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Talking Character

Talking Character
Building Characters: Start with What You Know

If you’ve ever been involved in building a house or a major remodeling project, you understand how overwhelming it…
July 20, 2018
Talking Character
Your Character’s Backstory—Use It Wisely

Every fictional character has an entire life’s worth of backstory that happened prior to the opening of your novel.…
June 20, 2018
Talking Character
Keeping a Character File

Do you have a method for capturing the bits and pieces you use to create memorable, complex characters? If…
May 20, 2018
Talking Character
Use Setting to Define Character

You can learn a lot about a person by visiting their house or office. A writer can use that…
April 17, 2018
Talking Character
How Characters Evolve in a Series by Lisa E. Betz

Why do we love a good series? Because we love the characters and the kinds of situations they get…
March 20, 2018
Talking Character
Writing Historical Characters

Sometimes fiction authors write about real people. Especially those who write historical fiction. Real historical characters can add a…
February 20, 2018
Talking Character
Which Comes First, Plot Or Character?

Plot and character. Two halves of any great story. Both are critical, whether you are telling a character-driven literary…
January 20, 2018
Talking Character
How to Create Great Character Bios by Lisa Betz

A character bio is a collection of information that delineates and describes a fictional character. It is a tool…
December 20, 2017
Talking Character
Five Questions for Portraying Anger

Anger comes in many shades, from miffed to murderous. Each shade looks and feels different. When a person is…
November 20, 2017
Talking Character
Confused Characters Who Don’t Confuse Readers

The trickiest part about conveying confusion is to convey it clearly, without confusing the reader. Ann Hood in Creating…
October 20, 2017
Talking Character
Are Your Characters Too Consistent?

Do you always tell the truth? Do you use the same tone and vocabulary when speaking to your friends…
September 20, 2017
Talking Character
Give Your Character Attitude

Dig deep and you’ll find attitude, and when you find attitude, you find voice. ~ James Scott Bell in…
August 20, 2017
Talking Character
Developing Your Character’s Voice

I was once in a bus full of high school students when I heard a boy behind me read…
July 19, 2017
Talking Character
Dos and Don’ts for Describing Characters

A writer must find the perfect balance when describing characters, especially when introducing them to a reader for the…
June 19, 2017
Talking Character
The Power of a Two-Word Character Thumbnail

Can you describe you characters with only two words? I ran across this simple question in James Scott Bell’s…
May 19, 2017
Talking Character
Your Character’s Skewed Worldview

In any good story, the protagonist can only achieve her external story goal by first overcoming a deep inner…
April 19, 2017
Talking Character
What Does Your Protagonist Want? (And Why Can’t He Have It?)

A protagonist without a clear goal has nothing to figure out and nowhere to go. Lisa Cron in Wired…
March 19, 2017
Talking Character
Do You Know What Your Character Is Doing?

What is your main character’s goal? The thing that drives her through the story, no matter how many obstacles…
February 19, 2017
Talking Character
5 Character Development Exercises

Go shopping This non-writing exercise can help you connect with your character in a tangible way, by interacting with…
January 19, 2017
Talking Character
How Selfish Is Your Protagonist?

We writers love our protagonists. We give them a few flaws and quirks, but we know that underneath their…
December 19, 2016
Talking Character
Different Temperaments, Different Fears

The heroine of the mystery novel I am working on needs certain qualities to be a good sleuth. Things…
November 19, 2016
Talking Character
Moving Beyond Clichés

I struggle when it comes to writing descriptions of character emotions. I know better than to simply tell the…
October 19, 2016
Talking Character
Body Language: What Your Character Is Really Saying-Lisa Betz

If actions speak louder than words then a character’s body language is an important part of dialogue. And yet…
September 19, 2016
Talking Character
First Impressions Matter, Part 2: Utilzing Point of View

How we introduce our characters should be designed to create the reaction we want in our readers. Is the…
August 13, 2016
Talking Character
First Impressions Matter–Part 1

Scientific studies confirm that we humans make a host of judgments about a person based on the first few…
July 7, 2016