Writers Helping Writers^®

Characters

The Secret to Creating a Really Good Bad Guy

March 5, 2015

The Secret to Creating a Really Good Bad Guy

March 5, 2015

By CS Lakin Don’t you just love to hate really great bad guys in novels? A list of the most intriguing villains in literature includes characters such as Moriarty in…

Vulnerability: The Key to Compelling Romantic Relationships

March 3, 2015

Vulnerability: The Key to Compelling Romantic Relationships

March 3, 2015

The connection between two characters is one of the most magnetic forces in storytelling, especially in romance novels. Whether they welcome the relationship, fight it, or fall somewhere in between,…

How to Write Vivid Character Descriptions: Be Invisible!

February 17, 2015

How to Write Vivid Character Descriptions: Be Invisible!

February 17, 2015

One of the most difficult areas of description is when it comes to showing the appearance of a protagonist, especially when writing in first person POV. We need readers to…

Writing 101: Building a Balanced Character

January 7, 2015

Writing 101: Building a Balanced Character

January 7, 2015

Here’s the truth about compelling characters: they’re neither good nor bad, perfect nor fundamentally flawed. Instead, they’re all of these things. Each character has a set of good, admirable qualities…

10 Reasons Why Your Protagonist Needs Flaws

December 14, 2014

10 Reasons Why Your Protagonist Needs Flaws

December 14, 2014

When we see the word Hero or Heroine, we think heroic, which is ironic as they are often jaded, lost, and brimming with flaws and false beliefs about the world…

How Morals and Basic Needs Influence a Character’s Strengths

October 28, 2014

How Morals and Basic Needs Influence a Character’s Strengths

October 28, 2014

Since writing The Positive Trait Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Character Attributes, I’ve been thinking about how personality traits are formed. Flaws are important for a character to have—and, let’s be…

Emotional Description: 3 Common Problems with Show & Tell

September 23, 2014

Emotional Description: 3 Common Problems with Show & Tell

September 23, 2014

Writing compelling emotional moments is the lifeblood of any story and the key to building a relationship between characters and readers. Yet steering clear of the show-don’t-tell pitfalls requires practice…

Using the Dark Side of Your Protagonist’s Best Qualities

August 19, 2014

Using the Dark Side of Your Protagonist’s Best Qualities

August 19, 2014

Every hero or heroine needs attributes and strengths to see them through the tough times ahead in the story, yet like all things, positive traits have a dark side. Anything,…

How to Keep your Story Moving and Your Character Believable

August 5, 2014

How to Keep your Story Moving and Your Character Believable

August 5, 2014

One of the most common characterization mistakes writers make is granting their characters too much self-awareness. That sly pitfall puts tension at risk, limits believability (I’ll tell you how), and…

Hidden Emotions: How To Tell Readers What Characters Don’t Want To Show

July 7, 2014

Hidden Emotions: How To Tell Readers What Characters Don’t Want To Show

July 7, 2014

One of the struggles that comes with writing is when a character feels vulnerable and so tries to hide their emotions as a result. Fear of emotional pain, a lack…