Book Review: Characters & Viewpoint

Book Review: Characters & Viewpoint

One of the best writers of fiction for young people, Orson Scott Card also penned Characters & Viewpoint, published by Writer’s Digest Books. No matter where you are in your writing journey, this book reinforces generally known conventions in character...
Classifying your characters

Classifying your characters

My child is a Dungeon Master. Nope, that doesn’t mean that they torture people, it means that they lead Dungeons & Dragons games. In fact, they spend a great deal of their free time playing and writing new scenarios the lead others through. Yes, people have been...
Making Villains Real

Making Villains Real

What makes a villain? Does someone like the mustache twirling character from cartoons come to mind? Or perhaps it’s Mr. Goldfinger (pictured here)? Is your villain a thoroughly evil character or just someone who wants to ensure your protagonist doesn’t get what they...
Do your characters have to grow?

Do your characters have to grow?

It’s an honest question. You might think that because I’m a romance writer and one who is always talking about goal, motivation, and conflict that I would be standing here screaming “Yes! Characters must always grow. They must always learn something and develop as a...
Archetypes

Archetypes

Archetypes. They’re not stereotypes! I’m delving into creating characters for my next Zodiac novel and fooling with archetypes. Definitions Stereotypes are an oversimplification of a type of person—the evil, mustache twirling villain who does bad things for the pure...