Imagine you walk into a candy shop, but what you discover inside isn’t candy but rather display after display of subplots. Enough to make any writer’s mouth water, right? Writers love the idea of subplots. They’re rich, juicy, complex, and full of opportunities for taking your story to the next level. But figuring out how […]
May 29, 2023 by 28 Comments Characters5 Ways to Use Your Character’s Shadows to Power Your Story
Complex characters mirror real-life humans in their contradictions of inner light and dark. As writers, it is our job to create these contrasts in ways that become cohesive and thematically meaningful. One of the simplest—and most effective—ways to do this is to explore shadow theory. In last week’s post, we talked about the concept of […]
December 16, 2019 by 38 Comments CharactersSupporting Characters and Theme: 6 Important Questions to Ask About Your Story
Raise your hand if you’ve ever written in a new supporting character just because, hey, somebody had to start that tavern brawl. Creating delightfully colorful, unexpected, and sometimes just plain convenient minor characters is half the fun of writing. That said, we might all want to now sit on those hands we raised. However random […]
August 6, 2018 by 67 Comments Theme4 Ways to Choose a Better Theme for Your Book
Part 20 of The Do’s and Don’ts of Storytelling According to Marvel Writers often have a complicated relationship with theme. We love it. It loves us back. But reaching a harmonious happily-ever-after with theme sometimes turns into as much of a soap opera as a long-running CW drama. Just writing a story that has a theme is […]
January 13, 2017 by 53 Comments CharactersBoba Fett’s Guide to Writing Cool Characters
Boba Fett is one of the most beloved scourges of the Star Wars universe. Yet, he says only 27 words (28 if you add the Wilhelm Scream), and is on screen for a mere 6 minutes and 32 seconds. He even gets defeated in a pathetic way by being knocked into the Sarlacc pit by […]
July 1, 2016 by 58 Comments CharactersUse Minor Characters to Flesh Out Your Protagonist
Part 3 of The Do’s and Don’ts of Storytelling According to Marvel Stop thinking of your minor characters as characters. If that flies in the face of everything you’ve ever heard about your story’s supporting cast, then just hang with me for a minute as I first ask you this all-important question: What is story? […]
June 27, 2016 by 47 Comments Characters5 Secrets of Complex Supporting Characters
Supporting characters don’t get nearly enough love. We come up with amazing protagonists who do amazing things and we labor to give them solid and complicated character arcs. But after all that work on the story’s forerunner, what happens to the supporting characters? Too often, they’re an afterthought. Of course, your protagonist needs a dad […]
June 24, 2015 by 35 Comments CharactersRevealed: The Secret to Creating Unexpectedly Awesome Supporting Characters
This week’s video offers an important reminder about the single most important aspect of great supporting characters—and how you can put it to work in your own stories. Video Transcript: What’s the secret to great supporting characters? Is it that they’re funny? Or they’re supportive? Or they’re wise enough to help guide the protagonist in his […]
May 6, 2015 by 45 Comments CharactersWant an Unforgettable Protagonist? Your Minor Characters Are the Secret
This week’s video explains that one of the reasons Deputy Barney Fife was such a great character was because of the other minor characters on the show—and how you can use your minor characters to make your protagonist even more amazing. Video Transcript: Your characters are the basic puzzle pieces in any story. You’re going […]
September 24, 2014 by 43 Comments CharactersThe Positively WRONG Way to Write a Smart Character
This week’s video offers examples from Kenneth Branagh’s Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit to explain a common pitfall among authors who are trying to portray a smart character. Video Transcript: With a few exceptions, I think we can all agree we’d really like to create protagonists whom our readers will perceive as smart. We want protags […]
