I'm not a novelist, but from what I hear the characters in a novel are often composites of people the author knows or has observed, among them friends – who may or may not be content with a portrait in which they see aspects of themselves....

How is it that 85-year old Ludka Zeilonka—art historian, professor emeritus, Catholic rescuer of Jews in Warsaw during WWII, Polish émigré who landed in America—came to be the protagonist of THIS IS HOW IT BEGINS? She...

Can a white woman convincingly write from a black woman’s perspective? And if so, should she? I’ve been thinking about these questions as I ponder an idea I have for a book in my Dancing through Life Series. The series is...

Christina Baker Kline is sharing brief capsule pieces exclusively with the She Writes community. Each piece is part of the larger series she's sharing with us. This is her third piece. See the rest of the series here. When I'm developing...

Composing Characters Utilizing MBTI® Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is great for writer’s looking for diverse ways to create and distinguish their characters.  This video is packed with examples and even gives you a link in the end to...

  Check out Characters for Writers at the below link, a part of the Authorpreneur Prep Zone series: https://youtu.be/_xbKBItexM4

Check Out the Authorpreneur Prep Zone on http://maryannesbookshelf.com For articles, freebies and informational, educational and entertaining videos.   Featured Articles: Authorpreneur Prep Zone: Authorpreneur...

For the past year or so I've been working on a new novel, and this one has caused me a lot of angst--and stress. I realize now that the main reason I've had so many problems is that I didn't spend enough time thinking about the...

I read on two levels. On the one hand, I’m a reader, along for the ride, lost in the story. Meanwhile, another part of me steps back, asks questions, and analyzes. Why does the author introduce this plot point here? Why did he include this...

Characters are one of the most important things about a book, so it's important to connect with the people you've created in your head so they seem real to your readers.  I thought that was a good opening line *pats self on the back*...

“I had a man-stopping body and a personality to go with it!” is what the 81-year old Valentine Cooper told me in an interview, shortly after she had been admitted to the nursing home where I once toiled as a social worker. Even with...

When I finished the first draft of my most recent novel Wait for the Rain, there was one character who just didn't fit into the story the way I'd imagined--or hoped--that she would. I liked a lot about her, however, so I wasn't sure...

We know that the stories we are compelled to write are the stories that haunt us, the ones that won’t let go. For many of us, these stories are based on memories. We write memoirs in order to reflect on our past and make sense of it, to share...

Writing the words your characters say may be easy, but it isn't always easy conveying your character's "voice." I have edited a lot of writers whose characters all sound the same, and if you get a group of them in a single scene,...

First-time novelists tend to commit two basic mistakes when writing dialogue (don't worry, you're not alone!): Give each of your characters a unique voice so they don't come across like this 1)    All the...