Author, Filmmaker, Eccentric
[This blog was originally published in Night Owl Reviews]
Crack open any Storytelling 101 book and it’ll tell you conflict is your story’s engine. Every story since the history of forever has centered around someone trying to solve a problem; otherwise, it’s not a story so much as a series of anecdotes, or an aside, or your drunk uncle’s ramblings.
Continue reading “3 Easy Steps to Write a Compelling Villain”[This blog was originally published in Night Owl Reviews]
Please don’t tell me you’ve got a binder or notebook stuffed with pictures you found on the Internet of what your main characters look like, along with facts about them like their favorite color, the first song they danced to, their ideal vacation spot, etc. I mean, you can do that if you’re bored…okay I did that on my website as part of a promotion for my book Reckoning. But don’t mistake this for character development, because it’s not.
Continue reading “Forget Your Protagonist’s Favorite Color: The Only Thing You Really Need To Know About Your Characters”[This blog was originally published in Night Owl Reviews]
Characters in your head are not real people, no matter what a platitude typed in Corsiva font scrolled across a picture of a quill tells you. They are not people, and they don’t do anything you don’t make them do. To think otherwise is to have a fundamental break with reality, and please see your doctor to adjust your medication dosage accordingly.
Continue reading “How To Create “Real” Characters”