The ‘girlboss’ trope has grown increasingly popular in many books and films. She’s usually a headstrong, young, fighter woman that beats up a group of guys in order to save the day, and she’s meant to be a positive role-model for girls all around the world. However, these kinds of characters don’t often successfully do…
Characters are the core of every story. Recently, I read a book that reminded me just how much value well-written characters add to a book. Although the plot was cringy, the ending was predictable, and the author couldn’t help patting his protagonist on the back (over and over again), I enjoyed the book for its…
Anti-heroes. The characters that are too bad to be good, but too good to be fully bad. Some people like to overuse the troupe, while others…avoid them altogether. Why? Well, some would argue it’s because they’re too complicated. But, if you’re the latter group of writers here, you should know that, while anti-heroes can be…
I love when all the pieces of the puzzle seem to fall into place in the last few minutes of a movie. An off-hand comment about an arbitrary topic turns out to be the missing piece of a broken world (The Map of Tiny Perfect Things), or a humorous line by a cartoon character turns…
Romance is hard to read sometimes. And it’s not because you don’t like the characters in the romance. (Actually, you might really like the two people involved.) But when they’re acting romantic…something just doesn’t hit right. You don’t feel like the characters belong together and every ‘romantic’ scene comes across as forced or cheesy. We’ve…
Everyone knows a story is supposed to end with “happily ever after.” And after putting your characters through some of the most traumatic events of their lives, it can be hard not to reward them. I mean, who doesn’t want a happy ending? But not all stories are fairy tales. And there can be dangers…
A few weeks back I wrote an article explaining how to include a good theme into your story to make it wholesome. This week, I’d like to show you how this can be a bad thing, if pushed to an extreme. Have you ever sat down to watch a movie, read a book, or just…
Character development can be so difficult to maintain. It is easy to highlight flaws and areas of growth in your characters throughout the first few pages. But after the action-packed plot takes over and an exciting series of events plunges your characters (and hopefully your readers) headlong into an amazing story, character development can get…
We’ve all seen the classic story. A brave individual is tasked to go on a quest that will determine the fate of the world. They have to pack supplies, maybe a weapon or two, and a few friends for support. Said friends (the people we writers call a side character) follow them wherever they go,…
The more I read, the more convinced I become that the single biggest factor for creating relatable characters is desire. More than having a fear or a goal or a fun personality, once you understand a character’s desire, every action becomes clear, and each plot point has a special meaning. It impacts the characters (and…