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Lessons from Roald Dahl’s Charismatic Characters
Reader or not, it would be rare to find an adult that has not heard of the author, Roald Dahl. It may take a moment or two, but mention, ‘Fantastic Mr. Fox’ or ‘Willy Wonka’ and instantly recognition occurs. His stories strike a chord with adult and child alike, captivating our imaginations gene...
September 28th, 2012
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What The Hobbit characters teach us about character development
If J.R.R. Tolkien knows how to do one thing, it's create characters that readers love. Luckily, he also knows how to create wonderful worlds and engaging plot twists, too, but it's the characters who really stick with you after reading one of his books. In the first book in his history of Middl...
April 23rd, 2013
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Character posture: How to describe characters' bearing
When we think about describing a character, we often think of listing items like hair colour, eye colour and body type. Character posture is important too: How we bear ourselves tells others a lot about us. Here are tips on using posture to bring out what makes each of your fictional charac...
November 14th, 2013
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Fantasy character types: 5 popular kinds
Fantasy novels are full of varied fantasy character types. Read about 5 popular types (and ways to avoid associated overdone tropes): What is a fantasy character type? When we refer to 'types' in fiction, we refer to character molds that recur again and again. For example, Shakespeares'...
May 11th, 2015
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How to write believable characters
Knowing how to write believable characters is vital for any fiction writer. A character that seems like a stock character - the hero, the villain, the orphan, the unwilling savior - can easily become too predictable. So how do you create a great character? There are several ways to make sure tha...
July 13th, 2015
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How the future will impact your fantasy story characters
Understanding the long-term cause and effect of events in your fantasy world will help you also give readers a more complex and vivid mental picture. Your novel will be grounded in a vivid, complex history. Here are some thoughts on creating a fantasy world that conveys a strong sense of time an...
December 6th, 2015
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Describing characters: How to describe faces imaginatively
Describing characters imaginatively is an essential skill when writing fiction. It helps readers to invest in your characters' storylines and experiences if they feel real. Read on for five tips for describing characters' faces: Describing characters: 5 tips for drawing faces with w...
March 30th, 2016
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How to create a believable character: 8 tactics
Believable characters are the lifeblood of great stories. Get inspired and start creating characters readers love using these 8 tactics: How to create believable characters: Do preliminary character sketches Ask your story's cast of characters questions Give characters wants and needs (go...
October 24th, 2016
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How to describe eyes in a story: 7 simple tips
Learning how to describe eyes in a story without resorting to cliché helps set your writing apart from amateurish fiction. Describing eyes is a handy literary tool to show your character's complex emotions. Many beginning authors over-rely on eye descriptions and eye color to create an impressio...
October 20th, 2016
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Character relationships: 6 tips for crafting real connections
Writing character relationships that make sense requires thinking about how relationships work. How and why do people interact in harmonious or confrontational ways? Here are 6 tips for creating connected characters whose relationships are convincing: 1: Draw inspiration for ch...
September 15th, 2016
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How to create a villain readers won't forget: 6 tips
Learning how to create a villain - the 'bad guy' of your novel - is as important as learning how to create a memorable protagonist. Read 6 tips for writing vivid villains: Make a villain three-dimensional Give your villain's wrongdoing history Show how your villain wasn't always the ba...
October 13th, 2016
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How to write backstory but not bog down your book
Telling character backstory is sometimes necessary to show why your character has a specific motivation or mindset. Yet it's important to learn how to write backstory that will not bog your novel down in constant harking back to prior events that occurred before the present time of your nar...
November 17th, 2016
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