https://youtu.be/9OJ8tWgmLQA K. J. Parker is a master of voice. His Siege Trilogy accents this mastery, providing the reader with narrators with personalities large enough they threaten to drown out most other voices. How to Rule an Empire and Get Away With It, the middle book in this trilogy, has to contend with a difficult task:... Continue Reading →
The Anatomy of Story, Chapter 4: CHARACTER, Part 2
If you missed Part one of this chapter, click here. CREATING YOUR HERO ...is a complex process that requires a number of steps. The most important outlook you need to have is that you must build the character in layers. Step 1: Meeting the Requirements of a Great Hero Make sure that your hero meets... Continue Reading →
The Anatomy of Story, Chapter 4: Character (Part 01)
Most writers come at character all wrong. They start by listing all the traits of the hero, tell a story about him and then somehow make him change at the end. That won't work. The steps we're gonna work through are the following: We look not just at our MC but at all characters together,... Continue Reading →
Writing Advice: Memorable Characters
How do we create memorable characters? Well, you'd need a dozen eggs, a bit of vanilla and seventeen cups of sugar to make your average Mary Sue; or you could whip yourself good old-fashioned one-dimensional characters by doing the same thing you'd do to get stale bread -- don't spend any time cooking them up... Continue Reading →