character development -

09Aug 2016 by dlgunn

16 Quick character exercises

Writing

I(and many of the writers I follow) subscribe to the theory that character is the most important part of your novel. The most memorable part of a good book is almost always the characters, but it's more than that. Your characters, their emotions, actions and reactions are the driving force behind the story, even in story with a highly external plot. It's why our books so often change dramatically from the outline during the first or second draft--because we've gotten to know our characters and realized they wouldn't act the way we originally imagined. So how do you get to know your characters? There are almost as many different methods as there are writers. Hell, I'd go so far as to say there are as many ways to develop characters…

21Oct 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

Using setting to develop character

Learning the craft, Nanowrimo, Writing

Any writer who's been at this a while will tell you that in the best novels, setting, plot and character are intertwined. One cannot exist completely separate from the other, and they all influence each other to make a whole, interesting story. This means that building upon one aspect of your novel often informs work you're doing on other aspects. The history of your world, particularly the development of prejudice, impacts how your characters behave and are perceived. If one or more of your characters are in marginalized groups in the society you've created, they're going to interact differently with other characters and be treated differently too. Of course, how you can play with discrimination in fantasy settings and how that impacts characters' lives is an article in its own…

19Oct 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

Ultimate Character Resource List

Learning the craft, Nanowrimo, Writing

If you've followed more than a couple blogs about writing fiction for a while, you've probably noticed that most writers will claim one of two things is the most important aspect of any novel: character or plot. And before you ask, I suspect the only author you're likely to know of who thought worldbuilding truly was the most crucial aspect of story was Tolkien. (Feel free to mention others if you know about them. I don't.) You might be wondering what I have to say on the matter, and just to satisfy your curiosity I'll give you the short answer: I think it depends on the writer and the story. Which is really my short answer for everything to do with writing a novel, because it's hard to say anything…

14Oct 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

Developing your world by examining adulthood

Learning the craft, Writing

Every culture throughout history has had some sort of tradition that marks the transition from childhood to adulthood. These traditions vary widely, ranging from wild parties to vision quests to marriage--which often involved a massive party anyway. Now that pretty much everybody lives to adulthood and a great many people aren't religious, the vast majority of us don't celebrate adulthood with some ancient cultural tradition, but we do celebrate. Oh, and adulthood starts much later now than it did a couple hundred years ago, when fourteen year old girls were commonly married and fourteen year old boys were working. Today's challenge is to write a story about one of your main characters making the transition from childhood to adulthood. Pay particular attention to these things: What age does adulthood begin at in…

07Oct 2014 by Dianna L. Gunn

Getting to know your characters through a character diary

Uncategorized

There are at least as many different ways to create believable, interesting characters your readers can care about as there are good writers. In fact, after all the time I've spent running around looking for resources on character creation in the last couple of weeks, I suspect there might actually be more character creation and development exercises than there are writers--quality or otherwise. One of my favourite ways to get intimately familiar with my characters is to create a character diary for them. Here's how it works: Every day for a specified period of time--whether it's a week, a month, or just until Nanowrimo starts--you write one page describing a normal day in your character's life. This should be at some point shortly before your story begins, so you know…

21Oct 2013 by Dianna L. Gunn

Keeping Factsheets

Nanowrimo, Workshops, Writing, Writing

Last year I wrote about creating a factsheet about your story, but this year I'd like you to take it to the next level. I'd like you to create factsheets—pages of point form notes—documenting everything you know about the following things: Your world— what time period is your world set in? What are the places your characters live in called? Is there magic or high technology? Perhaps there's no technology. How do they document time? What religions are common? Anything you know about your world should be put on one piece of paper you can easily refer to as you write your novel. Every character— every character that has a significant part to play in your story should have a fact sheet with every piece of information you know about…

14Oct 2013 by Dianna L. Gunn

Diving into your character’s mind

Nanowrimo, Workshops, Writing

Hopefully by now you have a fairly solid main character to work with if nothing else. You want to know that character as well as you possibly can before you start writing your actual novel. This is particularly important if all you have is a character, because an entire novel can spring up naturally around a good character you know well. Their family, friends and lovers can become characters and their lives can become plots. You can either discover a period of their life worth writing about, or you can learn how they react to things and throw them an entirely new challenge that will test their strengths. Every writer uses different techniques to get into their character's minds. Some use character interviews, others create detailed character charts. Some even…

12Oct 2012 by diannagunn

Naming Characters

Inspirational, Nanowrimo, Writing

If you're like me, your characters go one of two ways: they either come with a name, or you spend hours or sometimes days trying to find them names. A name is--usually--only one or two words, but sometimes it can be the hardest one or two words you'll ever right. Names come with enormous pressure: you have to pick something pronounceable, something that's culturally appropriate, and something that suits your character. Since I've struggled with this many times myself--and am currently trying to select a name for the main male character in my Nano 2012--today I decided to share some methods for finding names. The first thing you should try is a basic mindmap. Put "names" in the center and brainstorm as many names that are phonetically similar to the…

10Oct 2012 by diannagunn

Robin Burks on Character Development

Guest Post, Inspirational, Nanowrimo, Writing

Today's author is debut novelist Robin Burks, whose novel, Zeus, Inc. began as a Nanovel. I hope you'll give her a warm welcome and enjoy her thoughts on character development. * * * * What makes a good character in a story? Character development is something every writer has to think about. A good character is key in readers enjoying your work and a good character will keep readers coming back for more of what you write. But where to begin when creating a character? I tend to look at my own personal characters from an actor's perspective because of my background in theatre. I ask myself about their motivations and I put myself in their shoes and try to react to situations in a way that I would if…

08Oct 2012 by diannagunn

Character Creation

Nanowrimo, Novels, Workshops, Writing, Writing, Writing: The Process

You might have already gotten a few ideas for characters during your brainstorming last week. Or you might be scrambling to figure out who might fit into the plot you've been trying to plan. Whether you've got a host of characters and are trying to figure out who will be your main character or you're just starting to delve into character, there are a few simple questions you can ask yourself to create the best characters to match your story and your world. But first, a warning. The best characters take on a life of your own, and will do unexpected things, occasionally drastically changing your plot. This can happen even in later drafts. If this starts happening--or you realize during this line of question that the person you thought…