One of the most important things to me when I write is consistent development. When I made the starting heroes of The Way To Dawn, I didn't want them to be automatically skillful. And as some of you may have read, they weren't exactly ideal for being world saviors. And that's where development comes in. Today, we are only touching character development.
Much like the real world, we are not always right for the job when we are first given the opportunity. But in due time, we can sometimes be the best thing to ever happen to that job. That can also be applied to our emotional growth. Rarely are any of these things second nature to people. And that is something I've be very careful with when it came to some of the main players of this series.
Now being consistent is not just something that needs to be applied to the story, but to the characters as well. Something I've seen many times is inconsistency with a character's strength. You can't have characters facing the strongest person and almost win, but face someone far weaker in all aspects of fighting and struggle to gain victory. That doesn't make sense to me. (Yes, there are ways to make it make sense, but the examples I'm talking about are clean-cut.) There are no explanations for the character's struggle or near win.
That's always been a turn off for me when I'm liking a character and suddenly he/she does something that makes me go, "Whaaaat..." It really makes me frown. And that's why I try so badly not to accidentally do what has always caused my interest to plummet.
Emotional growth is always very important. There's no way a fresh-faced character can go through a rough journey and still be 100% the same person as they began. They deal with tough choices, death, and even having their own morals challenged. These kinds of things can change a person. Always show the gradual changes a character goes through along the way, big or small.
No one-trick-ponies! That's two-dimensional. Color all the positive and negative things that make that character. You'll hit cords in your readers. Make them ambitious but very devious. Create a womanizer that happens to have a heart of gold buried under that dung mountain. Be creative and keep their traits fairly humane with a twist. It keeps things interesting.
Hopefully you found this blog interesting and/or insightful. If you want to see more of me, you know where to look. Come back soon!
Much like the real world, we are not always right for the job when we are first given the opportunity. But in due time, we can sometimes be the best thing to ever happen to that job. That can also be applied to our emotional growth. Rarely are any of these things second nature to people. And that is something I've be very careful with when it came to some of the main players of this series.
Now being consistent is not just something that needs to be applied to the story, but to the characters as well. Something I've seen many times is inconsistency with a character's strength. You can't have characters facing the strongest person and almost win, but face someone far weaker in all aspects of fighting and struggle to gain victory. That doesn't make sense to me. (Yes, there are ways to make it make sense, but the examples I'm talking about are clean-cut.) There are no explanations for the character's struggle or near win.
That's always been a turn off for me when I'm liking a character and suddenly he/she does something that makes me go, "Whaaaat..." It really makes me frown. And that's why I try so badly not to accidentally do what has always caused my interest to plummet.
Emotional growth is always very important. There's no way a fresh-faced character can go through a rough journey and still be 100% the same person as they began. They deal with tough choices, death, and even having their own morals challenged. These kinds of things can change a person. Always show the gradual changes a character goes through along the way, big or small.
No one-trick-ponies! That's two-dimensional. Color all the positive and negative things that make that character. You'll hit cords in your readers. Make them ambitious but very devious. Create a womanizer that happens to have a heart of gold buried under that dung mountain. Be creative and keep their traits fairly humane with a twist. It keeps things interesting.
Hopefully you found this blog interesting and/or insightful. If you want to see more of me, you know where to look. Come back soon!
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