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How to Avoid Flat Characters in Your Story

February 25, 2025

How to Avoid Flat Characters in Your Story

February 25, 2025

Has an editor or critique partner said, “Your character is flat” when offering feedback on your story? Or perhaps they worded it another way: “Your protagonist didn’t grab me,” or…

Stocking Stuffers for Writers Gift #2 Is Here!

December 11, 2024

Stocking Stuffers for Writers Gift #2 Is Here!

December 11, 2024

Good news! Your Secret Santa (Godzilla) has dropped another writerly gift into your stocking. (And, if you missed the first gift he left for you, no problem. Just click through…

How to Hook Readers with Character Descriptions

October 24, 2024

How to Hook Readers with Character Descriptions

October 24, 2024

I think we can all agree that characters are the heart of a novel. We build worlds around our story’s cast, spend dozens of hours plundering their psyche to understand…

What Characterization Detail Gives Your Protagonist More Depth?

August 22, 2024

What Characterization Detail Gives Your Protagonist More Depth?

August 22, 2024

Every writer wants to write a character who stands out, drives the story to interesting places, and captures the reader’s heart. Why? Because characters with depth sell books. And of…

Using Clothes to Characterize

July 4, 2024

Using Clothes to Characterize

July 4, 2024

“Fashion is a language that creates itself in clothes to interpret reality.” This quote by Karl Lagerfeld is pretty heady. I’m still chewing on it, but what I gather is…

Differentiate Your Character with a Talent or Skill

May 2, 2024

Differentiate Your Character with a Talent or Skill

May 2, 2024

One worry that can plague writers is whether their characters are original enough or not. After all, readers meet a lot of characters over time, so how can writers make…

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…

Improve Your Storytelling in 5 Minutes

July 25, 2023

Improve Your Storytelling in 5 Minutes

July 25, 2023

What are writers chronically short on? Time. There never seems to be enough of it as we try to get the next book written, research our publishing options, keep up…

Introducing…The Character Type & Trope Thesaurus!

April 1, 2023

Introducing…The Character Type & Trope Thesaurus!

April 1, 2023

Character building is hard work, and when we see certain types of characters appear again, and again in fiction and film, we wonder if there’s a way to start with…

How to Use Real Life to Inspire Your Fiction

December 15, 2022

How to Use Real Life to Inspire Your Fiction

December 15, 2022

The memoir section in any book shop is made of writers who have done outlandish, shocking or terrible things (or had them done to them). These books are popular because…