It's All About Your Character

I was just reading a recommended book, Write Away by Elizabeth George, and she had some really great tips. The first one being about story character. She was saying that if you don't have an interesting character, nobody is going to want to go on a journey with them, no matter how cool the setting is. That makes sense. I had already guessed that was the case, but I needed clarification. Thank you, Elizabeth!

Seriously, I had been wracking my brain over how to get back into my novel. Should I just jump in and start freewriting scenes? Should I pause and create a general outline? Should I make character profiles? Now I know where to begin. Writers need to be like psychiatrists when it comes to our characters. What makes them tick? How do they think, speak, act? And we need to give thought to the character's name. When you hear the name Anne Shirley it evokes something lighthearted and fanciful, whereas the name Ebenezer Scrooge sounds mean and nasty.

So, this week I will be giving some thought to my characters' names. Obviously I named them wrong because I kept forgetting who was who! Know your characters!

Have a great day!