Think of Death for a moment. Did you picture a tall guy in a hood with a scythe? Or Neil Gaiman’s funky Siouxsie Sioux character from The Sandman? Or was it a more sombre abstract notion of pain and loss? Death can be, and is, all of these things, and much more. But it can […]
character
Use Personality Quirks to Make Characters Pop
Think of someone you know. What’s the first thing that springs to mind? Chances are, it’s not what they do for a living. It’s probably not where they live or what colour their hair is. It’s probably a personality quirk. Something that makes them…them. Those little quirks, or foibles, are what takes a character from flat […]
What do you do when your hero isn’t actually a hero?
Writing a hero can be a tricky business. You don’t want to run the risk of the ‘Luke Skywalker’ syndrome, where your hero is less interesting than your sidekick. But if your hero does morally questionable things, will the reader forgive him or her? The anti-hero is a fascinating form of protagonist, and can help […]
Public Domain Characters
I came across this rather fascinating post over on Fuel Your Writing about using public domain characters in your work. These are characters whose copyright has passed into the public domain, and are moreorless “up for grabs”. Think of the novels of Jasper Fforde, or the retold fairytales that Gregory Maguire made popular (and whose […]
The Guns of Retribution – Characters
Following on from my post yesterday, in which I answered Emma Kerry’s question about my writing process regarding The Guns of Retribution, today I’m going to discuss my characters and what they mean to me, as posed by Doc O’Donnell – characters and what they mean to me. I’ve already written a post over on […]
Xan Marcelles on being a character
On Tuesday, I reviewed a rather nifty short story, Just My Blood Type, by Nerine Dorman and Carrie Clevenger. Yesterday I let the ladies take over the Blunt Pencil to take us behind the scenes of their collaboration. Today, I let one of the story’s stars, Xan Marcelles, do the talking. Xan, my sweet, over […]
