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Character Flaws

Character Secret Thesaurus Entry: Coveting Someone Else’s Life

November 2, 2024

Character Secret Thesaurus Entry: Coveting Someone Else’s Life

November 2, 2024

What secret is your character keeping? Why are they safeguarding it? What’s at stake if it’s discovered? Does it need to come out at some point, or should it remain…

Character Secret Thesaurus Entry: Monitoring Someone Without Their Knowledge

October 19, 2024

Character Secret Thesaurus Entry: Monitoring Someone Without Their Knowledge

October 19, 2024

What secret is your character keeping? Why are they safeguarding it? What’s at stake if it’s discovered? Does it need to come out at some point, or should it remain…

Character Thesaurus Entry: Using a False Identity

October 5, 2024

Character Thesaurus Entry: Using a False Identity

October 5, 2024

What secret is your character keeping? Why are they safeguarding it? What’s at stake if it’s discovered? Does it need to come out at some point, or should it remain…

Does Your Character’s Behavior Make Sense?

August 29, 2024

Does Your Character’s Behavior Make Sense?

August 29, 2024

Have you been in a situation where someone acts erratically, and not in a good way? It takes you by surprise, doesn’t it? Imagine this scenario: you’re sitting around the…

What’s Your Character Hiding?

July 25, 2024

What’s Your Character Hiding?

July 25, 2024

Being able to write realistic, consistent, multi-dimensional characters is vital to gaining reader interest. Doing so first requires we know a lot about who our characters are—you know, the obvious…

How to Generate Powerful Story Conflict

January 11, 2024

How to Generate Powerful Story Conflict

January 11, 2024

Conflict is a powerful tool for storytellers, allowing us to place roadblocks, challenges, adversaries and more in a character’s way so the road to their goal is much more difficult.…

The Character Trait Boxed Set Is On Sale

December 16, 2023

The Character Trait Boxed Set Is On Sale

December 16, 2023

Usually on Saturday, we share a new thesaurus entry, but, well…we had a bit of a family dust-up here at Writers Helping Writers that we need to address. You see,…

How to Create a Protagonist with True Depth

November 7, 2023

How to Create a Protagonist with True Depth

November 7, 2023

Some characters are so dynamic, we feel immediately close to them. Everything they say, do, and think is consistent with who they are, they have a past and present, and…

Writing Flawed Characters Who Don’t Turn Readers Off

October 10, 2023

Writing Flawed Characters Who Don’t Turn Readers Off

October 10, 2023

No one in the real world is perfect, and so characters shouldn’t be either. To seem as real as you or me, they should have flaws and strengths, and these…

Five Commonalities Between Heroes and Villains

August 3, 2023

Five Commonalities Between Heroes and Villains

August 3, 2023

In story terms, a villain is a person, entity, or force who is cruel, evil, or malicious enough to wish the protagonist harm. Rather than simply blocking a goal or…