Here you will find some of the things that I really like. I like writing, music, poems, and producing any idea that comes to my mind. I hope you like it!
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Latest Posts by blogmarkostuff - Page 3
Capitulo II: LOS CAMINOS DE LA VIDA Y LA NATURALEZA
Y de repente un rayo, una luz en el camino, donde se contemplan edificios de 20 o 30 pisos alrededor de las siluetas del rio, porque sin percatarse llegamos ahí, al Centro de la Ciudad, al River Walk, entre los ires y venires de estos vericuetos del camino y la vida, con gentes presenciando los escenarios lujosos de restaurantes y comercios alrededor, con los llamamientos de los valets en las riberas del rio, implorando la bienaventuranza de sus transeúntes para compartir sus manjares ya sea en sus comercios, en sus comidas, en sus hospedajes, en sus centros de diversión.
Entonces el rayo resalta, porque su electrizante luz estrella precisamente a la mitad del rio entre la flora y la fauna y la silueta de agua, sin decir que la chispa cae ahí en la canal, sino que fue en el horizonte, pero su centella queda plasmada como en una fotografía donde parece que el relámpago cayo a lo lejos en la silueta que formaba el río al final de su faja, que seria como decir que el rayo cayo en el paisaje alejado de las montañas, pero esta vez, el rayo descendió en el paisaje alejado del rio, en sus riberas. Y esa radiación de luz, se plasma por segundos también a la vez en el cielo, formando figuras entre las nubes como si fueran troncos cortados de árboles con brazos injertados formando “Z” y “V” y “U”s y ese estruendo visual brrmmmm, comparte el escenario con los arboles grandes alrededor, acompañando a los edificios en las riberas del rio, dando un toque especial a la fotografía de la ciudad..
Las Cuatro Estaciones de Vivaldi entonces empiezan a sonar, con la lluvia y su alegria en el campo citadino, digamos, y las hojas de los arboles parecen encantarse y juegan en vaivén con el agua que cae del cielo, y entonan con el viento la sinfonía de Vivaldi… titutururutututu-tututu, moviéndoseloe de un lado para otro, yendo al son de la lluvia y el viento, como si siguieran las manos de izquierda a derecha, de arriba y abajo del director de la orquesta en la sinfónica.
CAPITULO 1: LOS CAMINOS DE LA VIDA Y ELLA
Quien de vosotros no ha recorrido caminos desconocidos, alejado de sendas antiguas, y decide dejarse llevar como bola de billar, con fuerza en el primer impulso, y luego al chocar en una esquina voltear con la otra, y recorrer por rugosos caminos de calles peraltadas y anchas, para al final llegar al ultimo impulso, agotado por la inercia del primero golpe, porque las fuerzas del esférico se acabaron en la ultima danza, que le dio el taco del billar con su tiza?
Después mirar donde lleva el inexorable caminar de la vida, y escanear donde quedaron las bolas principales en el tapiz, y mirar las esféricos que arrojamos atrás en las troneras de las calles sin sentido, y observar el efecto, que un movimiento de billar provoca, con el empuje de la primera bola e identificar después, donde quedaron las bolas principales que le dan vida al juego, y lo enriquecen con su presencia.
Después el cambio de dirección en calles y callejones hacen carambola, con el segundo golpe del taco del billar, y las avenidas en un solo sentido se convierten en dobles con carriles amplios de cuatro, cinco o seis carriles, y hacen carambola en los conductores acostumbrados a un solo camino, que se estrujan y se golpean, para finalmente congratularse el jugador, porque las piedras preciosas quedan en el tapiz, relucientes y brillantes, y son las que pesan en oro, y su valor viene en sus movimientos y su gracia y vaivén, y tienen un valor apreciadisimo, que el jugador observa, por los movimientos y piruetas personales que hicieron en el camino, y como las carambolas y esferas preciadas, mandaron los bolas inservibles a las troneras del desecho.
Ahora las bolas que pesan son las que quedaron, son las que saben el valor que tienen, y las canicas inservibles quedaron en las troneras perdidas del juego, porque solo venían a hacer lucir las jugadas en la conquista de la vida, por un significado profundo, que trasciende a lo personal. Las bolas que pesan, expresan en el tapiz, cual es el juego del jugador, y no su valor propio, sino la encomienda que trae en el juego, y su triunfo expresa la maravilla de un quehacer que trasciende al jugador, y trasciende a los caminos de las calles, por cuanto los caminos que toca recorrer, son campos de entrenamiento en las jugadas que se dan al caminar, como son los movimientos de las bolas de billar, y su movimiento en el tablero para anotar.
San Antonio, Texas. 🇺🇸
Guide: Choosing a Love Interest
Lots of us have been there: you're merrily plotting or writing along, thinking you know who your character's love interest is, and suddenly there's another possibility. Maybe even a few possibilities, and now you have to choose. Here are some exercises to help you narrow it down...
1) Do a Chemistry Summary
For each potential love interest, summarize the chemistry they have with your character. What are their similarities and differences? What do they have in common? What do they like about each other? What is it about them that just... works?
2) Look at Plot-Relevant Decisions
Make a list of plot-relevant decisions your character will make throughout the story. For example, let's say your character goes to dinner at a steakhouse and bump into someone who inadvertently offers a clue to a mystery your character is trying to solve. Deciding to go to dinner--and to that particular restaurant--is a plot-relevant decision.
Now, once you have your list of plot-relevant decisions made, look at how each potential love interest might affect that decision. For example, if Love Interest #3 happens to be vegan and that's an important part of his character, how does that impact your character's choice to go to a steakhouse on that fateful night? If you were planning to have them at the steakhouse because they're on a first date with the love interest, Love Interest #3 being vegan would certainly impact that choice. And not to say it doesn't work... steakhouses serve salads and vegetables after all... but it's still something worth considering.
3) Consider Your Character's Internal Journey
If you're writing a story that is partly or fully character-driven, you know that your character's internal conflict and character arc are an important part of your story. Since your character must go on an internal journey, changing as a result of the story's events, it's worth considering how each love interest might positively or negatively impact that change.
4) Do a Romantic Scene List
You may not yet know all the scenes that will be in your story, but you should have some idea of the romantic scenes that will need to happen. First meeting, first realizing their mutual interest, bonding, first time touching in a loving way, first date, first kiss... these kinds of scenes are important to developing a relationship in a story. So, list the scenes you know you'll want to have (like: first kiss), then for each one, consider what that moment might look like with each potential love interest.
5) Do a Pros and Cons List
This may sound obvious, but if you haven't done it yet, try doing a physical pros and cons list for each relationship, especially taking the previous exercises into account. Think about everything from the pros and cons of them actually being together (as people), to the pros and cons of them being together in terms of how it affects the story.
Try these exercises, and hopefully you can at least narrow it down. If not, or if you still find no one stands out as the better option, try drawing a name out of a hat. Truly!
Have fun with your story!
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Types of Opening Scenes for Your Novel
Here are a handful of ways to open the very first scene in your book! There are plenty more to explore, but these are a set of very tried and true methods.
Autobiographic - your protagonist starts the book reflecting or talking about a past event. They’re looking back in time and sharing an important piece of information with the reader.
In trouble/conflict - a problem has arisen for the protagonist and a sense of urgency is established. This can be an intense conflict like a chase scene or a puzzling problem.
Mysterious opening - the reader is introduced to something peculiar (a fantasy location, unique magic, a cloaked figure, etc.) that raises questions in their mind. Their curiosity will keep them reading.
Scene-setting - the most common opening where you focus on introducing the setting and the characters in it before anything else.
The questioner - the protagonist is questioning something: “Who invited the guy in the trench coat covered in red?”
Beginning with a thought - the novel is started with a philosophical quote or meaningful thought from the protagonist. “What is living worth if she’s not doing it with me?”
Intriguing dialogue - the book starts with interesting dialogue that captures the attention of the reader.
Mood establisher - the novel opens with a deliberate mood that signifies to the reader what they should expect from the story. Ex. a spooky story may open with eerie words and a dark atmosphere.
Instagram: coffeebeanwriting
Caregiving Ideas
feeling their forehead
taking their temperature
bandaging their wounds
putting ointment on their bruises
checking their blood pressure
fluffing up the pillow they're lying on
cooking them tea or food
holding a drink to their mouth
spoon feeding them
changing their clothes
brushing their teeth
giving them injections
reading to them
washing their hair
showering/washing their body
propping them up on the bed
stitching up their wounds
giving them their medicine
going to the doctor with them
sleeping next to their hospital bed
catching them when they're fainting
praising them when they've done good
steadying them when they get up or walk
cleaning them up from sweat, blood, vomit, pee, ...
tightly holding onto them when they're spiraling
singing/talking to them softly to make them fall asleep
holding the other one in their arms when they feel down
More prompts!
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I think that if you want relationships depicted in your fiction – whether primary media or fan-work – to be emotionally compelling, there's really no getting around the fact that one of the most compelling relationship dynamics in fiction is "hey, wouldn't it be fucked up if".
The idea of the twelve character archetypes was suggested by the Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung. His theory on basic human personalities suggests that each human is led predominantly by one of four motivations during their lifespan, split into three separate character traits. These archetypes are now often used by writers as a basis for their characters.
The "Provide Structure" trait includes:
The Caregiver
The Creator
The Ruler
The "Spiritual Journey" trait includes:
The Innocent
The Explorer
The Sage
The "Leave a Mark" trait includes:
The Hero
The Outlaw
The Magician
The "Connect With Others" trait includes:
The Everyman
The Lover
The Jester
Fic Titles: Alphabet P-R
Take one and start to create!
P
Pain of my life
Panic at the Laundromat
Paper cuts
Paper hearts (easy to tear)
Past mistakes
Peer-pressured
People we met in supermarkets
People will talk (no matter what)
Perfect moment to forget
Perfect little angel
Perhaps someday
Pest control
Pillow talk
Pinky promises
Playing favourites
Pocket full of sorrow
Pour me a drink (or two or more)
Power of kisses
Praying to her body
Pressed flowers and love letters
Pretty little lies
Pride and Problems
Primal Instinct
Promises made, promises kept
Pushing boundaries
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
Q
Qualifications to kick ass
Qualified answers to unqualified questions
Quality content
Quantity over quality
Questionable taste
Questioning the status quo
Quarantine with the enemy
Quarrels over nothing
Quintessentially the two of us
Quiet nights together
Quite a spectacle
Quite the catch
Quick decisions
Quoting the classics
Queen of messing up
Queendom comes
Quests and how to avoid them
Quickening the appetite
Quivering (keep me warm)
Quivering with emotions
Questionnaire for a partner
Quitting unhealthy habits
♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡♡
R
Rain clouds over your head
Rain on our parade
Rainy days at the sea
Raw power
Ready for whatever
Real people, real problems
Reality check
Reality comes back for you
Rebellion in her blood
Religious experience
Reputation to uphold
Rescue’s on the way
Reunions (and how to avoid them)
Reunited with my love
Rights and wrongs
Rising to the top (where we belong)
Romance is not dead (yet)
Rose-tinted glasses
Rosy dreams
Royal pain in the ass
Ruby eyes
Ruin me (please)
Ruins of us
Rules of friends-with-benefits
Ruling over her kingdom
Find more titles: A-C|D-F|G-I|J-L|M-O|S-T|U-V|W-X|Y-Z + Numbers
>>All the Fic Titles.
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Me gustaba su estilo, su elegancia, no cualquier mujer puede tener ese garbo de verse clásica como en el Partenón de Atenas con lineas y figuras estéticas en el vestir, que se complementan con las formas artísticas de su cuerpo. El Partenon de Atenas tenia esa lineas horizontales y verticales enmarcadas en una belleza estética clásica, sin lineas garigoleadas y góticas, sino simples en belleza, para demostrar la grandeza del pensamiento del hombre en lo simple sin perder lo estético, y arrojado en una pieza de arquitectura.
Asi era ella, o quizás asi la construia por el efecto de su belleza en mi corazón.
“Las Mil y Una Noches con Ms Beautiful”. Extracto.
How to Write Bad Dialog
Writing bad dialog is almost an art form unto itself.
Recently I read a couple of stories where it felt as if the author was struggling to come up with bad dialog. So I thought I should give a few tips on how to do it properly.
The easiest way to write wretched dialog is to use dialog for the wrong things. In other words, when a scene calls for description, narration, transitions, introspection, characterization, or other things—simply do it all with dialog.
Bad Dialog in Place of Description
Let me give you an example. Our character, Joe, has just reached into the pocket of a dead man that he found washed up on a Florida beach. Now, the natural way to handle the scene would be to show the readers what Joe pulls from the dead man’s pocket. But instead you can do it in dialog, in this case, with another character, Ron:
Ron: Hey, what did you just find in that dead man’s pocket? Joe: Why, it looks like . . . gold pieces of eight, dated 1702!
Can you see how well that works? I mean, if you pulled a piece of ancient gold from a dead man’s pocket, you’d probably take a bit of time wondering what it was, studying it, and turning it over in your hand. But you can handle it faster if you simply have a character blurt a perfectly accurate description. So if you want to win awards for bad dialog, keep putting your descriptions into dialog!
Bad Dialog in Place of Transitions
Here’s how to write a terrible transition. We have just had two men meet, and one asked to meet in private. Let’s have Joe and Ron again.
Joe: Well, here we are in the Redwood National Forest. Sure is a foggy day, what with the wind coming in off the Pacific. What did you want to talk about, Ron, that made you drag me all the way out here, three miles into the trees? You afraid that our offices are being bugged or something?
In this case, the average author might start the scene with the two walking deep into a forest in the early dawn, smelling the fog off the sea, freezing from the cold. Personally, if I were Joe, I’d be a bit nervous, and I’d be wondering if Ron planned to murder me, but maybe that’s just me.
Bad Dialog in Place of Introspection
One of my favorite misuses of dialog is the spoken dialog that should be internal. For example, let’s say that Joe goes to the funeral of Ron’s mother. He walks into the foyer and is approaching the deceased, with people both ahead and behind him. He sees the old crone in her casket, dressed nicely, and then whispers to himself, “I never did like the old bag, but she looks pretty hot today. . . .”
Now, most folks would think that Joe would have to be literally insane to say something like that in public. But as a master of bad dialog, you just might get away with it. After all, I think that by now you’ve established that Joe has diarrhea of the mouth and never can shut up, so maybe readers won’t notice that you’re trying to tell your story through dialog alone.
Bad Dialog in Place of Characterization
Then of course, you can always characterize people by having one character talk about another. For example, Joe might tell Ron, “You know, my daughter Kary is so introverted, I can’t understand why she would want to become President of the United States.”
“She is introverted,” Ron says, “but you know, she also wants to save the country from fracking, and I don’t think that she can come up with any other way to do it.”
That one always works.
Just remember, if you want to become a master of ridiculously bad dialog, the first rule is to use dialog for everything—for descriptions, for internal thoughts, for narrating your scenes, for transitions and deep characterization. Wretched dialog has a million uses!
Suspense and Foreshadowing—Two Great Tools for Writers
I’ve found that foreshadowing and suspense often get confused. Sometimes writers even forget about them. It’s time for a quick reminder about why these are such great tools for writers and how you can use them in your next story.
What is Suspense?
Anyone can put together points in a story’s plot map. You’ve got your inciting incident, a few things that happen to move the story along, then the climax and resolution.
Suspense is what keeps the reader’s eyes glued to the page in between each of those stages.
It works in every genre and helps every story. It may even be what your work is missing if you’re stuck in your WIP because you’ve lost interest.
Example: Carver is a restaurant server and sees his crush, Aiden, get seated at Table 2 with his friends. He’s had this crush for forever and decides it’s now or never. He has to ask Aiden out before he leaves after dinner.
Where’s the suspense?: There’s an emotional suspense in the relatability of feeling nervous about asking someone out after crushing on them for a while. There’s also time-related suspense because sooner than later, Aiden will pay the check and leave. The clock is running out from the moment Carver makes his decision.
Where could you add suspense?: Carver might need to take on more tables because his coworker leaves for a family emergency. He’s rushing around twice as busy for the rest of the night. Then other guests need extra things, like another set of silverware or a ketchup refill. The night passes quickly, so Carver almost misses Aiden walking out to his car.
What is Foreshadowing?
Foreshadowing helps build your suspense. It’s one of the key ingredients that you can work into your first draft while you’re writing or while you’re in the editing process.
You don’t need foreshadowing in every story to create suspense or keep your reader interested. However, it can be a great way to support it.
Example: After Carver decides to stop by Aiden’s table before he leaves, he’s so busy serving other tables that the group in his window booth get up and leave. They’re irritated that their food is late, so they talk with the manager before leaving for another restaurant.
Why is this foreshadowing?: It demonstrates how the events building the suspense—the other server leaving suddenly and forcing Carver to serve twice as many tables—make it more likely that Carver will miss Aiden. It also mirror’s Carver’s Worst Case Scenario: that he’s now too busy to fulfill his goal before Aiden leaves, because he was too busy with his other tables to get food to his guests before they left too.
Other Forms of Suspense
Suspense can happen in a few ways besides general plot points. You can also heighten the tension with things like:
Making your characters feel the suspense for the reader (they get anxious, start acting out of fear, feel their stomach knot up, verbally snap at another character).
Changing the scenery (the lights go dark because the power goes out, other characters step between the protagonist and their goal, the protagonist must leave due to an unforeseen reason).
Using specific descriptive word choices (maybe the vibe in a room becomes tense, someone feels agitated, a foul odor burns at the protagonist’s nose and makes them uncomfortable)
Varying your sentence structure (choppy sentences create suspense, while long sentences sound more monotonous).
Introducing conflict for the protagonist (make things go wrong so they have to sweat through a few challenges to reach their goals).
Other Forms of Foreshadowing
You may have heard of a few of these before, but they could still be something your story needs to deepen your plot or become more gripping. Think about adding foreshadowing tools like:
Flashbacks: maybe your protagonist has tried and failed/succeeded at a similar goal before
Chekov’s gun: introduce something that your character will use in the future (could be a literal gun, an object that they’ll use later to accomplish their goal, a person they’ll come back to for the friendship they seek, a trauma they’re pushing away and eventually have to face)
A prophecy: could be a literal prophecy from an oracle, but could also be something lighthearted in a fortune cookie, a Magic 8 ball, something a character mentions in passing to the protagonist, etc.
Symbolism: your character might set out for their first day on a job and drive there in a terrible thunderstorm, show up to the wrong location, immediately break the copy machine, etc. Something negative in the environment or a character making a bad choice/mistake can be symbolic for their overall goal or phase of life.
A red herring: your character believes somebody or something to be their antagonist/the reason for their conflicts, but it turns out to be something or somebody else
When to Use Foreshadowing or Suspense
It would be great if every writer knew exactly how to use one or both of these tools while they were working through their first draft. That might be possible if you’ve spent a long time figuring out the exact plot before sitting down to write, but that isn’t always the case.
You could add new elements of suspense or moments of foreshadowing while you’re in the process of writing. Just make sure you note what your wrote and why so you can carry that thread through to its completion or revelation later on.
You can also add these moments while editing. If your first draft feels like it’s missing something, adding in a new conflict and revising to work it into the rest of the draft could greatly improve your story. It’s also possible to drop a foreshadowing device in one chapter and jump ahead to another to make it reappear/complete the foreshadowing.
THE WRITER'S WORKBOOK - free
Hello hello, it's me!
Today I'm here to tell you about each feature of "The Writer's Workbook", which you can download for free.
Note: this workbook has two variations, so you can print it or use it digitally as a PDF.
I designed this workbook in an intuitive way so that the plot progresses as you go further in the exercises. It is divided in six big categories: Idea & Plot, Character Development, World Building, Writing, Journal, and Resources.
Note: feel free to skip exercises or to complete them in any other order than the one suggested by me!
IDEA & PLOT
This section is meant to help you develop your idea before you even know who your characters are.
In this part, you will choose the central conflict, write down keywords about your idea, and draw a mind map. Then, you'll proceed to find your voice through different exercises, to then find each key point of the plot, from exposition to resolution.
It's also in this part that you are going to come up with plot twists and the ending of the book.
CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT
Here, as the name says, you will completely develop all your characters, from the protagonist to the side characters. You will also have the opportunity to develop their relationships through mind maps and brainstorming processes.
WORLDBUILDING
Just like the other categories, worldbuilding is a fundamental step when plotting a novel.
In this workbook, you'll be asked to draw or generate a map of your world so that you always have it near you whenever you need it. There are also some prompts to fill out about it, and locations to create and explore.
In this part, you can also make a timeline for all the main events in your world.
WRITING
Now that most of your story is planned, it's time to think about writing it!
This section is perfect to come up with the best title for your book, brainstorming and develop the opening scene, and fully developing each key point using the snowflake method.
There's also a place to write down all the scenes and chapters you want to include in your book and check it off as you write it.
JOURNAL
This part is for you to reflect on your writing goals, on your ideas, and to see your progress. It's important to check this often and make sure you always have your goals in mind!
RESOURCES
Here you will find some useful resources from writing communities to courses and softwares to help you in this process and, hopefully, make it easier!
THE WRITER'S WORKBOOK
If you don't have it already grab it now here! It's completely free and I'm sure it will help you develop your new idea <3
Reactions to... getting betrayed
"So that's how it is."
"No. This can't be right!"
"Why am I not surprised?"
"I thought we were friends!"
"Are you for real?"
"No! No, please, not you."
"You would never do this to me. Right?"
"Oh, I was so naive to believe you."
"You promised to be by my side!"
"No, I refuse to believe that you would do that to me."
"Tell me why! I hope you have a good reason."
"Why? Why did you have to do this?"
"How can you look me in the eyes and betray me?"
"What have I ever done to you to deserve this?"
"I don't know if I want to cry or strangle you."
"It was all just a sick game to you!"
"Why did it have to be you?"
"How dare you betray my trust like that!"
"You have hurt me like no one has ever hurt me before."
"I never thought it could be you."
"How could I ever believe another word you say?"
"You taught me a valuable lesson today. Trust no one."
More: Betrayal Dialogue Prompts + How to write betrayal
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can you give tips on how to change up character dialogue? all of my characters end up sounding the same and i'm not sure how to fix it
How to Write Unique Voices for Characters in Fiction
When it comes to writing fiction, creating unique and believable characters is absolutely essential. One important aspect of character development is crafting unique voices that reflect each character’s personality and background.
Understand your characters
Before you can write distinct voices for your characters, it’s important to understand who they are. Building out a solid foundation and developing compelling backstories is one of the best ways to ensure they always have unique voices. Here are some tips for getting to know your characters:
Write character sketches that detail their backgrounds, personalities, goals, and motivations.
Conduct interviews with your characters as if they were real people, asking them about their likes and dislikes, fears, goals, and more (the Proust questionnaire is a popular way to do this).
Imagine how your characters’ past experiences will change how they speak in different situations and when experiencing varied emotions.
Use description to enhance your characters’ voices
Descriptions can be just as important as dialogue when it comes to creating character voices. Here are some tips for using descriptions to enhance your characters’ personalities:
Use specific details to create vivid descriptions of each character’s body language, mannerisms, and behaviour.
Consider how each character’s mannerisms might influence their speech patterns. For example, a character who is shy might be hesitant to speak or repeat themselves frequently.
Pay attention to how your characters interact with their environment. Do they use their hands a lot when they speak? Do they pace around the room or sit still?
Use sensory details to create immersion. For example, a character who is nervous might sweat profusely or fidget with their jewellery.
Avoid stereotypes and clichés
When writing unique voices for characters, it’s important to avoid falling back on stereotypes or clichés. Here are some tips for creating characters that feel fresh and authentic:
Avoid using dialects or accents. Not only do these often rely on stereotypes, but they also break reader immersion unless authenticity is absolutely essential to the type of book you are writing.
Consider how each character’s background and experiences might influence their beliefs and values. One-dimensional characters built on clichés won’t have unique voices.
Think outside of the box when it comes to creating distinct voices. Instead of relying on traditional archetypes, consider combining traits from multiple sources to create something new.
How to craft unique dialogue
With the basics in place, how do we convert unique character voices into dialogue? Here are some tips for writing dialogue that feels authentic and unique to each character:
Read your dialogue out loud to hear how it sounds, and make sure it’s true to how you imagine your character to be.
Give your characters a unique conversational quirk that feels natural. An example could be that they call everyone “love.”
Vary the length and complexity of sentences to reflect each character’s personality and background.
Consider how each character’s education and experiences might influence their vocabulary and sentence structure.
Use dialogue tags sparingly to avoid detracting from the actual words being spoken.
Avoid using too much exposition or explaining too much in dialogue. Instead, let the characters speak when it serves your story.
By understanding your characters, crafting unique dialogue, using descriptions to enhance character voices, and avoiding stereotypes and clichés, you can create vibrant, engaging characters that will keep readers hooked from start to finish.
Tips for Starting and Stopping Chapters, Plus FAQs
Even if you have the most exciting, engaging ideas for your novel, you might struggle to write it because you have to deal with chapters. These are a few of the most frequently asked questions about chapters and a few tips that might help you overcome manuscript challenges.
How Many Chapters Should a Book Have?
Unfortunately, there’s no straightforward answer to this question. Genres and intended audiences influence manuscript word counts. Younger readers will need shorter chapters to keep their interest and older readers might prefer longer chapters that dive deep into conflict or theme.
Storytelling elements also change the number of chapters per book. A fast-paced novel might have more short chapters to keep up the faster narrative pace. A slower novel might linger in wordier scenes, so there could be fewer chapters with longer page counts per chapter.
You can always look at comparable novels in the same genre to guestimate how many your manuscript could include. If you’re writing a Twilight-inspired novel in the same fantasy genre and Twilight has 26 chapters in a ~110,000 word count range, you could aim for a similar number.
What’s the Purpose of Chapters?
Chapters divide longer stories into segments that help readers process new plot events. They give people breathing room to digest heavier topics or moments by pausing or putting the book down to do other things for a while.
They also give more weight to cliffhanger moments or events made to shock readers. Even if they immediately flip the page to keep reading, the momentary pause lends gravity and meaning to whatever ends the chapter before.
Tips for First Chapters
Include Some Action
The first line of every chapter doesn’t need to be a dramatic car chase scene, but the chapter in its entirety should include some plot-moving action. It hooks readers and gets your pacing started.
Add Emotional Weight
Action can only intrigue readers so much. What’s the emotional weight compelling your protagonist to take part in, react to, or fight back against your inciting incident? Establish some emotional weight in the first chapter to motivate your protagonist, like showing how much they love their sister before getting betrayed by her in the inciting incident.
Avoid Infodumping
Readers don’t need to know everything about your world-building or protagonist in the first chapter. The infodumping only weighs down your pace. Sprinkle your descriptions and reveals throughout the first act of your book to keep readers coming back to learn more about the world.
Tips for Starting a Chapter
Introduce a Choice
Choices help stories move along at a pace that keeps readers engaged. If your protagonist is stuck in their head for most of a chapter, there’s nothing pushing your story forward. Always include at least one choice when starting a chapter, whether it’s big or small.
Keep Expanding Your Conflict
Every chapter should expand your primary conflict in some way. It might affect newly introduced characters, change your protagonist’s world, or require a sacrifice. As long as your conflict is relevant to your chapter in some way, your story will always remain true to its thematic purpose.
Remember Your Cause-and-Effect
An initial chapter sets up or introduces a conflict that gets your plot moving. If you’re unsure what to do in the following chapter, use it to address the effects of that previous chapter’s conflict. Although the conflict likely won’t get resolved that quickly, you can still write about your characters’ choices post-conflict or how the world changes in a way that affects their futures.
Tips for Ending a Chapter
Experiment With Your Endings
I used to be afraid of ending a chapter without some shocking, groundbreaking plot twist. Althought that’s a great place to put those moments, it’s not plausible to end every chapter with one. Where would your readers feel comfortable pausing for the night? When would they feel the quiet sanctity of peaceful moments where characters build trust between themselves?
Play around with your endings by refusing to be afraid to cut your manuscript into segments. If one doesn’t feel right during your read-through, you can always merge it into the next chapter and cut them differently during editing.
Use It to Shift Your Story
When your story needs to change times of day, locations, or perspectives, that’s usually a good sign that you need a page or chapter break. It’s not always necessary, but these are the types of chapter breaks that give readers breathing room.
Again, you can always re-work your chapters during editing if you find that they aren’t ending in the right places during your first few read-throughs.
Ramp Up Your Tension
Who says chapters always have to end on a cliffhanger? You can also end them when the action or tension is becoming more intense. When two characters are in the car on the way to rob a bank, they argue over whether or not to actually shoot people. One character’s eagerness and the other’s disgust raises the tension. As it escalates into them yelling in the parking lot, the chapter can end when one leaves the car and slams the door.
Ending on a moment of heightened tension is another reason readers turn pages and stay engaged. In the above case, they might not be able to put the book down until they find out if the robbery resulted in murder.
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Starting and stopping chapters can cause plenty of anxiety, but remember—you’re always in control of your manuscript. Play around with these ideas and make any necessary changes in your editing phases. You’ll figure out the best way to organize your story by chapters and develop more confidence in your long-form storytelling abilities.
5 Ways to Make Your Writing Sessions More Productive
1. Set specific goals: Before each writing session, establish clear objectives for what you want to accomplish. This helps you stay focused and motivated throughout the session. Whether it's completing a certain number of pages, reaching a specific word count, or finishing a particular section, having a goal in mind keeps you on track.
2. Create a conducive writing environment: Find a quiet and comfortable space where you can minimize distractions. Eliminate clutter, turn off notifications on your electronic devices, and set up a writing area that inspires creativity. Some people find instrumental music or ambient sounds helpful for concentration, so experiment to find what works best for you.
3. Develop a routine: Establish a regular writing schedule and stick to it. Consistency builds momentum and makes writing sessions feel more like a habit. Whether you prefer to write early in the morning, late at night, or during specific time blocks throughout the day, find a routine that aligns with your energy levels and other commitments.
4. Use productivity techniques: Explore different productivity techniques to enhance your focus and efficiency. One popular method is the Pomodoro Technique, which involves working for a concentrated period (e.g., 25 minutes) followed by a short break (e.g., 5 minutes). Repeat this cycle several times, and then take a longer break (e.g., 15-30 minutes). Other techniques include time blocking, task prioritization, and setting deadlines.
5. Minimize self-editing during the drafting phase: When writing your first draft, try to resist the urge to constantly edit and revise. Instead, focus on getting your ideas down on paper without judgment. This allows for a more continuous flow of thoughts and prevents self-censorship. Save the editing for later drafts, as separating the drafting and editing stages can lead to increased productivity and creativity.
'Imagine your OTP' Prompts
Imagine your OTP in these scenarios and write it.
Fluffy fluff
Imagine your OTP where Person A is learning a new language and likes to say a few words to Person B in that language every day. They say it means random things, like “the door is open” but it really is a love confession. + if Person B finds out what it really means ++ if Person B answers one day
Imagine your OTP saying I love youto each other five times without the actual (romantic) meaning of it. + if one time they say it right
Imagine your OTP where Person A doesn’t have a birthday so Person B says they are allowed to choose the date. And they choose a day that they associate with Person B.
Imagine your OTP trying to bake cookies together and failing beautifully. It’s one big mess and in the end, they are lying on the floor, covered in flour and not able to stop smiling.
Imagine your OTP with Character A secretly learning Character B’s mother language to say stupid pick-up lines to them.
Supportive fluff
Imagine your OTP where Person A is really passionate about a social injustice and wants to go to a demonstration. Person B is not affected by that injustice, but turns up at Person A’s house with protest signs.
Imagine your OTP being next door neighbours that don’t know each other. But after a particular long night out Person A can’t unzip their dress (or can’t get the knot out of their horribly tied tie; get creative!) and they’re home alone. After struggling for a long time, they have to accept that they need help. And that’s what brings them to Person B’s door in the middle of the night.
Imagine your OTP where Person A would like to have a child, but doesn’t want to wait for a spouse and a nice house any longer, so they find Person B to co-parent with them.
Chaotic fluff
Imagine your OTP where Persons A + B always fight with each other, but they have a common friend and they both plan a surprise party for Person C’s birthday. + if they find out about the other party and try to sabotage them ++ if they have to cooperate eventually
Imagine your OTP trying to cook an elaborate dinner for their friends/families but it’s possible that they exaggerated a little bit while talking about their cooking skills and now they have to face the chaos together.
Imagine your OTP where Persons A & B sit together in class and Person A never brings anything so they always steal everything from Person B. + if Person B finally has enough
Imagine your OTP where both partners want to surprise the other one with a wonderful date but all of their cleverly thought-out plans fail and it looks like this is going to go down in history as the worst Valentine’s Day ever. + if it’s actually not that bad in the end
Imagine your OTP where Character A and B both applied to the same job and now have to work together for a day, before it gets decided who gets the job.
Imagine your OTP where the friends of Characters A and B try to be matchmakers on Halloween and get them each in one part of a couple’s costume without them knowing. + if they only find out they form a couple’s costume because people at the party keep coming up to them to tell them how cute they are ++ if they only see each other later in the night to see if everyone’s right about them
Imagine your OTP where Person A works in retail and Person B keeps coming into the shop and asks for help with the most ridiculous things. + if Person A loses it one day and confronts Person B about their motive
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Story Edit Like A Pro!
If you begin a story edit with these questions to evaluate your characters, plot, and setting, you’ll be amazed at how this will help you improve your story!
Evaluating Characters
We’re going to look at characters first.
The cast of characters is the list of characters in your story. These characters act and react. They create emotion. They show motivation. Without any of this, you don’t have a story. That’s a tall order for your characters. So how do you make sure you’re getting the most out of them?
Who appears in each scene?
Having a list of your characters per scene gives a specific method for evaluating how you’re using the characters and shows you when you need to revise a scene.
It’s time to revise a scene if:
There are too many characters in a scene. Is every character required to achieve the purpose of the scene?
An introduced character lacks detail or has too much detail.
There are names that are too similar and might confuse the reader.
What are their goals?
A character goal is what a character wants. She should want it so badly that your readers feel her need in their guts. And failing to achieve the goal will be devastating.
What gets in the way of their goals?
Characters will drive the tension in your story, and tension is what keeps a reader reading. Putting obstacles in the way of achieving the goal will raise the tension.
Evaluating Plot
Plot is what happens in the story. It’s what your story is about. Here are three questions to help you evaluate each scene and how they relate to the plot.
What is the purpose of each scene?
There must always be a reason any given scene exists in your story. That’s what we mean by its purpose. A scene without a purpose will distract the reader from the main story. It may even bore the reader.
Is there an entry hook opening each scene?
Whatever you read at the beginning of the scene that keeps you reading is the scene entry hook. Every scene must have one by the end of the first three paragraphs or so.
Is there an exit hook at the end of each scene?
Whatever you read at the end of the scene that keeps you turning the page to the next scene is the exit hook. Every scene must have an exit hook. This includes a secret revealed, a cliffhanger, a clue, or a story twist.
Evaluating Settings
Finally, while you perform a story edit, examine your settings. Settings are key to keeping your reader engaged, so don’t ignore them.
Is the location you chose the best place for emotional impact?
Each scene must take place somewhere, and each location has the potential to ramp up emotion. Often a writer doesn’t think hard enough about where a scene takes place and doesn’t end up using locations effectively. Does the location elicit emotion in the reader or the characters? If not, choose a different location.
Are there objects relevant to the plot or characterization in each scene?
Watch a film without props or a backdrop, and you’d probably get confused or bored. You’d just be watching actors on an empty stage, which would make it hard to believe the reality they’re trying to portray.
Readers are much more engaged in a story if they can imagine the setting that stirs their emotions.
Are some of the 5 senses used in every scene?
Sensory details keep the “stage” and characters interesting. Without them, both the setting and the characters will seem flat. Using the POV character’s senses to describe the action will bring your reader closer to the character. So ensure the senses used show characterization or move the plot forward.
The Ultimate Guide to Writing Persuasive Arguments
Within the vast landscape of written expression, where words hold the potential to shape opinions and ignite change, the art of crafting compelling arguments stands as a formidable force. As an author, I recognize the tremendous opportunity we possess to harness this power and leave an indelible mark on our readers.
I was recently asked to write a blog about creating argumentative scenes, I found the topic quite interesting as arguments and persuasion are something authors of all genres can find themselves writing. Anger is a very raw emotion that authors often feel the need to perfect, I hope this guide on how to write persuasive arguments can help you reach that point of perfection.
Understanding the Power of Persuasion in Fiction
Persuasion in fiction goes beyond convincing readers of a particular argument or viewpoint. It involves crafting narratives that engage readers on multiple levels, influencing their emotions, thoughts, and even actions. Just like skilled orators sway their audiences, we can use the tools of persuasion to captivate readers, immerse them in our stories, and make them feel deeply connected to our characters and themes.
By masterfully crafting persuasive narratives, we can make readers question their assumptions, reconsider their beliefs, and view the world through a new lens.
However, it's important to note that persuasion in fiction doesn't mean manipulating or forcing readers to adopt specific viewpoints. Instead, it's about presenting compelling arguments within the context of our stories and allowing readers to engage with them organically. Through our characters' journeys, conflicts, and personal growth, we can subtly challenge readers' perspectives, encourage empathy, and foster critical thinking.
Your character doesn’t have to necessarily be wrong or right and it is important to remember your readers can always have a viewpoint completely different from your opinion of your character and that scene.
Developing Convincing Characters and Narratives
Captivating characters possess the power to sway readers' hearts and minds. They are multidimensional, relatable, and possess qualities that make their actions and beliefs compelling. By carefully sculpting our characters, we can infuse them with the ability to embody persuasive arguments and engage readers in thought-provoking ways.
To create convincing characters, we must delve into their backgrounds, motivations, and desires. What drives them? What are their core values? Understanding their unique perspectives allows us to shape their beliefs and opinions, providing a foundation for persuasive storytelling. When our characters' convictions align with the arguments we wish to convey, their authenticity and passion become catalysts for reader engagement.
Character Examples
In Angie Thomas' powerful novel, "The Hate U Give," the protagonist, Starr Carter, serves as a compelling argumentative character.
Through authentic dialogue and poignant internal monologues, Starr articulates her experiences, frustrations, and desires for a more just society. Her arguments against racial profiling, police brutality, and the need for equality are rooted in her personal journey, allowing readers to empathize with her and reflect on their own biases and prejudices.
By skillfully intertwining character development with persuasive arguments, Angie Thomas creates a protagonist whose voice and convictions leave a lasting impact. Starr's transformation from a reluctant witness to a courageous advocate exemplifies the power of persuasive storytelling, inspiring readers to challenge injustice, examine their own beliefs, and work towards a more equitable world.
Crafting Engaging Dialogue
When it comes to persuasive writing, crafting engaging dialogue is a powerful tool that allows us to convey arguments, challenge beliefs, and captivate readers. Effective dialogue not only propels the plot forward but also serves as a vehicle for persuasion.
To craft engaging dialogue with persuasive impact, consider the following techniques:
Character Voice: Each character should have a distinct voice that reflects their personality, background, and beliefs. Whether it's through word choice, dialect, or speech patterns, make sure their dialogue is authentic and consistent. This authenticity lends credibility to their arguments and makes them more compelling.
Conflict and Tension: Engaging dialogue often thrives on conflict. Introduce opposing viewpoints and create tension between characters with differing opinions. These clashes of ideology can spark thought-provoking debates and allow readers to see multiple sides of an argument.
Subtext and Nuance: Effective dialogue often goes beyond surface-level conversations. Include subtext and underlying emotions to add depth to your characters' interactions. What remains unsaid can be just as powerful as what is spoken, allowing readers to infer hidden motives and subtle persuasions.
Relevance to the Plot: Ensure that your dialogue serves a purpose within the larger narrative. Use it to advance the story, develop characters, or explore thematic elements. When dialogue aligns with the overall arc of the narrative, it becomes an integral part of the persuasive storytelling process.
Emotional Impact: Infuse your dialogue with emotion to create a deeper connection with readers. Engage their empathy, evoke their curiosity, or stir their passion through the heartfelt words exchanged between characters. Emotional resonance enhances the persuasive power of your arguments.
Utilizing Descriptive Language and Imagery
By skillfully utilizing descriptive language and imagery, we can immerse our audience in the world of our story and strengthen the persuasive nature of our arguments.
Appeal to the Senses: Engage readers on a sensory level by incorporating descriptive details that evoke sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell. By immersing readers in the sensory experience of a scene, you can make your arguments more tangible and relatable.
Paint Vivid Settings: Transport readers to vibrant and immersive settings that act as a backdrop for your arguments. By creating a rich visual landscape, you can enhance the persuasive impact of your words and immerse readers in the world of your story.
Evoke Emotions: Harness the power of emotion to make your arguments resonate deeply with readers. Use descriptive language that elicits a range of feelings, whether it's anger, empathy, awe, or hope. Connect with readers on an emotional level, and they will be more likely to embrace your persuasive message.
Plotting and Structuring Persuasive Storylines
Crafting persuasive storylines requires careful plotting and effective structuring to engage readers and convey your arguments in a compelling manner. By strategically organizing your narrative elements, you can captivate your audience, build tension, and ultimately deliver persuasive messages that resonate long after the final page. Here are key considerations for plotting and structuring persuasive storylines:
Establish Clear Goals: Define the central objectives of your narrative, both in terms of the overall story and the persuasive arguments you aim to convey. What do you want readers to understand or believe? Set clear goals to guide your storytelling, ensuring every plot point and character arc serves the purpose of advancing your persuasive message.
Build Rising Tension: Structure your storyline to escalate tension and keep readers invested in the outcome of your persuasive arguments. Craft each plot twist and revelation to heighten the stakes, gradually intensifying the conflict and presenting new challenges that test characters' convictions.
Use Narrative Devices: Employ narrative devices such as foreshadowing, flashbacks, and dramatic irony to enhance the persuasive impact of your storylines. These devices can provide deeper insight into characters' motivations, reveal hidden truths, and strengthen the arguments you present.
Balance Pace and Reflection: Find a balance between fast-paced action and reflective moments to allow readers to digest and connect with your persuasive messages. Provide opportunities for characters to contemplate their beliefs, engage in meaningful conversations, and undergo personal growth, which reinforces the authenticity and impact of their arguments.
Editing and Polishing Your Argument
Editing is the key to refining and enhancing the persuasive impact of your writing. As you revisit your work, focus on clarity, coherence, and compelling language. Here are essential editing steps to maximize the persuasive power of your piece:
Streamline Your Argument: Trim unnecessary details and tighten your arguments. Ensure each sentence and paragraph contributes to the central message, eliminating any tangents that may dilute the persuasive impact.
Enhance Clarity: Clarify your ideas by simplifying complex concepts and using concise language. Avoid jargon or technical terms that may alienate or confuse your readers. Opt for clarity over complexity.
Strengthen Structure: Check the flow of your piece, ensuring a logical progression of ideas. Arrange your arguments in a coherent manner, guiding readers from one point to the next with clarity and coherence.
Choose Compelling Language: Use powerful and evocative language to captivate readers. Employ vivid verbs, descriptive adjectives, and figurative language to engage their senses and emotions, heightening the persuasive impact of your words.
Proofread for Errors: Eliminate grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can distract readers from your persuasive message. A polished and error-free piece lends credibility and professionalism to your arguments.
I hope this blog on the ultimate guide to writing persuasive arguments will help you in your writing journey. Be sure to comment any tips of your own to help your fellow authors prosper, and follow my blog for new blog updates every Monday and Thursday.
Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks?
Are you an author looking for writing tips and tricks to better your manuscript? Or do you want to learn about how to get a literary agent, get published and properly market your book? Consider checking out the rest of Haya’s book blog where I post writing and marketing tools for authors every Monday and Thursday
How To Write Friendships Pt. 2
🦢 ― &. FRIENDSHIPS . ( steps to develop friendships )
4) Give Them A History That Shines Through.
By no means do you want them to seem like they just met each other yesterday, if your two friends have known each other for a while now. What you need to do is throw out hints that these friends have known each other for a while ― you need to make the readers curious about these two friends and their history with each other.
And even if your characters meet within the timeline of the story, sneaking in hints that these characters are learning more about each other is a great way to develop your friendship.
Here are a few ways to show that:
1) Give Them An Inside Joke.
2) Give Them A Silly, On-going Argument.
Friends aren’t always going to agree on everything and their points of conflict don’t always have to be some dramatic issue ― they can be arguing over which one is better: Star Trek or Star Wars, they can argue over whether pineapple belong on pizza or not or maybe they argue over who is the taller one.
Giving them a silly, ongoing argument will make the characters feel real and simultaneously reveal different shades of their personality. Not only that, but it also offers a window into how they handle arguments between themselves. Who is the one that gets really worked up? Who is the one who makes all the great points?
3) Utilize Nonverbal Communication.
When you can start communicating with someone without words, that's when you really know someone. For example:
Let your characters be comfortable sitting in silence with each other
Use gestures and facial expressions to convey meaning to each other
Give them an unspoken rule
One friend asks a question, the other answers with silence
They can predict what each other are going to do
5) Create A Glue.
What is keeping your friends from parting ways? Without something to keep them together, your characters might grow apart. What is the glue that keeps this friendship intact? This can be a character, a goal, or the two of them are just thrown into a situation where they can't get away from each other.
One friend is the gardener of the other
The two of them must deliver a secret message to a Jedi
They both go the same extracurricular club
They are toys who both have been captured by an evil kid who likes to torture toys
One friend can't achieve his story goal without helping the other friend win a cart race
6) Create Meaningful Scenes.
Now that you have all the key components to an amazing friendship, it’s time to develop it through your story. Insert a few key friendship moments in your novel and show your reader the power of this relationship.
Here are some ideas:
One friend gives the other a gift
They play a game together
They share a jacket
They eat food together
They teach each other something
One friend gives the other a foot massage
7) Don't Make Their Relationship Perfect.
People aren’t perfect, and your friends can’t get along together all the time. But that doesn't mean you should stuff in a bunch of contrived conflict between your friendships. Instead, set up situations that will naturally occur because of who these characters are, and what they believe.
Maybe their differences get the better of them, maybe they react differently to a pivotal event in your novel, maybe one of the friend's internal demons gets the better of them, and the other friend has to call them out on it. This only results in more tension between them. This is an especially brilliant method to enhance a character arc.
Or simply make their friendship a more complex. Perhaps your two characters look out for one another, but they are always being compared to one another, and they need to overcome their deep feelings of jealousy for each other or they work well together, but one friend is keeping a lot of secrets from the other.
These complications and character differences not only add to your story, but watching these characters overcome these obstacles and still come out as friends makes your friendship feel more real, deep, and deserved.
How To Write Dialogue
🦢 ― &. DIALOGUES . ( what is it? purpose,? types? things to avoid? )
What Is Dialogue, And What's Its Purpose?
Dialogue, as everyone knows, is what the characters in novels, plays, screenplays — basically any kind of creative writing where characters speak — say out loud.
For most writers, dialogue is one of the things we look forward to. It's the opportunity to let the characters' motivations, flaws, knowledge, fears and more come to life! By writing dialogues, you're giving them (the characters) their own voice, fleshing them out from concepts into three-dimensional characters.
Dialogues have multiple purposes — one of them is to characterize your characters. You can learn a lot about somebody's mindset, background, emotional state, and such more from how they speak.
Dialogue makes your writing feel more immersive as well! It breaks up long prose passages and gives your readers something to "hear" other than your narrator's voice. It can communicate subtext, like showing class differences between characters through the vocabulary they use or hinting at a shared history between them. Most times, a narrator's description just can't deliver information the same way that a well-timed quip or a profound observation by a character can.
Monologues
In contrast with dialogues, monologues are a single, usually lengthy passages spoken by one character. They are often part of plays.
A character may be speaking directly to the reader or viewer, or they could be speaking to one or more other characters. The defining characteristic of a monologue is that it's one character's moment in the spotlight to express their thoughts, ideas, and/or perspective.
Often, a character's private thoughts are delivered via monologue. This is called an internal monologue. An internal monologue is the voice an individual (though not all) "hears" in their head as they talk themselves through their daily activities.
Types Of Dialogue
Inner dialogue is the dialogue a character has inside their head. This can be a monologue. In most cases, inner dialogue is not marked by quotation marks. Some mark them by italicizing it.
Outer dialogue is a dialogue that happens externally, often between two or more characters. This goes inside quotation marks.
Things To Avoid When Writing Dialogue
1) Using a tag for every piece of dialogue. Dialogue tags are words like said and asked. Once you've established that two characters are having a conversation, you don't need to tag every piece of dialogue Doing so can be redundant and breaks the reader's flow. Once the readers know each character's voice, many lines can stand alone.
2) Not using enough tags. On another hand, some writers use too few dialogue tags, which can confuse readers. The readers should always know who's speaking. When a character's mannerisms and knowledge don't make that obvious, tag the dialogue and use their names.
3) Dense, unrealistic speech. Dialogues don't need to be grammatically correct. When it's too grammatically correct, it can make characters seem stiff and unrealistic.
4) Anachronisms. A pirate in 1700s Barbados wouldn't greet his captain with "what's up?" Depending on how dedicated you (and your readers) are to historical accuracy, this doesn't need to be perfect. But it should be believable.
Part 2 coming soon.
How to create “complex” characters
– Introduction
I wanted to make a post about creating complex and multifaceted characters, since character creation is something I'm very passionate about from both a craft and storytelling perspective. Specifically, I remember I had this tendency to apply flaws as an afterthought to my characters in hopes of making them balanced and seem more complex, and this could often make the characters feel a bit artificial to me. I'm obviously not any sort of authority figure on the subject, but I do have one tip that really simplified the process of making characters more intricate, and I wanted to share it! This is probably more helpful for people who might still be at the very beginning of their writing journey, but hopefully others can get something out of this as well! It's a bit lengthy, but I hope it's somewhat enjoyable to read ^^; Enjoy!
For a bit of background, back in the early internet days, there was this trend of judging various OCs on youtube, deviant art, etc. where people would essentially evaluate your character and determine whether or not a character was well written. During this time, the term "Mary Sue" would get thrown around a lot (which is a whole can of worms I won't be touching on here). For simplicity though, Mary Sue generally means a character who's "perfect" (again, heavy oversimplification here). To counter this, people began creating these lists of character traits where they'd list off a character's good and bad traits, and people who didn't have equal amounts in each category would often be scrutinised for it.
And I see this advice all the time. If you want complex characters, people will usually tell you to just throw on a bunch of flaws, but I think this can be a bit misleading, because most traits exist on a spectrum, and aren't a perfect dichotomy of good and bad.
Thinking of character traits as neutral
My biggest advice is honestly to just think of all character traits as neutral. Because what really is a character flaw? A flaw is a very ambiguous and subjective term after all. What might be considered a flaw in one character could be considered another character's greatest attribute, and vice versa. Functionally, a character flaw should be a trait that creates conflict within the context of the story. Any trait a person has could be good or bad, it just depends on how it shows up in practice and how it's applied in daily life. It might be tempting to think that certain traits are inherently good or bad, but again, flaws aren't really about good or bad. They're about conflict and tension, and just about any trait can work to a character's detriment or in their favour.
I'm going to list off two examples of hypothetical characters below; one who most would consider to have a lot of "good" character traits, and one that would be considered to have "bad" character traits. Then I'll show you how you can easily flip those traits to create nuance. (And again, I really don't think good or bad are relevant terms here, but it's just to exemplify what I mean more easily!)
The "Good" Character
This character is empathetic, creative and incredibly supportive of others. They always do the right thing, and are a very responsible individual. They're approachable and friendly, funny, and generally enjoyable to be around.
The "Bad" Character
This character is cunning, manipulative, and don't care if their words hurt other people's feelings. They're largely apathetic and unreceptive, don't care about rules, and don't go out of their way to get to know people.
Their flaws & how it can affect the story
For the "good" character, you can look at what the downsides of empathy can be; very reactive emotionally, perhaps even a bit emotionally impulsive. Maybe they have a difficult time recognising their own needs, especially since supportive is also a trait listed above. Maybe they even use this empathy to figure out other people's needs and use it to their own benefit. Someone who's creative can often have a difficult time committing to their passions and ideas because there's always something new. Maybe they feel out of place or easily stifled by rules, but because they always want to do the right thing, they're hesitant in outright breaking rules and social norms. If they use their empathy and approachability to manipulate, perhaps this is their way of subtly regaining a sense of control because they're too afraid to explicitly go after what they want in life. Maybe they care a lot about how they're perceived, etc. Or maybe they really are a compassionate and kind person, but they're often a doormat to others because they don't know how to set boundaries or even how to recognise what they want. Maybe they don't trust their own judgment because they're so used to doing the right thing "just because it's the right thing to do", and don't actually reflect on their actions beyond that. There's a lot you can do with these traits!
For the "bad" character, which might seem a bit more tricky at first, the easiest way to figure out what the nuance of "bad" traits can be is to break down the why. Maybe this character became cunning because they've had to think long term a lot. They're good at waging the odds, they're good at reading the room, they're good at putting things together and seeing how the dominos will fall. Maybe they're even the person responsible for setting up the dominos, because they don't trust anyone else to make sure that there's a desirable outcome. If they're manipulative then it likely means that they're good at reading people, and they must know how to appeal to other people to some degree, otherwise they wouldn't really be able to manipulate anyone. They're likely used to having to look out for themselves, and they might even be good at spotting their own kind and knowing just when to avoid them. They don't care much for rules so they might not be as harsh in judging others, maybe they even have an easier time getting along with people who dare to defy social norms. Maybe they're even supportive of other people breaking the rules, because why the hell not?
Creating nuance
If you look at the two characters above, you'll quickly realise that they could hypothetical be the same character, because... They are. The "good" character is the "bad" character when they were younger. The "bad" character is the "good" character's future. An empathetic character can easily turn that empathy and their social skills into cunning manipulation. A character who previously felt stifled by the rules might choose to defy them. A character who got sick of caring how others perceive and judge them might choose to stop caring about what others think, and might even go out of their way to seem off-putting and un-approachable, because they refuse to ever allow themselves to care about others and be treated like a doormat again.
Or you can treat them as two separate characters that function as foils to one another. They both overlap in a lot of traits despite it not seeming so at first glance. My point is, I find that if you treat all traits as neutral, you don't really have to manually "add" flaws. Most traits have both upsides and downsides, and which side of those traits create conflict in the story is often what determines whether something is a flaw or not.
– Outro
Sorry for the lengthy and possibly rambly post, I just thought it might be advice worth sharing as it's something that really helped me flesh out my own characters more when I was still very new! Plus, as mentioned before, character creation and analysis is one of my favourite aspects of storytelling, and I'm also very passionate about psychology and philosophy and such. And again, this is all in good fun and 100% not a rule on how to write characters! There's exceptions to everything and everyone's process is different, and while this advice might be helpful to some, it might not be helpful whatsoever to others, and that's completely fine!
I'd love to make more posts on topics like this in the future if people enjoy it, or if anyone has any specific requests on anything! :,)
How to create “complex” characters
– Introduction
I wanted to make a post about creating complex and multifaceted characters, since character creation is something I'm very passionate about from both a craft and storytelling perspective. Specifically, I remember I had this tendency to apply flaws as an afterthought to my characters in hopes of making them balanced and seem more complex, and this could often make the characters feel a bit artificial to me. I'm obviously not any sort of authority figure on the subject, but I do have one tip that really simplified the process of making characters more intricate, and I wanted to share it! This is probably more helpful for people who might still be at the very beginning of their writing journey, but hopefully others can get something out of this as well! It's a bit lengthy, but I hope it's somewhat enjoyable to read ^^; Enjoy!
For a bit of background, back in the early internet days, there was this trend of judging various OCs on youtube, deviant art, etc. where people would essentially evaluate your character and determine whether or not a character was well written. During this time, the term "Mary Sue" would get thrown around a lot (which is a whole can of worms I won't be touching on here). For simplicity though, Mary Sue generally means a character who's "perfect" (again, heavy oversimplification here). To counter this, people began creating these lists of character traits where they'd list off a character's good and bad traits, and people who didn't have equal amounts in each category would often be scrutinised for it.
And I see this advice all the time. If you want complex characters, people will usually tell you to just throw on a bunch of flaws, but I think this can be a bit misleading, because most traits exist on a spectrum, and aren't a perfect dichotomy of good and bad.
Thinking of character traits as neutral
My biggest advice is honestly to just think of all character traits as neutral. Because what really is a character flaw? A flaw is a very ambiguous and subjective term after all. What might be considered a flaw in one character could be considered another character's greatest attribute, and vice versa. Functionally, a character flaw should be a trait that creates conflict within the context of the story. Any trait a person has could be good or bad, it just depends on how it shows up in practice and how it's applied in daily life. It might be tempting to think that certain traits are inherently good or bad, but again, flaws aren't really about good or bad. They're about conflict and tension, and just about any trait can work to a character's detriment or in their favour.
I'm going to list off two examples of hypothetical characters below; one who most would consider to have a lot of "good" character traits, and one that would be considered to have "bad" character traits. Then I'll show you how you can easily flip those traits to create nuance. (And again, I really don't think good or bad are relevant terms here, but it's just to exemplify what I mean more easily!)
The "Good" Character
This character is empathetic, creative and incredibly supportive of others. They always do the right thing, and are a very responsible individual. They're approachable and friendly, funny, and generally enjoyable to be around.
The "Bad" Character
This character is cunning, manipulative, and don't care if their words hurt other people's feelings. They're largely apathetic and unreceptive, don't care about rules, and don't go out of their way to get to know people.
Their flaws & how it can affect the story
For the "good" character, you can look at what the downsides of empathy can be; very reactive emotionally, perhaps even a bit emotionally impulsive. Maybe they have a difficult time recognising their own needs, especially since supportive is also a trait listed above. Maybe they even use this empathy to figure out other people's needs and use it to their own benefit. Someone who's creative can often have a difficult time committing to their passions and ideas because there's always something new. Maybe they feel out of place or easily stifled by rules, but because they always want to do the right thing, they're hesitant in outright breaking rules and social norms. If they use their empathy and approachability to manipulate, perhaps this is their way of subtly regaining a sense of control because they're too afraid to explicitly go after what they want in life. Maybe they care a lot about how they're perceived, etc. Or maybe they really are a compassionate and kind person, but they're often a doormat to others because they don't know how to set boundaries or even how to recognise what they want. Maybe they don't trust their own judgment because they're so used to doing the right thing "just because it's the right thing to do", and don't actually reflect on their actions beyond that. There's a lot you can do with these traits!
For the "bad" character, which might seem a bit more tricky at first, the easiest way to figure out what the nuance of "bad" traits can be is to break down the why. Maybe this character became cunning because they've had to think long term a lot. They're good at waging the odds, they're good at reading the room, they're good at putting things together and seeing how the dominos will fall. Maybe they're even the person responsible for setting up the dominos, because they don't trust anyone else to make sure that there's a desirable outcome. If they're manipulative then it likely means that they're good at reading people, and they must know how to appeal to other people to some degree, otherwise they wouldn't really be able to manipulate anyone. They're likely used to having to look out for themselves, and they might even be good at spotting their own kind and knowing just when to avoid them. They don't care much for rules so they might not be as harsh in judging others, maybe they even have an easier time getting along with people who dare to defy social norms. Maybe they're even supportive of other people breaking the rules, because why the hell not?
Creating nuance
If you look at the two characters above, you'll quickly realise that they could hypothetical be the same character, because... They are. The "good" character is the "bad" character when they were younger. The "bad" character is the "good" character's future. An empathetic character can easily turn that empathy and their social skills into cunning manipulation. A character who previously felt stifled by the rules might choose to defy them. A character who got sick of caring how others perceive and judge them might choose to stop caring about what others think, and might even go out of their way to seem off-putting and un-approachable, because they refuse to ever allow themselves to care about others and be treated like a doormat again.
Or you can treat them as two separate characters that function as foils to one another. They both overlap in a lot of traits despite it not seeming so at first glance. My point is, I find that if you treat all traits as neutral, you don't really have to manually "add" flaws. Most traits have both upsides and downsides, and which side of those traits create conflict in the story is often what determines whether something is a flaw or not.
– Outro
Sorry for the lengthy and possibly rambly post, I just thought it might be advice worth sharing as it's something that really helped me flesh out my own characters more when I was still very new! Plus, as mentioned before, character creation and analysis is one of my favourite aspects of storytelling, and I'm also very passionate about psychology and philosophy and such. And again, this is all in good fun and 100% not a rule on how to write characters! There's exceptions to everything and everyone's process is different, and while this advice might be helpful to some, it might not be helpful whatsoever to others, and that's completely fine!
I'd love to make more posts on topics like this in the future if people enjoy it, or if anyone has any specific requests on anything! :,)
How should I go about describing a character who goes through a lot, becoming more disheveled and desperate as the plot goes on?
Desperation is the emotion that drives characters to their limits, leading to their most intense and extreme behaviours.
By showing how characters become more desperate as your plot progresses, you can create characters that are interesting, dynamic, and relatable.
Here are some ways you can show desperation in your characters. As the plot moves forward, these elements can get worse, showing their decline.
How do they behave?
Obsessive and/or compulsive
Repetitive actions like hand wringing, or overuse of stock phrases
Self-destructive and risk-seeking
Enhanced aggression
Avoidant and isolationist
Manipulative
Exploitative
Short-tempered
Impulsive decision-making
Unrelenting pursuit of something
What physical signs do they show?
Heart palpitations and short, rapid breathing
Sweating profusely
Shaking or trembling
Sudden onset of nausea
Feeling weak or dizzy
Muscle tension
Headaches
Insomnia caused by worry and stress
Feelings of fatigue
Stomach pain and cramping
How do they interact?
Begging or pleading with others
Manipulating others to get what they want
Increasing paranoia and questioning other's motives
Pushing away loved ones
Becoming overly clingy
Either an inability to trust or being too quick to trust others
Self-sabotage
Single-focus conversations
What do they look like?
Unkempt hair and poor hygiene
Rumpled, slept-in clothing
Nervous tics, like fidgeting, pacing, or picking at nails
Extreme and unexplained weight loss
A haunted, faraway, or panicked look
Dark-rimmed, bruised eyes from lack of sleep or exhaustion
A constant sheen of sweat and clammy skin
Unusual clothing choices
What body language do they display?
Hunching over, as if trying to protect themselves
Fidgeting or pacing
Avoiding eye contact
Clenching fists or grinding teeth
Sweating or shaking
Staring intently at something
Repeatedly touching hair or face
Darting eyes and biting lips
Meek and under-confident stance
Pleading look
What is their attitude?
Feeling hopelessness
Sad and dejected
Becoming increasingly irrational
A loss of faith in themselves and others
Obsession to the point of resorting to extreme measures
A sense of helplessness
Blaming others
Feeling powerless
A sense of urgency
What are some positive things that can come out of desperation?
Increased motivation to achieve their goals or solve their problems
Resilience and adaptability in the face of adversity
Heightened creativity and resourcefulness
The ability to form deep and meaningful connections with those who share their struggles
Catharsis or character growth through their struggles
What are some negative things that can come out of desperation?
A tendency to become self-destructive or engage in risky behaviour
Difficulty forming and maintaining healthy relationships
Increased isolation or loneliness
Chronic stress and physical health problems
A tendency to make impulsive or irrational decisions
Prone to depression and anxiety
Types of Opening Scenes for Your Novel
Here are a handful of ways to open the very first scene in your book! There are plenty more to explore, but these are a set of very tried and true methods.
Autobiographic - your protagonist starts the book reflecting or talking about a past event. They’re looking back in time and sharing an important piece of information with the reader.
In trouble/conflict - a problem has arisen for the protagonist and a sense of urgency is established. This can be an intense conflict like a chase scene or a puzzling problem.
Mysterious opening - the reader is introduced to something peculiar (a fantasy location, unique magic, a cloaked figure, etc.) that raises questions in their mind. Their curiosity will keep them reading.
Scene-setting - the most common opening where you focus on introducing the setting and the characters in it before anything else.
The questioner - the protagonist is questioning something: “Who invited the guy in the trench coat covered in red?”
Beginning with a thought - the novel is started with a philosophical quote or meaningful thought from the protagonist. “What is living worth if she’s not doing it with me?”
Intriguing dialogue - the book starts with interesting dialogue that captures the attention of the reader.
Mood establisher - the novel opens with a deliberate mood that signifies to the reader what they should expect from the story. Ex. a spooky story may open with eerie words and a dark atmosphere.
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I have a few stories on the back burner but one that I'm trying to wrap my head around is about two characters who find themselves as leaders of their kingdoms. Both characters are juxtaposed with conflicting worldviews, and personality traits which has them hating each other. The issue I'm having is finding their purpose. Stuff that they believe in. I'm a little worried that these two characters will just end up being 2-dimensional.
Opposing Leaders Still Need a Conflict
You have a good start to the story, but there needs to be a conflict. The conflict can't just be that they hate each other. What is the problem that needs to be solved in their external world and/or their internal worlds? That's the conflict.
These characters have conflicting worldviews, but what does that actually mean in your story? What are the issues in these kingdoms or in the story world where these characters stand in moral opposition? A good example would be in A Song of Ice and Fire, when Daenerys Targaryen came into power, she was opposed to slavery, which put her in opposition with the many leaders in Essos who upheld it. Another example would be the members of the rebellion in The Hunger Games, who were opposed to the brutal and oppressive regimes of the Capitol, which put the rebels in opposition with the current President Snow and his regime.
Without a conflict, you don't have a story. But the conflict doesn't have to be a problem in the character's exterior world. It could be a problem within the characters themselves. For example, you could do an exploration of the internal conflicts at the heart of their worldviews (or perhaps as a result of them), and then do a change arc with each character where they change for the better or worse as a result of the story events. And you could have these arcs happen in parallel, where they're both going through similar arcs for different reasons, or they can be opposing, where they still end up in opposite places.
By making sure your story has a conflict, you can ensure that there's a purpose to the story, and that purpose gives your characters purpose and gives your story a foundation to build upon. :)
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5 Tips for Writing Best Friends
Friendships can make books more engaging for readers than romantic or family relationships. The trick is writing best friends in ways that feel real.
It’s why we love Gideon and Nico in The Atlas Six or Bree and Alice in the Legendborn series.
Here are a few tips to get you on the path to writing an incredible friendship that’s the backbone of your character’s arcs.
1. Make the Friendship Serve Both Characters
We’ve all read books where the protagonist has a best friend who seems to only exist when the protagonist needs something. They’re the main character’s source of stress relief and support, but real-world relationships serve both people.
Make sure you write scenes where the best friend also benefits from the relationship. They might come to the main character for support or call the protagonist when they need cheering up. The most minor moments can mean the most to readers.
2. Give the Friendship a Why
Why is the friendship so important to each of your characters? Maybe they met while experiencing a unique life event or a tragedy. Maybe one helped the other through a difficult time and later vice versa.
The why behind the relationship is key to making readers fall in love with the bond between your characters. Why they met might be the only thing holding them together when times get tough. Establish a clear motive to their solid connection and everything that happens afterward will be more impactful for the reader.
3. Create a Life for the Best Friend Too
Best friends need personality traits like protagonists. As you draft their persona during your planning or writing phases, remember to give them traits like:
Likes
Dislikes
Goals
Dreams
A history
These details shape who people are. They can also be the things that pull your protagonist and best friend together.
4. Set Up the Occasional Clash
Friendships are stronger when they survive the ups and downs. Turbulent times also make friendships realistic because friends never stay in just happy periods of their lives.
Make your two characters clash to learn through their arguments or mistakes, especially if they’re disagreeing about how to solve/accomplish your plot’s main goal. How they work through their differences and move past them demonstrates each character’s core values and how much they value their friendship.
5. Establish Honesty Early On
Best friends are honest with each other. Setting that up early on establishes a foundation of trust. It also sets up stakes when one character decides to lie to the other for a specific goal or purpose, even if they don’t like it. Without honesty, there’s no reason for the two characters to trust each other or remain best friends.
-----
Develop your best friends as separate individuals before merging them in your plotlines. You’ll create stronger relationships that pull readers in and keep them thinking about your story well after they turn the final page.
How To Write Friendships
🦢 ― &. FRIENDSHIPS . ( steps to develop friendships )
Good friendships can turn a decent story into a memorable one as, it not only does it make the reader care more about the story, it adds emotional weight to the story.
But there's one problem. Good relationships are difficult to write. You thought writing romance was difficult? Well, writing friendships is a whole new level of difficulty.
Romances normally rely on professions of love and staring into one's eyes for lengthy periods of time. But, how do you develop friendships?
1) Make Each Character Their Own Person.
If a character's only purpose in the story is to act as "the friend", then it's guaranteed that they will be a flat and uninteresting character. This will lead to a friendship that no reader will be invested in.
Unfortunately, a lot of stories are like this ― you have your main character, and then their 1-dimensional friend who might crack a joke every once in a while.
We have some good examples from movies like Samwise Gamgee from The Lord of the Rings. He isn't just "Frodo's friend" who tags along. He's a gardener and a cook. He has a fascination with elves, a crush on Rosie, and a bad habit of eavesdropping. He is loyal, brave, and can persevere even when there is seemingly no hope.
You see this is in Toy Story as well. Even though Woody and Buzz both have the same goal ― to escape Sid's house ― they both have different journeys. The story means different things to each of them .Woody learns to not be as selfish and Buzz struggles with accepting that he is just a toy.
2) Give Them Something In Common.
Once you have fleshed out your characters, you need a reason for them to be friends. What brought them together? What gives them the reason to hang out? You need to give them similarities.
This can be a number of different things, like:
Status
Hobbies
Struggles
History
Background
Interests
Enemy
Goals
Dreams
3) Give Them Meaningful Differences.
Once you've established their similarities, it's time to dig deeper and create their meaningful differences. Don't just make your characters different. Give them meaningful differences that can build off of each other.
With those differences, your characters can help support their strengths and build them up during their times of weakness. This can lead to a strong friendship.
Here are some great ways to give them differences:
1) Skills.
One of the friend can be smart in terms of intelligence while the other is good at using her hands and inventing stuff.
One might be good at coming up with plans, while the other might be good at improvising when the plan goes awry.
2) Conflict Resolution.
If there is a bully bothering them, one might want to go and blow up at the bully, while the other chooses to ignore it.
If they are having an argument, one friend would want to talk it out maturely, while the other just likes to play devil's advocate and throw more heat into the argument.
3) Personalities.
One is confident and sly while the other is shy and awkward.
A is cold and determined while B is relaxed and compassionate.
B is an easy-going pleasure seeker, and B is a serious planner.
4) Method of Action.
Both friends are trying to break into a house. One will look up videos on YouTube about how to pick a lock. The other friend will just break the window with a rock.
The two friends are trying to persuade someone to do something. One friend uses bribing techniques, and the other friend uses a more passive-aggressive approach.
5) Reaction.
One friend with freak out and the other friend will stay calm.
A will get discouraged and want to give up, and B will encourage them to keep going.
One person is terrified out of their mind, while the other tries to stay positive.
DESCRIBING THE PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES OF CHARACTERS:
Body
descriptors; ample, athletic, barrel-chested, beefy, blocky, bony, brawny, buff, burly, chubby, chiseled, coltish, curvy, fat, fit, herculean, hulking, lanky, lean, long, long-legged, lush, medium build, muscular, narrow, overweight, plump, pot-bellied, pudgy, round, skeletal, skinny, slender, slim, stocky, strong, stout, strong, taut, toned, wide.
Eyebrows
descriptors; bushy, dark, faint, furry, long, plucked, raised, seductive, shaved, short, sleek, sparse, thin, unruly.
shape; arched, diagonal, peaked, round, s-shaped, straight.
Ears
shape; attached lobe, broad lobe, narrow, pointed, round, square, sticking-out.
Eyes
colour; albino, blue (azure, baby blue, caribbean blue, cobalt, ice blue, light blue, midnight, ocean blue, sky blue, steel blue, storm blue,) brown (amber, dark brown, chestnut, chocolate, ebony, gold, hazel, honey, light brown, mocha, pale gold, sable, sepia, teakwood, topaz, whiskey,) gray (concrete gray, marble, misty gray, raincloud, satin gray, smoky, sterling, sugar gray), green (aquamarine, emerald, evergreen, forest green, jade green, leaf green, olive, moss green, sea green, teal, vale).
descriptors; bedroom, bright, cat-like, dull, glittering, red-rimmed, sharp, small, squinty, sunken, sparkling, teary.
positioning/shape; almond, close-set, cross, deep-set, downturned, heavy-lidded, hooded, monolid, round, slanted, upturned, wide-set.
Face
descriptors; angular, cat-like, hallow, sculpted, sharp, wolfish.
shape; chubby, diamond, heart-shaped, long, narrow, oblong, oval, rectangle, round, square, thin, triangle.
Facial Hair
beard; chin curtain, classic, circle, ducktail, dutch, french fork, garibaldi, goatee, hipster, neckbeard, old dutch, spade, stubble, verdi, winter.
clean-shaven
moustache; anchor, brush, english, fu manchu, handlebar, hooked, horseshoe, imperial, lampshade, mistletoe, pencil, toothbrush, walrus.
sideburns; chin strap, mutton chops.
Hair
colour; blonde (ash blonde, golden blonde, beige, honey, platinum blonde, reddish blonde, strawberry-blonde, sunflower blonde,) brown (amber, butterscotch, caramel, champagne, cool brown, golden brown, chocolate, cinnamon, mahogany,) red (apricot, auburn, copper, ginger, titain-haired,), black (expresso, inky-black, jet black, raven, soft black) grey (charcoal gray, salt-and-pepper, silver, steel gray,), white (bleached, snow-white).
descriptors; bedhead, dull, dry, fine, full, layered, limp, messy, neat, oily, shaggy, shinny, slick, smooth, spiky, tangled, thick, thin, thinning, tousled, wispy, wild, windblown.
length; ankle length, bald, buzzed, collar length, ear length, floor length, hip length, mid-back length, neck length, shaved, shoulder length, waist length.
type; beach waves, bushy, curly, frizzy, natural, permed, puffy, ringlets, spiral, straight, thick, thin, wavy.
Hands; calloused, clammy, delicate, elegant, large, plump, rough, small, smooth, square, sturdy, strong.
Fingernails; acrylic, bitten, chipped, curved, claw-like, dirty, fake, grimy, long, manicured, painted, peeling, pointed, ragged, short, uneven.
Fingers; arthritic, cold, elegant, fat, greasy, knobby, slender, stubby.
Lips/Mouth
colour (lipstick); brown (caramel, coffee, nude, nutmeg,) pink (deep rose, fuchsia, magenta, pale peach, raspberry, rose, ) purple (black cherry, plum, violet, wine,) red (deep red, ruby.)
descriptors; chapped, cracked, dry, full, glossy, lush, narrow, pierced, scabby, small, soft, split, swollen, thin, uneven, wide, wrinkled.
shape; bottom-heavy, bow-turned, cupid’s bow, downturned, oval, pouty, rosebud, sharp, top-heavy.
Nose
descriptors; broad, broken, crooked, dainty, droopy, hooked, long, narrow, pointed, raised, round, short, strong, stubby, thin, turned-up, wide.
shape; button, flared, grecian, hawk, roman.
Skin
descriptors; blemished, bruised, chalky, clear, dewy, dimpled, dirty, dry, flaky, flawless, freckled, glowing, hairy, itchy, lined, oily, pimply, rashy, rough, sagging, satiny, scarred, scratched, smooth, splotchy, spotted, tattooed, uneven, wrinkly.
complexion; black, bronzed, brown, dark, fair, ivory, light, medium, olive, pale, peach, porcelain, rosy, tan, white.
Storytelling Challenge: Character Motivation
“Every character should want something, even if it is only a glass of water,” Kurt Vonnegut said in his Eight Basics of Creative Writing.
A lot goes into developing relatable characters. You have to figure out how they look and behave. You have to have a sense of their back story. But perhaps the most important thing that ties all the character development together is why. Why do they do what they do? What motivates them?
Just like real people, your characters will be motivated by different things. For the story you’re telling, choose one thing to focus on.
You likely won’t mention it outright, but the motivation you pick will be driving your character’s actions and decisions throughout the story.
Developing Characters Through Motivation
When your characters aren’t fully developed yet, giving them something to strive for is a fantastic way to begin developing them.
How would they go about achieving that goal? What risks would they take? And why do they want what they want in the first place?
You can easily start a story by taking a character, giving them a goal and watching them trying to reach it. Of course, the problem is that there will be obstacles along the way.
Take the example from the beginning of the post: a character that wants a glass of water. That should be simple enough, shouldn’t it?
They go to the kitchen and take a glass from the cupboard over the sink. The tap sputters when turned on, and no water comes out. Weird.
The character goes to check the stopcock, the water is on. Did they forget to pay the bill? Perhaps there was an incident down the road, and emergency works are going on.
From here, the story can go anywhere from Jason Bourne-style spy thriller to a silly dispute with a neighbour-style comedy. All we started with was a character wanting a glass of water.
The Challenge
Join us this week and spend an hour or more writing a story where the protagonist wants something. Pick a goal or some kind of motivation and use it to develop the character as you work on the story.
If other characters will be working against the protagonist, what motivates them? Why do they stand in the way of the protagonist’s achieving their goal?
Here are a few examples of character motivation:
security — the character’s security is being threatened
success/recognition — the character working hard to achieve something
acceptance — the character wants to fit in
love/friendship — the character is looking for new friends or a partner
Join the challenge