Creating Great Written Fiction or Nonfiction Characters Is an ART! By Stu Leventhal - A New Tale Editor Many claim characterization is all about point of view... Who is describing the player in your story? If you, the author tell your readers about a new character, who is just now entering the story, you have super human insight you can share. But you should know we readers would rathe have a few other characters tell us what they think about a character than hear you the writer scroll on and on describing someone. One character may like the new player a lot. Another character may not trust the new addition to the tale. Can your current characters let your readers know what they nee to know about a new character? Maybe you wish the new character to tell your readers about him or herself. Do you really wish to allow your reader to know what a character is thinking in their head. How do you decide what to reveal about a character, how much info is necessary to share with readers and when is it best to reveal the info? Authors have a lot of options and a lot of decisions to make when telling a story. Readers trust you. Author Anais Nin explained, "We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect." Jack Kerouac wrote, "One day I will find the right words, and they will be simple." I like less author narrative when finding out details about a character. I'd rather learn that a person is brave through the plot and their actions, in story form, than by having a writer just type; Old Man Bob was known by all in town to be very brave... Show me Old Bob is courageous! Let Old Bob's dialog say he is tough! Show how folks get out of Old Bob's way! What are some of your favorite novel characters and why? Share in a comment! Have you written 'A New Tale' or a great poem you want your peers to read and evaluate critique or review? You need to join the best Creatve Writing Group on LinkedIn: A NEW TALE - a LinkedIn Writing Group! Writing Instructors, Wordsmiths, Author Coaches, Book Cover Artists, Literary Agents, Editors and of course scribes of all kinds... are all welcome. Post links to your articles, stories, where we can find your books. Post a poem or two or three. Share advice. Discuss technique. Let's help each other sell more writing and become better writers. Welcome Authors, Poets, Lyricists, Biographers, Story Tellers of all Kinds! |
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