Writing Tips

Characterization

1. Thoughts to Ponder

Whose voice are you using? Where do you get your characters? Do you hate or love them? Who are the primary/main characters? Who are the secondary characters? when do you push the envelope?

2. Create characters that are not perfectly predictable.

If the reader knows what is going to happen, when it is going to happen, what is the use of reading the book.

3. Avoid the temptation of making your protagonist too perfect.

Everyone has flaws, good, bad or ugly. We all have them and so should the characters.

4. Choose names with care.

A lot is put into the main characters. You do not want them to have name that people hate.

5. Don't include everything you have imagined.

Leave some of the imagining up to the reader. Surprises are wonderful.

6. Develop your antagonist.

They have to be well rounded, sympathetic, complex.

Excellent resources on Characterization:

The Baby Name Survey Book, Bruce Lansky and Barry Sinrod

Goal, Motivation and Conflict, Debra Dixon

Characters and Viewpoint, The Elements of Fiction Writing, Warner Digest Books.