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Category Archives: Characters
Choosing Your Main Character’s Resolve
The Main Character represents the audience’s position in the story. Therefore, whether he or she changes or not has a huge impact on the audience’s story experience and the message you are sending to it. Some Main Characters grow to … Continue reading
Posted in Dramatica Basic Concepts, Main Character
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Writing Con Men, Shady Businessmen, and Seedy Politicians
Characters, as with real people such as con men, shady businessmen, and seedy politicians, will often use statistics to paint a false, yet plausible, picture. For example, one such character might state that 12% of all high-school dropouts were beaten … Continue reading
Posted in Building Characters
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Creating Characters from Plot
Introduction If you already have a story idea, it is a simple matter to create a whole cast of characters that will grow out of your plot. In this lesson we’re going to lay out a method of developing characters … Continue reading
Posted in Building Characters
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Creating Characters from Scratch
Where Do Characters Come From? When we speak of characters from a structural standpoint, there are very specific guidelines that determine what is a character and what is not. But when we think of characters in every day life, they … Continue reading
Posted in Building Characters
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Protagonist and Antagonist
Protagonist drives the plot forward. Antagonist tries to stop him. The Protagonist is the Prime Mover of the effort to achieve the Story’s Goal. The Antagonist is the Chief Obstacle to that effort. In a sense, Protagonist is the irresistible … Continue reading
Posted in Protagonist & Antagonist
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Fire Your Protagonist
Many authors start with a Protagonist and then build a cast of characters around him or her. But as a story develops, it may turn out that one of the other characters becomes more suited for that role. Sticking with … Continue reading
Posted in Building Characters, Writing Tip of the Day
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The Main Character Element of the Hero Stereotype
Of all four attributes of the hero, his role as the Main Character is perhaps the most intriguing. As described in an earlier writing tip, the Main Character represents the audience position in the story, and is the character with … Continue reading
Posted in Character Elements
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Creating Characters: The Villain
A villain is the dramatic antithesis of a hero, and therefore has the following four attributes: He is the Antagonist He is the Influence Character He is second in prominence to the Central Character He is a Bad Guy By … Continue reading
Posted in Building Characters
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Creating Characters: “My Hero!”
We’ve all heard the phrase, “the hero’s journey.” Much has been written about the steps in this journey and the nature of the hero himself. What is usually assumed is that the “hero” is an elemental character who possesses certain … Continue reading
Posted in Building Characters, Heroes & Villains
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Character Development Tricks!
As trite as it might seem, ask yourself “What would a story be without characters?” The answer can help you get a grip on exactly what characters really do in a story, and therefore how to build them effectively. Although … Continue reading
Posted in Building Characters, Writing Synopses, Writing Tip of the Day
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