Tag: Characters

When it comes to writing a story, there’s no denying that the characters play a large part in the process. The plot is the story, but without good characters, readers just won’t stick around long enough to get invested in it. In order to keep readers interested in the story, you have to have characters[…]

Giving a character insomnia can be a great way of establishing their personality, and that can set the stage for future internal struggles later on in the story. As with almost anything, this is better to “show not tell,” but the difficulty here is doing so in a way that isn’t mind-numbingly boring to read.[…]

Everybody loves a good villain, but every writer knows that creating a good villain is one of the more difficult things to do. Regardless of whether you want a sympathetic, lovable, or truly despicable villain in your story, you need to put a lot of work into their character to evoke the strongest emotions in[…]

Intoxication is a complex biological process, and it can affect people in a variety of different ways—making it a particularly difficult thing to write about. However, the acts of drinking, partying, and drowning sorrows in a bottle are prevalent themes in our world and in literature.  Chances are, you’ll have to write a drunk character[…]

Minor characters are an often grossly underutilized tool in storytelling. Any good story is going to be filled to the brim with extras, whether they’re neighbors, store owners, teachers, or even creepy gravediggers that tell the main characters the haunting history of their town. Minor characters are constantly appearing in stories to do one small[…]

Annoying children are unfortunately overly prevalent in literature and media. It’s not that writers deliberately create these characters to be annoying, but they end up that way when they aren’t given the same amount of backstory and personality as the adults in the story. Child characters deserve to have just as much care and development[…]

This is it—the big moment! Your characters are about to meet the enemy that has been ruining their lives, they just have to walk down a long, imposing hallway to get to his office. The scene is meticulously crafted and eerie, and you’ve thought out exactly how you want to build the suspense as your[…]

Sometimes, a story just needs a creep. Whether you need to creep out your characters for a brief moment, or foreshadow the development of a major antagonist with creepy behaviors, you need to be able to effectively write a creepy character. However, that isn’t always as easy as it sounds. How can you create a[…]

When you’ve put a lot of time and care into crafting the perfect character for your story, it can be difficult to give them any trait that could be classified as a “flaw.” After all, you want people to like them, and giving them a morally dubious, gross, or selfish quirk could damage readers’ perceptions[…]