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Writing Antagonists Readers Can’t Help But Like
There’s a dirty little secret among many of us readers: well-written antagonists get our blood pumping. When a scene come along with them in it, well, we lean closer. Grin a little more. Not because...
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How to Uncover Your Character’s Deepest Fear
Fear is a disruptive force, even though its job is to keep us safe. When there’s a perceived physical or psychological threat, our brain blasts us with a shot of adrenaline so we respond, fight,...
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Introducing…The Character Type & Trope Thesaurus!
Character building is hard work, and when we see certain types of characters appear again, and again in fiction and film, we wonder if there’s a way to start with a familiar character building block...
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Why Readers Love Anti-Heroes
To understand why readers love anti-heroes, we first need to define what they are. An anti-hero is a flawed, complicated character who thrives in shades of gray. They play the hero of the story, but...
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What Are Your Protagonist’s Flaws?
The most relatable characters are ones who mirror real people, meaning they are complex individuals with a blend of strengths, failings, attributes, and flaws. Of these four, flaws are often the most...
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Positive Traits Can Have Drawbacks, and Flaws Aren’t All Bad
I was watching Gone with the Wind the other night—because, you know, it was on TV and I had four hours to kill. As a teen, this was the first “grown-up” book I read, and ever since, I’ve had a serious...
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Improve Your Storytelling in 5 Minutes
What are writers chronically short on? Time. There never seems to be enough of it as we try to get the next book written, research our publishing options, keep up with marketing, work on our platform,...
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Five Commonalities Between Heroes and Villains
In story terms, a villain is a person, entity, or force who is cruel, evil, or malicious enough to wish the protagonist harm. Rather than simply blocking a goal or interfering with the hero’s plan, a...
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Writing Flawed Characters Who Don’t Turn Readers Off
No one in the real world is perfect, and so characters shouldn’t be either. To seem as real as you or me, they should have flaws and strengths, and these sides of their personality should line up with...
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How to Create a Protagonist with True Depth
Some characters are so dynamic, we feel immediately close to them. Everything they say, do, and think is consistent with who they are, they have a past and present, and as we share their experiences,...
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The Character Trait Boxed Set Is On Sale
Usually on Saturday, we share a new thesaurus entry, but, well…we had a bit of a family dust-up here at Writers Helping Writers that we need to address. You see, at the start of December, we put our...
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How to Generate Powerful Story Conflict
Conflict is a powerful tool for storytellers, allowing us to place roadblocks, challenges, adversaries and more in a character’s way so the road to their goal is much more difficult. Deployed well,...
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