Having studied some techniques for writing intelligent characters, it seems only right that we should turn our attention to their less popular counterparts: unintelligent characters. “Intelligent” and “unintelligent” are descriptive expediencies. “Unintelligent” characters in particular are often used for comedic effect, but can be developed into more rounded figures if given a character arc or… Read More
In How to Be the Heroine of Your Own Story we discuss ‘Stasis characters’; these are characters who are endemic to the hero’s Stasis state and who exert pressure (whether well-meaning or not) to keep them there. The ghost in Hamlet is an archetypal character of this kind. Here are some of the persuasive (or… Read More
While Horace Walpole’s The Castle of Otranto isn’t exactly the most well-crafted narrative, I do think it offers some excellent shortcuts to crafting villains, in the character of Manfred, Prince of Otranto. Note: this article contains spoilers! ‘The next transition of his soul was to exquisite villainy.’ KIND CONTRAST Manfred’s villainy is in stark contrast… Read More
Character flaws are an interesting topic; far more involved than I had at first realised! The other day, I was sitting in the Lady Writers League study, drafting a Heroine Frame for myself — a Heroine Frame, in case you don’t know, is our one-page framework for character development — when Sir George appeared at… Read More
A character arc is a simple way to visualise your character’s progress through the story, whether it’s a binary comparison of their beginning and end states, or a point-by-point graph of their emotional ups and downs… Last week we studied how characters change, and this week’s worksheet offers a simple method for visualising that change.… Read More