Fiction Writing Workshop: Character

My friend, Rachel, has two Shih tzus who are her babies: Marley and Rosa. Rachel also has dozens of toy balls of assorted colors laying around the house. Marley has no interest in the toy balls; those belong to his sister, Rosa.

Rosa loves playing with the toy balls. When I visit, she’ll immediately bring one up to me so that I will throw it for her to chase. When she goes for her walk, she’ll hold a ball in her mouth like a pacifier. At the dog park, she’ll find an abandoned toy ball and add it to her collection. She’ll just sit in the grass with two or three toy balls between her front legs.

You see, Rosa is a hoarder. A toy ball hoarder.

I, too, am a hoarder, but in only one area of my life:  blog articles on writing fiction.

I subscribe to only eight hundred and thirty blogs on writing. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but many articles about writing pop into my news feed everyday. I pick out the ones I like. Sometimes I read them right away; sometimes I save them for later. I save the ones I like. Thanks to Microsoft OneNote, I have saved articles on all aspects of fiction writing in tabbed off sections, ready for me to peruse again and apply to my own writing. The problem is, I’ve gathered so many, the task of going through them is daunting. Like Rosa, I have many toy balls, I don’t know what to do with them. So I sit with them between my front paws.

Here’s what I’ll do. I’ve decided to go through the articles a few at a time each day. I’m inviting you to read the articles, too. Every few days,  I’ll post a few related to a fiction writing element. Today I’ve selected some archived delights on characterization in fiction.

This is the tip of the iceberg:

• Five Qualities to consider when developing characters – Descriptions of or references to your characters, their belongings, and their immediate surroundings say much about the people . . .
• How to Craft Compelling Characters – The source and exact nature of the curious phenomena we refer to as characters remains something of a mystery, but the craft of characterization is not . . .
• Three Traits Your Hero and Villan Should Share – When we think of good guys and bad guys, we think of people are diametrically opposed to one another . . .
• Creating Characters That Jump Off the Page – Imagine, if you will, The Fugitive with Ace Ventura as the lead . . .
• What Do Your Characters Want? – Motivation. It’s the powerful emotion that inspires people to get off the couch and grab a tub of ice cream . . .

See other Fiction Writing Workshops from this blog.