Homepage
Login
New Post
Profile
Whenever I have this kind of problem, I always sit down and try to tell myself this character's story. Pretend like you are now going to write a book, but it's going to be about them and not your MC, and not even about what is going on in your book.
I start at an earlier time, was their childhood interesting? How did they get to meeting the rest of the group? What does this person want? What past life experiences have shaped their personality? What skills have they picked up along the way? Have they developed any phobias, prejudices? Is this story going to be the climax of their life's story, or was it something else? Do they come from any kind of different culture than most other characters? Does that have impact on how they speak and act? Maybe even write some of this as a writing challenge. Don't include any of your current characters unless you have to, and even then treat them as background.
By the time I am done I am often more interested in this character than I am in what is going on in my main writing. That is because I have done the most important thing a writer and a reader does, I have empathised with them. I am now ready to put them back into my main writing. This is now someone I care about, and good dialog and narrative flow naturally.
None of these new details you invented have to make it into your main work. Very likely they won't, what's important is that they are now the reason the character acts the way they do. The reader will feel this even if it is never mentioned. Sometimes the tiniest glimpses into stories not told, are the most interesting parts of novels.
(0)More posts by @Connie138
Terms of Use Privacy policy Contact About Cancellation policy © selfpublishingguru.com2024 All Rights reserved.