We are back again for another entry in the Character Under A Microscope series where we dig into the small details of character development. Today, I want to talk about character tags. These are distinguishing details about characters that make them memorable. We will first look at why character tags Read more
After years of critiquing and editing manuscripts for writers, I’ve learned there is one major piece of advice I keep having to repeat. It’s quite simply: progress the plot. Push the plot forward. Keep the plot moving. I’ve said it multiple ways, but it all means the same thing. Today, Read more
No story is complete without interpersonal conflict between characters. Every person is different, and some people just don’t get along. Usually, those people just avoid each other, but good stories are full of conflict. So what do you do if you want to write about two characters who clash? You Read more
Writers often hear about plot arcs and character arcs, but there is one arc that often gets skipped over: relationship arcs. I’m not talking about romance books that are centered on a relationship. I’m referring to all the characters your protagonist journeys alongside throughout the story. Today, we are going Read more
I recently came across this idea of vagueness and ambiguity in stories through September C. Fawkes, and I was so impressed by it that I searched for more information on the topic. To my surprise, there was none. It’s not a topic most writers are discussing. So, I’m adding this Read more
When writing a story, the protagonist has to have a goal. There needs to be something specific the character is working towards so he has a sense of agency. What you often don’t hear, though, is that your protagonist needs more than one goal. Today, we’re going to look at Read more
Has anyone ever told you that your story is falling flat and you need to raise the stakes? What they mean is you need more escalation in your plot, but not in the way most would think. Last week we discussed how to put stakes into your novel, and this Read more
A story is a character trying to overcome obstacles to achieve a goal, but the reader won’t care unless there are significant stakes involved. Something has to be at risk in order for the story to have an impact. It was really hard to find concrete information on what stakes Read more
Today is another entry in the Character Under A Microscope series where I dig deeper into character development to help you make your characters realistic. This time we will examine why your characters talk. Seems simple, right? They talk to communicate with others. While communication is the overarching goal of Read more
I’ve done an overview of character interiority, and last week we talked about interiority and its subconscious aspects you can use to ground your readers in your character’s viewpoint. Today, I want to move on to the conscious side of character interiority. This is the part that shows how characters Read more