characters tagged posts

Episode 26- Newbie Writers Podcast

March 31, 2012 Newbie Writers Podcast  7 comments

Episode 26

Stereotypical Behavior

We stereotype every day all the time. One glance and I already know all about you — it’s called stereotypes. We have a great deal of information to process on a minute-by-minute basis, and as humans we often create quick categories to drop people into just to make the day a little easier. That is normal and fine, as long as it stays in your head or in a journal entry. Once you begin describing people on paper, more work and research is required.

A woman in the Chanel suit alights from the Lexus SUV in front of Saks Fifth Avenue.
What do you think about her? Is she a good person? Is she someone with whom you can be friends?

Stereotypes work in our heads, they do not work in fiction, non-fiction or God help you, business or marketing. ManyRead More

Diary of a Newbie Novelist

March 20, 2012 Diary of a Newbie Novelist  2 comments

Something was wrong. It was like an irritating itch I couldn’t scratch, preventing me driving the story forward. And then I realised. One of my principle character’s names wasn’t right.

Our characters’ names are important – they define them in our mind, form the basis of the many layers it takes to build them, making them feel real.

When writing An Unfamiliar Murder, I opted for a combination of traditional and conventional for my lead, DCI Helen Lavery. This mix defines Helen: a strong, independent woman with a passion that pushes her to go that extra mile, occasionally adopting unorthodox methods to make a difference, to keep us safe. Yet, she is also a mother, juggling the challenge of single parenting teenage sons with managing one of the most responsible and demanding jobsRead More

Episode 14 – Newbie Writers Podcast!

December 31, 2011 Newbie Writers Podcast  No comments

Newbie Writers Podcast

Episode 14 31/12/2011

Character Assassination:

What do we love about books? What do we remember? Not what happens,
but rather, who the characters were, what they said. Why they said that.

We remember the characters we care most about. Why do we love Jane
Austen? Because of the intricate plots? Not really.
The story? Please, we know the story. What we love are the characters, the strong women who get into trouble because they blurt out what they are thinking, the handsome hero who is just misunderstood, the spunky friend from whom we wish as much happiness as we do wish for the heroine. We love a good character.

Listen to what you say when you play a movie for the fifth time, it’s not
about the plot or the story — you just want to see the hero or heroine again.
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