Writing Tip of the Day-Creating Characters

All characters may be created on the manuscript pages by including:
•An accumulation of physical descriptions with interesting details.
•A past that has resonance within the story.
•Core beliefs which dictate character actions.
•Complexity created by unexpected responses to events.
•Emotional reactions of ever increasing intensity.

Writing Tip of the Day-Characters

Learning your main characters with charts and questionnaires can be helpful, but most characters are actually created on the page. Every thought, comment and physical reaction adds to the impression gained by the reader. The best way to make a character "real" is to filter events through her/his perceptions, allowing the reader to watch the story unfold through the eyes of the point-of-view character.

Writing Tip of the Day-Characters

The Character Questionnaire is a list of questions you create for your characters in order to map their internal life. It is, in effect, an interview in which you explore their ambitions, ideals, fears, dreams, regrets, losses and longings.