Fresh, unique ideas sell books, right? Not necessarily. Even the freshest idea must follow specific ‘rules’ or elements of the genre. Don’t believe me? Then why in almost every romance novel the main character has one or more dead parents and the poor orphan was often raised by a kindly/odd/distant aunt or uncle? Or better…
Tag: Traits
The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Non-Human Characters
Birds and beasts, werewolves and vampires, fairies and trolls, rakshasas and dragons and inari okami (and did you think of a western European dragon or a Chinese dragon)? Aliens. Some or all of these can populate your work . . . for good or ill. Liesa Malik and I will be talking about writing non-human…
Creating Dynamic Characters
As you’ve probably noticed, there are a thousand-and-one approaches to character development. A lot of writers use work sheets that ask for details ranging from eye color and shoe size to favorite song and which high school the character graduated from. I think these sheets are awesome, but since I am not detail oriented and get easily distracted, I have yet to complete one. Inevitably I get bored and wander off to write something more exciting.