Shape Your Dreams
Before I have a story to write, I have a main character. Usually not anything solid, just a few details, a rough sketch of who they are. A female. A mercenary. A woman far from home. Sometimes I even have a name but usually, this is one of the final bits to come into place. Why? Because a character is not just a name, a… →
So last week I mentioned that we should develop our settings as if we were developing our characters. I am sure some of you asked “Well how do I develop a good character?” Well I am glad you asked, lets try and answer that shall we! To write good characters your have to know what they are composed of. Most of our literary heroes are brave, selfless, good with a sword, trustworthy and graceful, others heroes tend to be exact opposites of these. A good character is a very subjective thing, ask a table of ten writers who their favorite literary protagonists are and you will get ten different responses. This is because a good character is as complex as anyone you might meet on the street one day. There is no set of attributes that will automatically make your hero come alive. There is no magic formula for making perfect characters.