![]() ![]() It also won the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year in 2016. Her portfolio can be found at so stop by and read for a while.With over 2 million copies of her books sold worldwide, number one bestseller Clare Mackintosh is the multi-award-winning author of I Let You Go (Little Brown, 2015), which was a Sunday Times and New York Times bestseller and the fastest-selling title by a new crime writer in 2015. Developing them will help bring your tale to life, but taking the time to plan them out prior to writing is a great way to make them real to you and your reader.Ībout the Author: Dawn Arkin is an author on which is a site for Writers. Your characters are as important to your story as your plot. A basic idea of their attire is enough for most readers. ![]() You do not need to tell every single piece of clothing your character is wearing. Unless clothing change is crucial to your story’s plot limit your fashion descriptions. It will go a long way to keep the continuity of your books intact.Ī note on describing clothing. It costs you nothing to keep a notebook with your character sheets and reference it when writing the next book in your series. ![]() While most casual readers won’t catch that kind of mistake, your dedicated readers will. As an avid reader of series books, it is amazing the number of times a character’s eyes have been dark blue in one book and dark brown in another then gone back to blue. Do not rely on your memory when it comes to writing each book. When writing a series of books about the same characters, it is imperative to keep some kind of record of their traits. It is a good way to focus your character’s information, and could be used in your story. Finally, have a profile summary, taking everything you have for the character and write up a one or two paragraph summary. Break it down into 5 year spans, unless your character is fairly old, then go with 10 year spans. You also should have a rough background and timeline for this character, from childhood through the start of the story. ![]() Strongest personality traits: Weakest personality traits: Needs of the character: Ambitions: Father’s name: Age: Physical appearance: Mother’s name: Age: Physical appearance: Sibling’s names and descriptions: Favorite sayings: Interests and hobbies: Favorite foods: Favorite colors: Pets: Education: Religion: Financial situation: Future plans: Possessions this character values most: What drives your character: How does your character handle conflict: What is standing in your character’s way: What is their favorite room and why: What vehicle do they drive: Favorite sport(s): What are your character’s prejudices: How does your character feel about love: About crime: What is their neighborhood like: What is your character’s philosophy on life: What is your character’s family life like: Character sheets with more detailed physical description, personality traits, and an extensive background will go a long way to making your story one that pulls a reader in and keeps them reader from beginning to end. Novellas and novels require the most detailed characters because they are as much character driven stories as plot driven. Use the above information and add the following:Ĭharacter back story: Identifying marks: Facial features: Hand features: Scent: Mannerisms or gestures: Novellas and Novels You have more leeway with your character’s descriptions and can even give background information, which will make them more real for your readers. Short stories have a higher word count, so the characters in those should be more developed. These should be enough to create a flash fiction character. Name: Age: Height: Weight: Hair color and style: Eye color: Complexion and skin tone: Character’s body build: For most flash fiction, you only need the most basic character information. You have to create a story with just the minimum of words and it has to make sense. Writing flash fiction is one of the hardest types of writing. For simplicity’s sake, I’ve broken my character sheet down into what I use for each type of writing. The length of your tale will dictate the amount of character information you will need to make them come to life. Well, that depends on the kind of story you are writing. But how much do you really have to know about them before you start writing? You want to create a realistic group of characters to move your plot along and to do that you need to know them. For fiction, you need the right combination of plot, action, description and character development to bring your story to life for your reader.Ĭharacter development can be one of the most important things about writing fiction. You need the right ingredients in the right amounts, or it will turn out awful. Writing fiction is a bit like baking a cake. ![]()
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