Characters are complex fictional beings with different physical attributes, backstories, and emotional wounds, but one of the most overlooked ways to distinguish them is by character voice. Writers can get creative with how they present their characters and give them lifelike voices that will entertain readers. There are seven specific ways writers can show character voice, which include giving characters' accents, slang or jargon, diction or word choice, tone or volume, phra

First-person point-of-view is known to be the hardest kind of point-of-view for most writers to write because it requires them to literally "get inside of a character's head" or for them to become the character themselves. This requires skillful writing and being almost submerged within a single character, and just one reason why I rarely write in the first-person point-of-view. Writers also have to thoroughly know the focal or viewpoint character well, such as their though

In previous blog posts, I've discussed the four operations in characters, and the generic and complex emotions characters feel when...

Let's say you're a hiker lost in a national park while being on a camping trip. You're troubled and concerned about your safety; but...

In my previous blog posts, I discussed nine generic types of characters and five common story characters in fiction, but what actually creates a character? What brings them to life off the page for readers and allows them to connect with them on a personal level? What are the things that make readers want to root for them, care for them, relate to them, or make them want to know what happens next in the following chapter? What makes realistic characters? Is it their physica