CALLIHOO Writing Helps. Character Feelings You can describe your character's feelings in more exact terms than just "happy" or "sad.
" Check these lists for the exact nuance to describe your character's intensity of feelings. SF Characters | SF Items | SF Descriptors | SF Places | SF EventsSF Jobs/Occupations | Random Emotions | Emotions List | Intensity of Feelings. National Punctuation Day. Tension. Hook Your Readers With Tension By Laura Backes, Write4Kids.com Tension.
Without it, life would be—let's face it—boring. So would fiction. Tension works with conflict to raise the emotional level of the text to a boiling point. It forces the reader to become invested in the story. "Tension" is a loaded word, and can be misleading. Tension is what hooks readers of any age and keeps them turning the pages. . * The ticking clock. . * Dialogue. . * Pacing. . * Sentence structure. Each story requires a different kind of tension. Laura Backes is the author of Best Books for Kids Who (Think They) Hate to Read from Prima/Random House. Copyright © 2002, Children's Book Insider, LLC. Rant on putting your characters through absolute hell. Well, this one was the winner by the most votes I’ve ever seen in a poll, so up it goes.
You’ll probably note pretty quickly that all the items on this list are psychological/emotional. Well, yes. I think scenes of physical pain, especially torture, are overused in fantasy, especially because authors have a tendency to forget about wounds whenever they would get in the way and just send their characters pelting off as if they’d never suffered. Also, psychological/emotional methods of putting people through hell mean that you get to use characters’ faults against them, and readers’ expectations for fantasy heroes against them.
This is much fun. (And if I sound like a sadist, I swear I’m not. 1) Create a situation that punishes the character for using his best qualities. The trick here is not to make the situation seem contrived. Fantasy authors create the most extraordinary people all the time. 2) Have him mistake a present threat or enemy for one from the past. A Simple Novel Outline – 9 questions for 25 chapters « H.E. Roulo. Just as every tree is different but still recognizably a tree, every story is different but contains elements that make it a story.
By defining those before you begin you clarify the scope of your work, identify your themes, and create the story you meant to write. At Norwescon 2011 I sat in on a session called Outline Your Novel in 90-minutes led by Mark Teppo. I’ll give you the brief, readable, synthesized version. Answer 9 questions and create 25 chapter titles and you’re there. Here are the 9 questions to create a novel: 1.) 2.) 3.) 4.) 5.) 6.) 7.) Get it out there! You have been logged out.
Day 1: creating a preliminary outline. Character sketches, like most aspects of outlining, are a process of brainstorming.
When you flesh out character sketches for your story, write down everything that comes to you, no matter how trivial. Remember to give all your main characters internal and external conflicts. This will bring your characters to life. When you first start using this outline system, you may find that you prefer to write your character sketches free form, rather than using a worksheet. Feel free to use Worksheet 1 in the way most useful to you: you can fill it out as it is, follow it loosely, or simply use it as a guideline for your own free-form character sketch. If you can picture your characters clearly – actually see them – the chances are that you'll write about them as if you know them inside out. Physical descriptions You may wish to attach certain mannerisms to some of your characters to make them unique. Personality traits This is the section where you detail what kind of person your character is.