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Character writing: Complete guide to creating your cast
Character terms Types of character Character ideas Character development Characters and conflict Describing characters Narration and POV Character questions This character writing guide is a one-stop resource for creating types of characters in fiction. Learn key c...
September 19th, 2022
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Creating dynamic characters and static types: 7 ideas
Dynamic characters change while static characters tend to stay the same. Learn more about these character types, with examples: Dynamic characters vs static characters: Definitions What is a dynamic character? A dynamic or round character in fiction has an arc involving significant growt...
October 10th, 2022
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100 character development questions to inspire deeper arcs
Good character development questions and simple questionnaires help to prompt decisions about who your characters are (or where they're off to next). Develop deeper arcs with these 100 prompts organized by category and focus: Build characters' arcs by asking Goal, motivation and conflict ...
February 6th, 2023
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Beyond stereotypes: portraying realistic LGBTIQ+ characters
Getting beyond the stereotypes and writing credible, relatable LGBTIQ+ characters is possible. You might want to do some research, if you don't identify as queer, and you will want to avoid the tropes mentioned below. The first kiss Back in 1991, the popular TV legal drama, LA Law was in ...
October 15th, 2023
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Direct vs indirect characterization: How to show and tell
Characterization describes the way a writer or actor creates or implies a character's personality, their inner life and psyche. Two main ways to reveal your characters are direct characterization and indirect characterization. What are these character creation techniques? Read on for examples of...
November 19th, 2023
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The art of writing flat characters
While the main aim in telling a story might be to include round, complex characters in your story, it’s also equally important to include flat characters. In fact, some novels even contain a main flat character. An example of this is Agatha Christie’s Hercules Poirot’s detective mysteries. Poiro...
March 25th, 2024
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Exploring the depths of villainy
The evil eye peering through the keyhole, the man with a dagger raised, the sneer of a woman’s scarlet-painted lips. Cue the sinister music: we’re talking about villains, antagonists and anti-heroes. These nefarious characters, with their dark intentions and sinister deeds, play an indis...
April 22nd, 2024
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How to use Jung's 12 archetypes to shape characters
We are all familiar with character archetypes: the smiling joking jester, the villain with a leer on his face, or the wise man or woman with flowing white hair. There’s a reason we are familiar with them, as they are used over and over in the stories we watch, read and consume in various ...
April 29th, 2024
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Writing in the voice of a child
A friend recently told me of her difficulty in writing her memoir from a child’s point of view. She’s finding it really difficult to do so. That’s understandable in a memoir, I feel, as you are looking back with an adult’s eyes but trying to process the world through a child’s. But it’s not impo...
June 24th, 2024
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Writing well-developed female characters
Does your story containing female characters pass the Bechdel test? Never heard of it? Simply put the Bechdel test is a way of evaluating whether or not a film or any other work of fiction portrays women in a way that is sexist or characterized by gender stereotyping. To...
August 26th, 2024
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