» 3 Charles Dickens Characters You Don’t Want to Meet The great English writer Charles Dickens is known for his well-crafted characters. While some of the characters we meet in Dickens’ novels are endearing heroes, others are sinister villains. Here are three Dickens characters you would never want to meet. Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist A career criminal, violent abuser, and murderer, Bill Sikes is at the top of the list of characters to avoid. This is how Dickens describes him: “…a stoutly-built fellow of about five-and-thirty, in a black velveteen coat, very soiled drab breeches, lace-up half boots, and grey cotton stockings which enclosed a bulky pair of legs, with large swelling calves—the kind of legs, which in such costume, always look in an unfinished and incomplete state without a set of fetters to garnish them. He had a brown hat on his head, and a dirty belcher handkerchief round his neck: with the long frayed ends of which he smeared the beer from his face as he spoke. Which Dickens character is your favorite villain?
Writing a Series Character I was a columnist for The Writer magazine for three years, and all of these articles originally appeared in that publication. Read other articles on writing » So, you’ve got an idea in your head for a fantasy novel, and what you’ve come to recognize as your writer’s intuition—that little “Hey! Shut up and listen!” But, if you do think that you’ve got more than one book brewing, there are a couple of questions you need to ask yourself, and things you need to think about, before you dive in. Is your protagonist better suited to a series versus a standalone novel? In each book in my Raine Benares series, the main conflict from that particular book is resolved at the end, but other smaller conflicts that popped up during the course of that book—and the story arc and the relationships between Raine and the people she knows and encounters—continue to change and grow. What kind of story do you feel compelled to tell? Carry character traits and quirks consistently from book to book.
Top 10 Tricks to Make your Villain Stand Out Welcome back to the column that breaks down gaming into what’s really important, ten things at a time! Any story arc needs a good villain. The best big bads are more than just another devil or vampire or dragon. These ten suggestions can help take your villain above and beyond the ordinary and give your players a more memorable game. 1. Means to Power. Why do people follow this villain? 2. The villain should have a single overriding goal that drives all his or her actions. 3. Along with the goal, place concrete steps the villain needs to take to reach the goal. 4. The villain should be making progress if nobody is stopping him or her. 5. Give your villain a weakness the adventurers can figure out and exploit. 6. Avoid faceless or generic threats. 7. Make the villain’s presence known in every corner of the campaign. 8. One of the best ways to make the villain’s presence known is by reusing symbols and calling cards. 9. 10. Powered By DT Author Box Written by loganbonner
Handling a Cast of Thousands-Part II by Will Greenway In the first section of this discussion (Handling a Cast of Thousands), we covered the concept of cast members and the importance of correctly selecting the viewpoints for telling your story. We covered some caveats about viewpoint and their effect on narrative. Lastly, we touched on the concept of foils, group dynamics, and skimmed the basic rules of character interaction and differentiation. It's time to press on toward "virtual layers". If you look up the word "virtual" you'll find that it means to artificially create a semblance of something that has no actual reality. The Story Your Characters See You might be thinking that you've always told the story exactly as it happened, right? Freeze! Why? Because you're God (of your fictional universe anyway) and dammit, that's the way it happened. Your narrative has a life of its own. Like the empty-handed fisherman, your characters have ego and motivation to tell the story as THEY see fit. Adding Layers Past: Present: Future:
3 1/2 Tips for Fixing an Unlikable Character I’ve mentioned several times that I struggle with writing unlikable characters when I first draft a story, and I know I’m not the only one. We often love our characters no matter what they do—even the villains. *smile* So we’re not unbiased readers when it comes to figuring out whether our characters are too unlikable. In any story, it’s difficult to balance not enough and too much of various elements. Not enough description can leave our readers confused about the setting or action details, while too much description can slow our story’s pace. On the character side, not enough flaws can leave our characters feeling flat or can make it difficult for readers to relate to them. Some genres can get away with flat, unrelatable, or unlikable characters, but others can’t. The 1/2 Tip: Tone Down the Character I debated including this tip at all—first, because it’s obvious, and second, because sometimes we don’t want to tone down the character. Toning Down a Character:
Handling a Cast of Thousands-Part III by Will Greenway Congratulations: you qualify as legitimate glutton for punishment! You're back for a third installment on managing groups of characters. From Writer to Director: Five-Act Scene Development As we look at composing more elaborate and involved scenes with several protagonists, various walk-ons, and extras, we need a structured approach that will assist us not only in visualizing the scene, but composing and choreographing what will happen within our scene. First and foremost, the scene must have a goal. Sometimes the goal may simply be getting the characters from point A to B. Once you have goal or target, structure events so as to hit that target. ACT I : The establishing shot -- the camera (narrative) eye gives us a quick overview of where we are and who is present. The next three acts are the rising actions, attempts to solve or reach the goal for this scene. ACT II: Introduction to conflict -- the hero tries to apologize but is rebuffed or something interferes.
9 ways to trick yourself into writing a novel November is National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo, for short). This is the year you complete the book of your dreams. Sometimes all you need is a little motivation. Trick yourself into completing your novel this month by trying one (or all) of the strategies below. 1. Treat yourself. Use the power of positive reinforcement by treating yourself with treats after finishing a specified goal. For example, once you finish a chapter in your novel, reward yourself with Nutella-covered strawberries. Associate the completing of a goal with a desired stimulus in order to acquire a positive association, which will hopefully continue to motivate you throughout your writing process. 2. Deadlines can be a powerful motivator when it comes to writing. First, organize your story into specific parts; this can be done by chapter or scenes, depending on your preference. 3. No, you won't actually die, but the program Write or Die can ruin your life. 4. Take cues from Nathan For You. 5. Image: Richard T. 6. 7.
Handling a Cast of Thousands-Part I by Will Greenway Few writing challenges are greater than doing justice to a large cast of characters in a novel or story. In fact, the difference between simply doing them justice and handling them well is a significant level of effort in itself. Sadly, this is one of those writer conundrums that is often best resolved with a "Don't do that if it hurts" solution. Getting a grip on your cast Cast members are reoccurring characters who are pivotal to your story. Aside from your main cast, there will be supporting roles, and often dozens of walk-on or cameo characters. Least significant, but always necessary, are walk-ons and cameos. Because of the limited time these characters spend in the frame, writers tend to make them more exotic, giving them odd quirks or ticks in order to make them interesting. Beware of "extras" with aspirations of star status. Don't promote these exotic latecomers to cast status. Casting couch -- criteria for success A viewpoint character carries a heavy onus.
A Simple 4-Step Process for Writing Your First Book in 100 Days It's on a lot of people's bucket lists, along with "go to space” or “walk through Central Park naked.” Okay, maybe that’s just my bucket list. Related: 5 Truths to Contemplate Before You Start Writing Your Book But my guess is, somewhere on your list too is the desire to write a book. I also know that the very thought of writing a book generally feels like a monumental task, probably something akin to launching a rocket into orbit. But I just did it. And now, look -- I'm not a professional writer. Here's that same simple, four-step process that you too can follow to get your book written in the next 100 days. Step one: Commit like Arnold. Have you ever seen old videos of Arnold Schwarzenegger? Are you? I want to have six pack abs. One of my all-time favorite quotes comes from Michael Jordan, who said, "Some people want it to happen; some wish it would happen. Step two: Define your word count. How many words do you want your book to be? For example, I wanted my book to be 100,000 words.
Creating the Hero Where would the Harry Potter series be without Harry Potter, or the Lord of the Rings series without Frodo? What would the Barbarians be without Conan? The hero of a fantasy novel will have a great deal to do with whether the novel succeeds or fails, so it's important to create a good one. Here are some guidelines to help you get started. 1. In some fantasy stories, the hero is not an orphan, but probably wishes to be. In either case, the hero starts out isolated, and thus is vulnerable. 2. 3. 4. 5. Creating a well-rounded and believable hero for your fantasy novel is the key to a story that keeps driving forward and will hold the readers interest along the way. Reference: Stableford, Brian - Writing Fantasy and Science Fiction - Teach Yourself Books 1997 LeFanu, Sarah --- Writing Fantasy Fiction - A & C Black 1996 Writer's Digest Books --- The Writer's Complete Fantasy Reference --- Writer's Digest Books 1998
Fiction Writing Mistakes Take advantage of our Instructor of the Month deal and get all of James Scott Bell’s bestselling books on writing (and more) for one heavily discounted price. Order Now >> The best fiction writers write like they’re in love—and edit like they’re in charge. First drafting should be a wild and wonderful ride, full of discovery, dreams and promises. Having reviewed hundreds of manuscripts over the years, I’ve identified the five mistakes that most regularly turn up. 1. Chief among the most common problems, in first chapters especially, are scenes presenting characters who are perfectly happy in their ordinary worlds. But readers actually engage with plot via trouble, threat, change or challenge. Seconds before our truck slams into the tree, I remember the first time I tried to save a life. Or it can be something quieter, a single item that is off kilter, as in the opening of Sarah Pekkanen’s The Opposite of Me: Lights were never on this early. I decided this was too happy. “Oops,” Stan said.