Writers Tricks of the Trade-USING YOUR EXPERIENCES AND EMOTIONS-Episode 11

One of the most important qualities a fictional character can possess is to seem real to the reader.

Forget just stringing together a series of words describing physical attributes and how the character carries out routine or off-the-chart situations—perhaps spiced with inner thoughts. There is more to creating someone with feelings and emotions and a physical presence. Doing that doesn’t have to be daunting. Because the reader sees events through the eyes of these players in the story, at all costs avoid moving paper dolls or overblown figures through the scenes.

Authors Morgan St. James, Dennis N. Griffin and Eric James Miller share their techniques for transferring their own experiences and emotions to the characters they create.