Antiheroes . . . those conflicted souls who pawned their moral compass to buy their next bottle of vodka. There’s nothing heroic about them and for the most part they only care about themselves. So why do we love them so much? Antiheroes are far from perfect, a trait which makes them very real and very human. We […]
September 11, 2011 by 57 Comments CharactersWhy Your Hero Absolutely Must Pet the Dog
Some characters are born with “lovable” written all over their cute little faces. But some pop out mean and rough around the edges. Most of my protagonists are people who have made major mistakes in their lives. They’re scarred, they’re cranky, sometimes they’re just plain wrong. Even I wouldn’t want to run into some of […]
June 28, 2009 by 43 Comments CharactersCharacters: Likability Is Overrated
Writers want readers to love their characters. We want them to connect with the men and women who inhabit our stories. We want them to empathize so strongly that they are moved to laughter and to tears right along with these imaginary people we’ve created. So, naturally, we want our characters to be as likable […]
