If you’re writing a fantasy story, or any story containing magical themes, it’s pretty likely that you’ll end up including some kind of magical curse (also known as a jinx or hex) in the storyline somewhere. A curse can provide a straightforward backstory and motive for a character (not just …
Curse Your Characters! (Writing About Magical Curses) Read More »
Character motivations are the driving force behind all stories. Without motivation, no one would want to go off on an adventure, take risks, fall in love, or do any of the things that make a story worth reading. Motivation is necessary in order for a story to have any plot, …
Character Motivations: The Key to Crafting Believable Characters Read More »
It’s not uncommon for a character in a story to become concussed—in fact, when was the last time you read or watched someone get knocked unconscious after being bashed in the back of the skull? It was probably recent, wasn’t it? However, despite that being a popular tactic for writers …
A character developing amnesia in the middle of the plot is a favorite trope in both television and literature alike. Almost every major drama has had an episode (or an entire season) centered around a character who forgets major things about their life, such as who they are, where they …
Unreliable narrators allow you to get more creative with how you tell your story, which can make it more complex and interesting to read. However, writing an unreliable narrator is no easy feat, since there are many things you need to do well throughout the entire narrative in order to …
What is an Unreliable Narrator? (And How to Write One!) Read More »
So, you want to write an Autistic character. That’s great! Unfortunately, most writers fall short of portraying Autistic characters well. If you want to avoid offensive stereotypes and make your Autistic characters accurate, doing the proper research is essential. There’s a lot of misinformation about autism in mainstream media, so …
Fear is a complicated emotion that involves pronounced emotional, physiological, and behavioral elements. To write fear well means you’re going to need to address each of those elements, while also taking into consideration the character’s personal history and why their fears developed. Like any of the major emotions, fear has …
Dialogue plays a huge role when it comes to writing a story, so it can be a bit daunting to include a character who doesn’t (or can’t) speak. Many writers make mistakes when writing a nonspeaking character, or they end up relying on old stereotypes and tropes that frankly everyone …
If you want to create a more diverse cast of characters for your story, including a nonbinary character is a great place to start. Gender variance is an often overlooked aspect of diversity, and, even in stories that prominently feature other LGBT+ characters, nonbinary people don’t often get to see …
Body language is an essential part of bringing your characters to life, and yet, many writers struggle to find a balance between drawing no attention to the characters’ body language and obsessing over the way their characters move. If you don’t describe how your characters move in a scene, you’re …
Writing Body Language: Bringing Your Characters to Life Read More »
