Creating Characters

Happy Fall!

Have you got your sweater? Your scarf? Your pumpkin-spiced whatever?Then sit down and talk with us about character. 

Hemingway said, “When writing a novel, a writer should create living people; people, not characters. A character is a caricature.”

But how do we do that?

That’s the challenge, isn’t it?

We loved our classes on character with Eric Witchey, but the conference is already so far away! So, we searched the web for some articles to help you get started on creating characters that are living people. Check them out below.

Creating Characters

Here are a few articles to inspire and challenge you this morning. 

How to Fix Your Boring Characters

Head on over to the Writer Mag to find out more about making your characters much less boring and a whole lot more interesting.

Writing Evocative Characters

Over at the Creative Penn, Damon Suede suggests using strong language and action to bring your characters to life: “The real power of any characterization comes from actions, the verbs which reveal what characters make and take and break and fake.” 

Writing Outside your Own Experience

People often say, “Write what you know.” But what if you are stepping outside your comfort zone, and writing outside your experience? This article in Writer’s Digest has some great advice on writing diversity. 

Bonus Content — Characters in Avengers: Endgame

Want to take all your reading on character and apply it to a Marvel movie? Chuck Wendig is here for you. Click over to his blog to take a deep dive into character in Avengers: Endgame. 

Happy writing, friends!
creating characters