Do characters need to be likable? This is an age-old question that frequently comes up in fiction writing. Does your narrator or main character need to be likeable? If he or she is not likeable, will readers turn away from your story, or at best find it less appealing than they otherwise might? The short […]
Guest Blogger Nancy Lord | Do Characters Need to be Likable? Read More »
One thing that can be easily said about writing—there’s no shortage of resources to help writers hone their craft. In general, that’s a good thing. But this abundance also adds to confusion as writers try out different rules and formulae, determining in one way or another that there are “have-tos” involved in this enterprise. There’s
Deb Vanasse | What’s Your Misbelief? Read More »
This short piece reprises part of Daryl Farmer’s talk earlier this month in Anchorage, part of 49 Writers’ Reading & Craft Talk Series at Indigo Tea Lounge. The event was occasioned by his new book of stories, Where We Land. Tension, I tell my students. Dramatize, give your characters conflicts for them to resolve. This
Daryl Farmer | Writing the Indelible Moment Read More »
Let’s say you’re writing a novel, and somehow—maybe owing to the 24/7 news cycle or to the protest signs leaning against a wall in your garage or to the hours you’ve spent organizing indivisible enthusiasts—you come upon the idea of writing a narcissist into your fiction. Don’t do it. A narcissist operates like a
Deb Vanasse | Unfit for Fiction Read More »
When I was in fourth grade, there was a fat girl in my class. She wore glasses that slid down her nose and hair that hung lank and she had breasts (breasts!) when the rest of the girls in the class wore undershirts with one pink flower embroidered in the middle (bought two for a
Guest Blogger Cinthia Ritchie | Dazzled by the Past Read More »
For the last few years, I’ve been conflicted about something integral to fiction: writing characters with different backgrounds and experiences from me. I am white, and though I now live in Alaska, my family has deep roots in the south. I have benefited in pretty major and obvious ways from white privilege. I don’t want
Mary Catharine Martin | On Writing Characters Who Don’t Look Like You Read More »
I recently finished Tales of Burning Love, by Louise Erdrich. The book centers around a man named Jack Mauser, the women who love or have loved him, and their families. Jack is a womanizer—a woman-lover, one might say, as he approaches all his encounters with as pure a heart as a womanizer could. One of his (successive) wives is
Wondering how to make the characters in your story “developed” or real? Then start with reality. The reality is that we as humans have deep seated needs, wants, and often hidden desires. So too must our characters if they are to somehow come to life on the page and become important and memorable to our
Don Rearden: Creating Complex and Conflicted Characters Read More »
I try to create sympathy for my characters, then turn the monsters loose. Stephen King We all know how characters are revealed: by what they do, by what they say, and by what others say about them. Not a bad place to start, but for the writer it’s not enough. Compelling characters also have self-regard.
Deb: Window into Your Characters Read More »
“A story always involves, in a dramatic way, the mystery of personality.” Flannery O’Connor A stranger comes to town. Someone goes on a journey. The old adage claims every story is either one or the other. But where are these characters going? Who’s directing the traffic? Does anyone have an itinerary? These questions are vital
Deb: On the Road with Our Characters Read More »
