Saturday, September 25, 2010

Compelling characters 1-50

I really liked Elana's Great Blogging Experiment yesterday of what makes a compelling character. It will take me a while to sift through all 195 blog entries, but the first fifty were a joy to read. Just thought I'd share what I gleaned from them here.


  • Elana Johnson: exaggerate their humanness





  • The Alliterative Allomorph show don’t tell what you think of your characters





  • Laura Pauling make them flawed and proactive





  • DL @ Cruising Altitude give them a sympathetic motive and unusual trait





  • Lola Sharp interrogate your characters like they are real people





  • Christine Fonseca give them layers and diversity





  • Alex J Cavanaugh put them somewhere between perfection and a total loser





  • Matthew Rush page missing





  • Mara Nash make characters with flaws and doubts like ours succeed despite their weakness





  • Bish Denham interview them, play what if, people watch, and typecast their personalities





  • Northwriter create a backstory, question motives and emotions in every scene





  • Jen @ Unedited make them relatable with personalities and cool names (and boys should be hot)





  • The Golden Eagle conflict, desire, layers, originality, and purpose





  • Michelle McLean beef up what appears while writing, and be consistent





  • Meredith @ Fairy Tales and Cappuccino empathy, voice, actions, quirks, and growth





  • Literary Coldcuts on Toasty Buns give them flaws created by their environment and history





  • serena @ I see you see follow this list: mistakes, realisation, forgiveness, redemption





  • words and whimsy good characters are genuine, have personality, and try





  • Cheyanne Young give them unique dialogue, quirks, and avoid cliches





  • Summer Ross give them authentic voice and reactions





  • Eric Stallsworth write them honestly, give them something to do, and then change them





  • Diamond, Yup Like the Stone get them interacting with other characters and use all five senses





  • Mary @ Giggles and Gunspage not found





  • The Homeless Writerjerks make compelling characters





  • Writing Compelling Characters lessons learned from acting 101





  • laugh. write. play. authentic voice and actions





  • So Im Fifty weave them well: warp, texture, color, pattern, tension







  • That Rebel, Olivia J. HerrellA sample of a compelling character





  • Danyelle Leafty give them strength, flaws, quirks, and make them work for their happy ending





  • Book Dreaming characters are attitude, emotion, goals, dialogue and action





  • J. Leigh Bailey movie comparison: flawed, sympathetic, distinctive, and more





  • Margo Kelly advice about my character from an agent





  • seeing, dreaming . . . writing complex motives and layers that would exist even outside the story





  • Zoe @ No Letters On My Keyboard be an ass to your character





  • Sandra Ulbrich Almazan dramatic backstory, complex personality, and leadership





  • Talli Roland they only come to me when I write





  • ali cross make it larger than life





  • C. E. @ TheJourney a funny joke





  • A little bit of . . .  give them a weakness, uniqueness, and a goal





  • Writer's Manna make them human, with a goal, a problem, and something to learn





  • Peggy Urry - Writer not a post?





  • Random-ish they must feel real, but we don’t always discover them until the story’s written





  • Robin of My Two Blessings I forgot about the experiment





  • Jamie Harrington the secret desire of the girl behind the burrito counter





  • Melissa @ Through The Looking Glass complicated, relevant quirks, and real emotions





  • Katrina Lantz example from Paranormalcy





  • Shannon Whitney Messenger on vacation, no post?





  • The Misadventures In Candyland stupid names, sucky lives, broken hearts, and words that don’t end in -ly





  • Nicole @ Where Fantasy and Love Take Flight: drive, drive, quirks, backstory, and more





  • Daron D. Fraley no relevant post?










  • 2 comments:

    1. Dang girl! Well done on this list. Someone's been doing their writing homework ;)

      ReplyDelete
    2. Seems like this took a lot of effort. By the way, you don't have a follow button, but I followed you anyway.

      Lee
      Tossing It Out

      ReplyDelete