There will always be opposing viewpoints on any subject but how often do we read a book where a character appears in the mind’s eye fully formed? For an author, this means drawing on real life and their imagination, crafting and honing their characters until they assume a distinct personality of their own and without reverting to cliché, but the mechanics that underpin this process is a little harder to pin down. Search the internet and it’s easy to become overwhelmed by the information available so for this post we wanted to distil our thoughts down to our top tips for developing great fictional characters.
1. First and foremost don’t be tempted to overwhelm your reader from the start. Characters, like their stories, should be developed gradually to maintain their intrigue. When we meet people in real life the process of getting to know someone takes time. We interact with them, we observe them and from a literary perspective, this is the way we come to know characters too. Physical characteristics are a point of reference and certainly the place to start but their personalities, motivations, and back stories should be revealed gradually through their actions.
2. Great character development really can be a case of art imitating real life. By integrating the personality of someone you know into your character development you have an authentic point of reference. It’s easy to imagine the way they would behave, their speech patterns and how they would respond to a given situation. Authors can use this to develop dialogue, nuanced mannerisms and quirks which create fully fleshed out characters that really resonate with their readers.
3. None of us lives in a vacuum. It’s the interactions with those around us which ultimately dictate how we are perceived and this is equally true when creating great fictional characters. The alliances we make shape us and it helps to think of secondary characters in the same way an artist thinks about colour. They add depth, texture and nuance to a story and plot. More often than not they are the motivational drivers for the main character and they have to be equally as believable.
As we always say, any view is subjective and what we always aim to do with our blog posts is to provide a point of reference upon which you can build. We hope we’ve given you something to reflect upon. Whatever your thoughts we are always open to comments and ideas and if you have a book you’d like to submit for review you can do so HERE
A gratifyingly good page-turner with depth, intrigue and an edgy narrative Ashley Addison leads her readers on another superb investigative caper in Book Three of her Vivianne Murphy Mystery series.
We work with both traditionally published and “indie” authors who have self or independently published books and our mission is simple. It’s to discover new and talented authors and help them give their work the attention and awareness it deserves. We do this by providing professional and credible reviews which are respected by our readers. Our primary focus is on fiction across all genres, non – fiction with broad appeal and selected poetry.
There are a number of essential techniques an author must master if they ever want to top a bestsellers list and none more so than the ability to deliver genuine suspense.
As inconceivable as it seems, the ‘man’, Jeff Bezos himself, has predicted the demise of Amazon. “Amazon is not too big to fail … In fact, I predict one day Amazon will fail,”
At their best, they stun you with their visions of ultimate endings both small and catastrophic with hauntingly bleak futures.
Fables can widen our appreciation of other cultures, help us understand traditions, and teach us new ways of appreciating the world and the diversity of life, reducing discrimination, and promoting acceptance.
From humble beginnings in 2002 as a book review club BookViral has grown to become the first choice in book reviews for authors around the world and one of the biggest book review sites on the web. BookViral reaches millions of potential readers through best practice SEO and a trusted social media presence ensuring readers get unbiased, critical recommendations they can trust.
BookViral also offers a full suite of author services, including, book editing services for unpublished and self-published authors, website design and bespoke SEO that help authors get discovered by more potential readers as well as industry influencers, such as publishers, agents and film executives.
© Copyright 2019 BookViral Reviews. All Rights Reserved.