The Inner Struggle: Guides for Using Inner Conflict That Make Sense. By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy I sat in on an amazing workshop while I was at RWA that made something typically vague very clear and applicable.
Michael Hague's Using Inner Conflict to Create Powerful Love Stories. It was one of those workshops that discussed what I already knew, but Hague presented it in such a way that I clearly saw a super easy way to apply inner journeys to my stories. While the workshop was about romance specifically, the pieces of Hague’s inner conflict really work for any character journey. He calls the overall arc the “journey from living in fear to living courageously.” Let's take a peek at Hauge's basic inner conflict arc: Longing or Need: The thing the character longs for or needs in the story. If this doesn’t say “inner goal” I don’t know what does. (More on goals here) Wound: A past wound or hurt that is a current unhealed source of pain.
The wound might be some deep dark secret, or it can be how the character grew up. Mary Sue Test. Background A Mary Sue is an unrealistic type of literary character commonly created by inexperienced authors.
Although they vary, a typical Mary Sue has an unreasonable number of cool or special traits, especially ones the author wishes he or she had, and they tend to accomplish things too easily, solve problems too neatly, and become the center of attention whether they deserve it or not. This test aims to help authors evaluate whether their characters are in danger of becoming Mary Sues by drawing attention to potentially problematic traits. However, authors should remember that a Mary Sue is a subjective classification.
There is no such thing as a "Mary Sue trait"; any trait can be part of an interesting, well-balanced character. When taking this test, be honest, but keep it in perspective and remember context. The test has seven sections: Basic Tips To Create Better Characters With Tragic & Traumatic Backstories. First, ask yourself why you're giving your character a tragic or traumatic backstory.
Are you giving your character this backstory to build up/explain what kind of person your character is now? Or are you doing it mainly to make readers or other characters feel sorry for your character, or to make your character seem more badass/tough for having survived the ordeal? Or are you doing it mainly to give your character a reason to run away from home and/or have nobody to be attached to so xe can go hang out with the cool characters with nothing to pull xir away? Common, Yet Terrible Character Descriptors - And How To Fix Them. When asked to describe their characters, many people tend to use the same over-generalized descriptors over and over.
The result tends to be what I call a "Forer profile" - it's so vague that it can fit any number of characters - all of whom are wildly different - equally well. And when the same character description could fit a sneaky trickster as it could a determined soldier as it could a grad student opening a florist's shop, that's a problem. So, I'm going to outline how to give more and better information on your character to give people a better idea of what sort of person they're reading about. For the sake of simplicity, we'll go with "animals" for most of this particular section. So You Wanna Write/Play A Powerful/Talented Character That Probably Won't Be Perceived As A Mary Sue?
Many, many, many times I've seen people complain that they can't write or play powerful characters without these characters being labelled as Mary Sues.
I really have only one thing to say to this: it's probably either because your characters are Mary Sues, or because you're presenting your character the wrong way. Sure it's not the former? Okay, then let's get on to how you can present your character so people probably won't grab the torches and pitchforks. The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test. Stuck with a case of massive writer's block?
Has your muse gone on indefinite hiatus? Or are you just bored? Check out the random generators - with a click of a button, you can create characters, names, settings, items, and more for your creative works! The Universal Mary Sue Litmus Test How to use this test: First, if you're unsure of what a Mary Sue is, please read this page. Introducing Characters - First Impressions. Introducing Characters - First Impressions by Melanie Anne Phillipscreator StoryWeaver, co-creator Dramatica When your reader/audience first meets your characters in a story, it has the same effects as when you are introduced to someone in real life.
First impressions have a tremendous impact that you can use either to establish or mislead your reader/audience as to the true nature of each character. You might tell your reader/audience all there is to know about a particular character right up front. But for another character, you may drop little bits of information over the whole course of the story. Then there is the question of who shows up first? Creative Writing Course. In this fifth session in my free creative writing course, we will be looking at writing characters.
In creative writing we become, in a way, like God. In short stories, novels and poems, we construct a world then fill it with people who take on a life of their own. Iris Murdoch described a novel as ‘a fit house for free characters to live in’. How far a literary construct can have free will is an ongoing philosophical debate; more pertinent to writers is whether plot should follow character or the other way around.
Character, Plot and Message. How Male and Female Characters Think. How to Write Characters. Try Dramatica & StoryWeaver Risk Free* *Try either or both for 90 days.
Not working for you? Return for a full refund of your purchase price! About Dramatica and StoryWeaver Hi, I'm Melanie Anne Phillips, creator of StoryWeaver, co-creator of Dramatica and owner of Storymind.com. How Not To Write Female Characters. There are already a lot of articles around on how to write female characters.
That’s all well and good, but I think it’s a lot less restrictive to have an itemized list of things you shouldn’t do. It also might be easier to digest than lengthy essays. Also, this list is intended for people with more testosterone, but since I’ve seen young female authors screw up their own young female protagonists, estrogenites are perfectly allowed to read this too. Like all my advice, this is subjective, in no particular order, and should be taken with a small pile of grains of salt. Guide for Writers: Characters. Most stories are remembered for their characters, not specific plot points. If you want to write a memorable story, create memorable characters. They do not need to be believable — they need to be dramatic. It Takes Two Often, the best stories are deceptively simple: there are two main characters for the reader to follow.
Other - How to Create Realistic and Believable Characters. Characters - The Attributes of Age. Characters: The Attributes of Age By Melanie Anne Phillips Introduction Writers tend to create characters that are more or less the same age as themselves. On the one hand, this follows the old adage that one should write about what one knows. But in real life, we encounter people of all ages in most situations. Alignments, Allegiances, and Loyalties. So, you want to write about a villain who stops being so villainous, and perhaps even becomes a hero? Or do you want to write about a hero who becomes more of a "dark" hero, or even an outright villain?
Or a character who just plain switches sides? This is a subject that is often handled badly, with the character progression coming off as forced and contrived. So, here are some tips that should help you write a more plausible shift, whether you're writing an OC for a roleplay or fanfiction or a character for an original work. First, don't think in terms of "good/evil deep inside.
" Improve Your Character Writing. Look through the eyes of the opposition. By now, you’re probably used to seeing the world through the eyes of your protagonist. Now, try seeing the world and your protagonist through the eyes of characters who disagree with or even outright hate your protagonist. Get in-character as these characters for awhile and grok the world from their POV for awhile.
Can you, in the shoes and mindsets of these characters, justify the things you were having these characters do in-story? If not, chances are good that these characters’ actions won’t come off as believable to the audience, either. You might also create two new characters, both of whom are neither wholly good nor bad. Plotting, Conniving, and Manipulating. Plotters, connivers, and manipulators are a popular character archetype, showing up as villains and heroes alike.
Write Better Ensemble Casts. Another fine article contributed by J. Avoid homogeny, if possible. Writing Masculine Characters. Write Better Chosen Ones. In every other fantasy story, there is a Chosen One. Xe can alone defeat the Big Bad and save the universe. Unfortunately, Chosen Ones are incredibly easy to completely bork up. Writing Cute Characters. Wonder Baby Syndrome. I took stock of commonly-disliked canon progeny and tried to work out what they had in common. After reviewing various disliked offspring, I've noticed that they tend to exhibit the following three traits: Writing Children. Your Character May Be Boring. This article explores some extremely common reasons that characters end up turning out bland and uninteresting. Female Characters and Their Stories. The following is a list of tropes and elements that are lacking in female characters in fiction (particularly in the Internet fiction I find) these days that would be nice to see more often. Create and Write Better Non-Protagonist Characters (NPCs)
For the purpose of this article, the term “NPC” and “PC” shall refer to “non-protagonist character” and “protagonist character,” respectively. Not only will they refer to PCs and NPCs in the traditional sense (“non-player/playable character” and “playable/player character”), but also to to non-protagonist characters in non-interactive fiction (eg, TV, books, movies). The reason being, the advice in this article applies to both RPG NPCs and non-protagonist characters in non-interactive fiction, and some forms of roleplay (eg, fandom and play-by-post roleplays) can blur the distinctions between the two.
They need to be treated as people with their own lives, and not merely as stepping stones or obstacles for the protagonists. Many times, NPCs aren’t treated as actual people who have lives, dreams, and problems of their own but as little more than walking, talking objects that have little purpose other than helping or hindering the heroes somehow. Writing Sympathetic Morally-Ambiguous Characters. Writing Mentally Ill and Insane Characters. Writing Characters Who Are Good Leader Material. Things To Know If Your Character Will Be Augmented Or Experimented Upon. How Not to Create a Villain. Creating Great Heroes and Heroines. Basic Tips To Write Better (And More Likeable) Badasses. How to Write a Character From Start to Finish.
Character Development. Creating the Hero. Craft Compelling Characters. Handling a Cast of Thousands-Part I. Handling a Cast of Thousands-Part II. Handling a Cast of Thousands-Part III. Writing a Series Character. The Worst Thing That Can Happen to Your Character. Characters With Conflict & Backstory. Avoid Overactive or Inactive Supporting Characters. Essential Elements of Character Creation. Developing A Manipulative Character. Make your Villain Stand Out. Write Better Bad Guys. Create an Antihero That Readers Will Love. Write Better Characters. What Body Shape Are You? The Most Important Things To Know About Your Character. Developing Characters. Secrets and Lies for Your Characters. Writing a Novel with Unforgettable Characters.
Write From the Opposite Gender. Characterisation. Mind-Blowing Heroines. Creating Convincing Characters. Creating Compelling Characters. Convincing Male Characters. Unforgettable Support Characters.