Acing Character Voice – Writing Advice

Character voice is extremely important, no matter the story. Character voice, particularly in POV characters, is how a character sounds to the reader. The narration is distinctly theirs, recognizable through patterns of thoughts and use of language as well as tone. Every character has a different way of thinking, a different perspective on the world,...

Character Arcs: Examples From Mistborn

I group character arcs into two main types, with one being external (physical changes like gaining abilities or growing stronger) and the other being internal. In this post, I’m going to be talking about internal arcs. Also, for internal arcs, there are positive arcs and negative arcs. Vin, the main character from the Mistborn trilogy,...

Story Basics: Main Characters

Your main character can make or break the story, because they are such an integral part. They play a central role in the plot, and the whole story revolves around them. Because of the weight they have in the story, you need to make sure you write them correctly.  In part, it’s important that your...

Clear Character Design

Clear character design can be a challenge, but it's important to start with the basics and build up from there. There are two parts to character design, internal and external, or personality and aesthetic. Starting with internal design, you want to start with one or two key, defining traits. These are the character's most prominent...

Character Introductions

Don't be tempted to take the introduction of your characters lightly, because their first moments in the story are incredibly important. Those first moments with a character can and should be used to 'set the tone' for that character. Their first scene should be an introduction of their personality, a short peak at who they...

Story Basics: Characters (+ Checklist)

Characters are the heart of the story, even if it's a plot driven story. Well written, distinct characters will make your story memorable. It can be hard to build distinct, developed characters, but once you learn how to do it, your stories will be much better. Often, we develop our characters throughout the first drafts...

NaNo Help: Characters

Characters are the most important element of story telling, at least in my opinion. Without them, nothing would be worth reading. To write a good novel, you have to have great characters, and you have to know them well. And with NaNoWriMo, when you're trying to write an entire novel in a month, its extremely...

Preptober!!

Today is the first day of October, and for those of us who are doing NaNoWriMo, that means the start of Preptober! You may be wondering what Preptober is, because you've never heard of it before. I hadn't heard of it until last year either. Preptober is the month before NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month,...

My Drafting Process: How I Write

I've been writing for over three years now, novel writing that is, and I've learned a thing or two about what works for me, and what I really shouldn't try to do. So today, I'll be going over my drafting process! How I go from inkling to full blown, publishing quality work.Related: Six Mistakes I...

Character Hooks – How To And Why You Need A Great One

At first glance, writing a great character intro may not seem like the most important thing, not when there are so many other things you could be focusing on, but really, it is. A good character intro is so important, it can directly affect the success of your story, or how memorable it is. You...