Characters can make or break a book, even when readers pick it because of the plot. We’ll stay with a book in almost any genre if we care about the characters. Here are some articles on how to make that happen:
Create Distinct Characters Characters with diversity and personality quirks are more interesting and less confusing for the reader.
Creating Characters That Live Ask thought-provoking questions about your character, and then write character sketches to create people that breathe and come to life.
Character Voice Writing Exercises How do you develop an authentic voice for your point of view character? Here are some creative writing exercises to help.
Character Desire Creates Well-Plotted Scenes Writers who know what their characters want can create focused, well-plotted scenes. Character needs drive powerful scenes, which lead to powerful books.
Creative Writing Exercise: Ask Why Writers who use Orson Scott Card’s method of asking “Why?” will have more imaginative, complex characters and plot than checklists can provide.
Tips on Major Character Revision Character is one of the structural components of a novel, and is best revised before the finer points of line editing. Here are common problems, solutions and examples.
Let Characters Reveal Themselves Freewrite, letting your subconscious thoughts come out in spontaneous dialogue, to discover who your characters are.
Deeper Character Motivation All characters have needs, but there are deeper motivations than the ones that drive the surface plot. Your character may not recognize them, but you need to.
Point of View Definitions and Examples The Point of View (POV) determines the narrator of a story and how much the reader knows. Writer use first, second or third person, limited or omniscient, with purpose.
Changing Point of View in Fiction Viewpoint editing can be tricky. Here are tips for making a successful change from first person point of view to third person, or vice versa, with examples.
Plot, Theme, Character, Voice Four essential elements of fiction – plot, theme, characterization and voice – are discussed by editor Arthur A. Levine.
Book Review – Building Believable Characters Marc McCutcheon’s Building Believable Characters sounds like a writer’s how-to on characterization. In reality, it’s a thesaurus for creating characters.
