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Characters
Use Details to Create Realistic Characters

Use Details to Create Realistic Characters

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Most of us were readers before we were ever writers. We learned to appreciate the lure of a good story long before we tried crafting one. We’ve all stayed up past bedtime, planning to stop reading as soon as we finish the next chapter. But somehow one chapter multiplies into several more. We’re reluctant to leave the story world that’s captivated us, and if we don’t find out what happens to the characters we’ve come to care about, we’ll be unable to sleep.

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4 Essential Aspects of Any Character Flaw

4 Essential Aspects of Any Character Flaw

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Crafting three-dimensional characters is a complicated process involving a distinct voice, engaging descriptions, consistency, and a significant amount of luck. Why luck? Because a reader’s ability to connect with your character will depend on his own life experiences.

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Enliven Your Story’s Descriptions by Infusing Them with Character

Enliven Your Story’s Descriptions by Infusing Them with Character

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A unique setting isn’t about how you describe it, but about how a character perceives it. Everything in a story revolves around characters, including setting. Descriptions are not foreign elements that must be incorporated solely because characters need a place to plant their feet. Showing the setting through the eyes of a character gives it purpose, direction, and meaning.

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How to Kill Characters without Enraging Readers

How to Kill Characters without Enraging Readers

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“I have no plans to die today,” said every main character ever. In most modern media, being a main character is a free ticket through the story. Convenient for characters, but boring for readers. That’s what I talked about last month: killing characters and convincing readers that disaster could happen at any moment in your novel.

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3 Reasons You Should Kill a Main Character

3 Reasons You Should Kill a Main Character

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Have you ever finished reading a story and your response was meh? You didn’t hate it or love it—the story just existed. Have you ever read a story that was exactly what you expected after skimming the back cover? I have. I don’t reread those stories. When people sit down to read a book, they’re eager to be taken on a journey.

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Developing Unexpected Comic Relief Characters

Developing Unexpected Comic Relief Characters

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Comic relief characters have become a byword for flat characters in many creative communities. They’re quickly spotted and scorned by editors and other critics. For the most part, comic relief characters deserve that treatment. They’re often two-dimensional, predictable, unimportant to the plot, and useless overall.

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