Writing Characters Using Conflict & Backstory
Seven Steps To Creating Characters That Write Themselves Creating characters that are believable takes time and discipline. Creating dynamically real individuals and not imposing your own thoughts and impressions upon them is not easy to do, and is often the difference between a novel or screenplay that sits in a closet and one that finds its way around town and into the hands of audiences. You must first agree to operate from the understanding that the three-dimensionality of your characters is not created magically. The complexity that you desire comes through: Labeling their desire essencesLabeling their fear essencesGetting specific about their pastLabeling their behaviorRaising their stakesNot meddling in their livesLetting them play Asking provoking questions in line with these steps, answering them thoroughly, and then repeating the process, provides constant individual growth in your characters that mirrors life. 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Emotions are extreme. 6. 7. Find the Essences
3 Types of Character Arcs: Choose the Best for Your Novel
How Does Your Character Change? You know your character must change somehow over the course of your novel. But how? And more than that, how do you sync the changes with the external plot? The middle of a novel can suffer from the dreaded “sagging middle” and it’s mainly because you don’t have a firm handle on the character’s inner arc and how it meshes with external events. I’ve found three approaches to the inner arc, each trying to laying out how the character changes. Hero’s Journey: Quest for Inner Change In the Hero’s Journey, laid out so well in Christopher Vogler’s book, The Writer’s Journey, a character receives a Call to Adventure that takes him/her out of the normal and ordinary world into a world where they must quest for something. Melanie as an Example So, we’ve got Melanie who wants more than anything else to get her mother’s approval, but can’t because her mom’s a chef and Melanie can’t cook worth a flip. Iron Sharpens Iron – Friendships Back to Melanie: Flawed Way of Coping
How to Pick Character Names: The 7 Rules of Choosing Names for Fictional Characters
Choosing a character name for your novel is as pressure-filled as picking a name for a baby. It has to suit the character’s personality, makes sense for the era and, most important, be super awesome (sorry friends, the awesome name of Brian A. Klems is already taken by this guy). Names like Harry Potter, Holden Caulfield and Stephanie Plum are memorable not just because of the amazing stories they navigate, but also because these names “fit” those characters so well. You need a name that “fits” your character too. I stumbled upon these seven great rules for choosing character names offered up by popular mystery writer Elizabeth Sims (the Rita Farmer Mysteries). This guest post is by bestselling author and writing authority Elizabeth Sims. 1. It’s better to call a character Caleb, which means “faithful” or “faithful dog,” than to overkill it by naming him Loyal or Goodman—unless you want that for comic/ironic purposes. 2. 3. 4. Need an idea for a short story or novel? 5. 6. 7.
City Generator
Random City Map Generator
The Random City Map Generator creates a "random" city or town map suitable for fantasy and other role-playing games (RPGs) such as Dungeons and Dragons, Pathfinder, GURPS, HERO and many others. Note: you can try out version two of this tool. Because the map is made from layered images, to save or print a map you need to either: Take a sceenshot (print screen key) and paste into an image editor; Or print the page to a pdf file (Macs have this built-in, PCs may need a product like "cutePDF".) See more caveats and planned features below. Planned Features/Caveats Yes, the streets are too ordered for most cities... a couple of completely different street layouts will be added and they will be more random/meandering. Copyright 2010 Inkwell Ideas, Inc.
| The story begins in The Lane
Back to the Story Spine | Aerogramme Writers' StudioBack to the Story Spine
I created the Story Spine in 1991 and, over the years, I’ve been thrilled to watch more and more people use it, teach it, discuss it, and even modify it in order to make it their own. One of my favorite modifications is the addition of “And, the moral of the story is…” at the very end. Over time, however, some of its permutations have become less powerful, I think, than the original due to a missing link here or a different word there. To see how it works, let’s find the Story Spine in two famous movies: The Incredibles Once upon a time there was a superhero named Mr. Every day, he grew more and more frustrated with his stifling, boring life. But one day, he accepted a secret superhero job from a mysterious stranger. Because of that, he fell into the diabolical trap of this mysterious stranger who turned out to be Syndrome, a super villain with a long-time grudge against Mr. Because of that, Syndrome was able to capture and imprison Mr. Until finally, Mr. The Wizard of Oz Like this:
Tech Tools for Writers: Storyometer
Tech Tools for Writers: Storyometer By Stephanie Ostroff A writer armed with the right technology is a force to be reckoned with. If you're an author who's learned to embrace the Digital Age, it's probably dawned on you that the Internet is a friendly place for wordsmiths. Sure, there are the myriad distractions fighting for our eyeballs (and precious time!) Yet, we'd argue writers have plenty more to gain than lose from digital innovation. At just under $8 a pop, you really can't go wrong downloading the Storyometer app to your iPhone or iPad. For the price of a Gingerbread Latte and a scone at Starbucks, you'll have a portable: Idea library. Intrigued? The Storyometer for iPhone or iPad from Storyometer LLC on Vimeo.
According to Stephen King, It's All in the Opening Line - The Reader's Nook
According to Stephen King, It's All in the Opening Line In a 2013 interview, consummate horror writer Stephen King stated that "an opening line should invite the reader to begin the story... it should say: Listen. Come in here. You want to know about this." And we agree wholeheartedly. After all, when's the last time you forged ahead in a book whose opening failed to demand your attention? King goes on to consider voice, established in the first sentence, and it's ability to either capture or repel a reader completely: "For me, a good opening sentence really begins with voice. Gawker recently released a list of what they believe are the 50 best first sentences of all time.
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