If you’ve done a lot of character questionnaires before, you probably know where your main character was born, the names and ages of their siblings, their favorite food, their favorite color…those things you timidly ask your new pen-pal in the first letter. But here’s the thing: there’s absolutely no reason to be shy with your… Continue reading 20 Prying Questions for Your Characters
Category: Creating Characters
Don’t Do The Mentor
To start my off the series on clichés, I’m going to expose one of my favorite hackneyed characters: the mentor. Mentors serve important roles in fiction. They play to part of an example, somebody who’s been there. The main character needs guidance. They want things explained to them. They want to ask questions of… Continue reading Don’t Do The Mentor
On Children and Families
Here’s something to know: if you can’t write about children, don’t. Children are extremely complex creatures. Though everyone has been one, some have them, some work with them, and others are barely not them, they’re still some of the most difficult people to portray realistically. I see it all the time, even in ‘real’… Continue reading On Children and Families
Creating a character to drive the plot
One of my favorite parts of writing novels is making up the people who will populate it. I don’t understand those authors who seem to use the same basic types for every novel they write. I will admit that there are people that just end up turning up in different roles with slightly different… Continue reading Creating a character to drive the plot