Tag Archives: character

How Writing Fanfiction Can Make You a Better Writer

Posted on September 16, 2015 by J. Sevick

A lot of people have talked about the benefits of fanfiction—the lack of gatekeepers to allow beginning writers to dive right in, the built-in audience for support and motivation, the potential for growth and feedback—and all of these are absolutely … Continue reading →

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Developing Ideas: One Path from Idea to Draft

Posted on September 3, 2015 by J. Sevick

You start with an idea, a glimmer in your eye, a shimmer in the void, a vague sense of maybe… It may be a single image, a lone character, an interesting what if? You poke and prod, squint and twist, … Continue reading →

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Showing vs. Telling Character Traits: the Mary Sue Factor

Posted on June 15, 2015 by J. Sevick

“Show, don’t tell” is one of the tried and true cliches of writing advice (along with “Write what you know”). Both of these tidbits have a basis in sound advice, and both of them can regularly be ignored for the … Continue reading →

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Protagonists and Their Authors

Posted on November 14, 2014 by J. Sevick

There’s a snide little comment that pops up in reviews and online criticism of novels now and again, about how the protagonist is “just a self-insert for the author.” It’s meant as a flaw, even grounds for dismissal. I remember … Continue reading →

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Couple Development Worksheet

Posted on October 13, 2014 by J. Sevick

Once all factors have been determined and calibrated, what should result is a couple that interests you and the answer to the question: Why can they not be together and happy/safe/committed? The story that you write will answer the question: … Continue reading →

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Building a Character from Scratch

Posted on June 11, 2014 by J. Sevick

As you develop your idea into a story, you might need to work through vague plot elements and story structure, and in doing so, you’ll fill the roles required with vague “placeholder” characters. At some point, you’ll look at your … Continue reading →

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Building the Generic Hero Motivation

Posted on May 29, 2014 by J. Sevick

A story is a character who wants something. It really can be that simple… or that difficult. Depending on the genre, structure, and skill of the author, a character’s motivation must be clear (as in having a definitive end point … Continue reading →

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Developing Ideas: Developing the Details

Posted on May 5, 2014 by J. Sevick

For some writers, you can have a vague sense of the story—the setting, the inciting incident, the main characters—and you just start writing. You find your way from one conflict and scene to the next, developing as you go, and … Continue reading →

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Developing Ideas: Further Development

Posted on April 24, 2014 by J. Sevick

So I wrote a few posts ago about “Trust vs. Development,” and I said how I was trying to develop less before starting to write. But in my last post on “The Collapse,” I realized that one source of the … Continue reading →

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The Story in the Idea

Posted on April 7, 2014 by J. Sevick

I wrote in my last post about different techniques for finding ideas, specifically ideas which speak to what you really love. Of course, your mileage may vary—and other techniques might work much better for you. Or you just might be … Continue reading →

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