: Re: Thinking as a character Months after starting my first novel (which hasn't made any progress and is still in its first draft) I feel I can only react to a given situation rather than create

I've heard that you need to discover your character's strengths and weaknesses, motivations, and their backstory. Get to know your characters and what makes them special. Good characters should have these things directly influencing each other. If you understand what makes your character who they are, what motivates them, ect., then you can understand how they specifically would respond to a given situation.

As for the issue of them reacting to situations and not creating them (if I'm understanding you right), maybe it's an issue of active vs. passive characters. Main characters should be active (their decisions directly influence the plot), rather than passive (the plot influences them - active characters can be influenced by the plot, but their choices should matter).

One resource I've learned a lot from is the YouTube channel Writing With Jenna Moreci (be warned that she does use a lot of humor and bad words to relay her extremely helpful and intelligent information). She has videos that go into detail about character backstories, arcs, and active vs. passive characters.

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: Is a new paragraph line needed in dialogue when a character responds with actions? For example: "Move!" I immediately side stepped him. OR "Move!" I immediately side stepped him. I know a

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: Re: Thinking as a character Months after starting my first novel (which hasn't made any progress and is still in its first draft) I feel I can only react to a given situation rather than create

More posts by @Megan928

: Is a new paragraph line needed in dialogue when a character responds with actions? For example: "Move!" I immediately side stepped him. OR "Move!" I immediately side stepped him. I know a

: Is there a writing style I can use to show "the result that appeared is contrary to the expectation"? I'm wondering if there is a English writing technique or style I can use to show that

: How to state multiple instances of evidence? A would always lie about B. He told everybody he was weak. Furthermore he told all the adults how he enjoyed travelling, even though he did

: Is this a tacky ending? Would you consider a worldwide vote on if the character succeeds to be a tacky ending to a story? The means for the vote to occur are in place, but is it a satisfactory

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