How To Create Archetypal Characters

Archetypal characters have a bad name.  Many writers think such characters are two-dimensional stick figures that come off more like plot robots than real people.  But the truth is that archetypes represent essential human qualities that need to be explored in every story, such as trying to solve the story’s problems through logic as opposed […]

How To Create Archetypal Characters

Archetypal characters have a bad name.  Many writers think such characters are two-dimensional stick figures that come off more like plot robots than real people.  But the truth is that archetypes represent essential human qualities that need to be explored in every story, such as trying to solve the story’s problems through logic as opposed […]

What Drives Characters?

As writers, we all know that characters need drive or their actions will come across as unmotivated.  But what is drive, and where does it come from? At a minimum, every character needs a reason to explain the choices they make and the things they do.  For example, the ex-con who has made a new […]

Characters: Cogs in the Machine?

From a structural standpoint, characters are just cogs in the machine.  They have a job to do in the story as a protagonist, antagonist or any one of the functional roles that must be filled for the story to make sense and move forward. But characters are much more than that! They also need to […]

Creating Characters in 7 Steps

In this article you’ll discover a technique for drawing characters out of a one-sentence description of your story called a log line. These steps are excerpted from the all-new version 4 of our world-famous StoryWeaver Software that carries you through 200 story development steps to a completed novel or screenplay. Introduction Characters are the heart […]

Creating Characters in 7 Steps

In this article you’ll discover a technique for drawing characters out of a one-sentence description of your story called a log line. These steps are excerpted from the all-new version 4 of our world-famous StoryWeaver Software that carries you through 200 story development steps to a completed novel or screenplay. Introduction Characters are the heart […]

When Characters Make Excuses

When a child comes up with a false reason for some small transgression, we know he is just making an excuse to avoid punishment or to side-step a negative emotional response. Adults continue to make excuses; they just do it in a far more sophisticated way.  What’s more, we often make excuses to ourselves, convincing […]

Characters: The Attributes of Age

Some writers tend to create characters that are more or less the same age as themselves. Other writers populate their stories with characters of all ages but have them all act as if they are the same age as the author.  On the one hand, this follows the old adage that one should write about […]