader-Character Bond. It’s easier than you might think, and the results are well worth the effort. Especially if you can dig deep and come up with ways to demonstrate sympathy, jeopardy, etc. that are tailor-made for your specific character, in his specific story world. Continue reading
Filed under Character, Own Work Friday
This week, we’re learning how to forge the reader-character bond. Here’s how the masters do it: Continue reading
Filed under Character, Literary Devices, Story Master Wednesday
As Steven James says, “If readers don’t care about your protagonist, they won’t care about your story.”
This readers caring about your protagonist business is known as the reader-character bond, character likability, and character identification. If you want your readers to care about your story enough to finish it, then you’ve got to know how to forge this bond. Here are 9 ways to do so. Continue reading
Filed under Character, Literary Devices, Monday Tool Day
It’s Three-Dimensional Characters week. Let’s see if we can flesh out our characters with backstory and description, internal depth, defining choices and actions, and a future to anticipate or dread. Continue reading
Filed under Character, Own Work Friday
Stephen King. All I can say is, no matter which of the three methods for creating three-dimensional characters you prefer, Stephen King is ALL ABOUT the three dimensions of character. Especially in The Shining. Continue reading
Filed under Character, Story Master Wednesday
We know them when we see them. We all want to create them. But what exactly distinguishes a three-dimensional character from that other kind? What exactly does “three-dimensional” mean and how do we render it on a two-dimensional page? Continue reading
Filed under Character, Monday Tool Day
So, we’re looking at the inner journey this week. Let’s see what kind of an inner journey we can create for the one-liners we’re working on. Here we go… Continue reading
Filed under Character, Own Work Friday, Plot
We’re looking at the Inner Journey this week. Here’s the inner journey (to my eyes and ears anyway) of the main character, Ian Paine, in Lisa Unger’s Crazy Love You (336 pages).
Spoiler Alert. And Long Post Alert. Continue reading
Filed under Character, Plot, Story Master Wednesday
We’re looking at the Inner Journey this week (Part 1 here), and today we’re looking at the structure of the character arc over the course of a story. Continue reading
Filed under Character, Monday Tool Day, Plot
