Making the secondary characters feel three-dimensional is a challenge that all writers face. In many books, only the main character is given life: all the other characters are just supporting players who facilitate the main character’s journey. None of them have more than one facet to their personalities, they merely perform roles: the gay best [...]
(Occasionally, I repost entries that newer readers might have missed. Today’s post is originally from December 22, 2008) 1. Choose names for members of a culture that follow a cultural thread. Names don’t have to be so similar that they’re indistinct, or rhyme, or all have the same vowel-consonant patterns. But in most successful science fiction [...]
How important is it for a writer to communicate a character’s motivation? Character motivation is critical to writing, but it should not be expressed directly to the reader. It’s the perfect case for the old phrase, “Don’t tell it, show it.” It helps me to think of motivation as an acting word more than a [...]
The easiest way to make a support character feel like a gratuitous plot-enabler is to make them a stereotype, to fill the same sort of niche we always see them fill. “A rude waitress has to spill the coffee on her so that she has to go home and change clothes and that’s how she [...]
Incorporating real live people or historical figures (real dead people) in your fiction is a decision that should be approached with thought and care. I wouldn’t say I’m not in favor of it, but I’m wary of it. It’s one of those things that’s very difficult to do well, and often it doesn’t need to [...]
