strong characters

The Thin Line between Character Strengths and Flaws

April 11, 2013 Writing Stuff
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Last time I asked you to share your superpower, that trait—useful or not—that makes you unique. Everyone shared some great stories, although none of us had skills that would land us on Cracked.com’s “Real People with Mind-Blowing Mutant Superpowers” list. *eyes the superpowers that made the list* Maybe that’s a good thing. At the end [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, antagonist, character archetypes, character flaws, Jami Gold, listening to characters, paranormal author, strong characters, theme

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Michael Hauge’s Workshop: An Antidote to “Love at First Sight”

August 9, 2012 Writing Stuff
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By far, the best workshop I attended at the Romance Writers of America (RWA) Annual Conference was Michael Hauge‘s presentation, “Using Inner Conflict to Create Powerful Love Stories.” Unlike every other workshop, Michael gave his presentation twice. I attended on the second day and the room was standing-room-only packed. The first day was likely the same. Yeah… It was [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, Jami Gold, Michael Hauge, paranormal author, plot-driven vs. character-driven, romance novels, RWA, strong characters, workshops

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What Stories *Won’t* You Write?

April 17, 2012 Writing Stuff
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In my last post, we talked about voice and how we tend to write the same types of characters, premises, and themes over and over.  That’s not a bad thing.  Those stories resonate with us as writers. Similarly, there are stories we would never write.  Stories might be so against our internal grain that if an idea along [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, branding, genre, Jami Gold, muse, paranormal author, premise, romance novels, strong characters, theme

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What Makes a Character Unique?

March 8, 2012 Writing Stuff
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“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose By any other name would smell as sweet.” Romeo and Juliet, by William Shakespeare Wow, Bill, you have no idea how ahead of your time you were.  I know it must be hard to believe, but hundreds of years after you made this insightful observation through [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, character archetypes, ethics, fan fiction, Jami Gold, Janice Hardy, listening to characters, paranormal author, professionalism, RWA, strong characters, subtext

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What Drives a Story: Plot or Characters?

July 26, 2011 Writing Stuff
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Wish me luck.  I’m about to dive into one of the eternal debates among writers.  Which is “better”: a plot-driven story or a character-driven story? If you’re not familiar with the debate, let me explain why this question is so fraught with potential landmines.  A common snub against genre stories is that they’re all about [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, genre, Jami Gold, page turning stories, paranormal author, plot-driven vs. character-driven, strong characters, tension

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The Green Lantern Movie: How *Not* to Write Characters

July 7, 2011 Writing Stuff
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Last time, I used the Green Lantern movie to illustrate how not to plot a story.  This time, we’re going to look at the Green Lantern characters. As noted before, Green Lantern felt superficial and formulaic.  Sure, it’d be easy to say that it was a comic book movie and therefore lived up to expectations, but [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, character flaws, emotional heart, Jami Gold, listening to characters, paranormal author, risk, sacrifices, strong characters, tension

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Are Romance Heroes Good Role Models?

February 8, 2011 Random Musings
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In preparation for Valentine’s Day, a recent USA Today article gave the relationship advice that a man should: “look into her eyes, focus on what she says and really talk to her.”  Wow, earth-shattering ideas. Or not.  The suggestion to treat a woman like a person and not just a collection of body parts is nothing new. [...]

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Tagged as: character archetypes, character flaws, Jami Gold, Jami's rants, love, paranormal author, romance fans, romance haters, romance novels, romance novels are not porn, strong characters

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When Is a Story Worth Writing? – Part Three

January 25, 2011 Writing Stuff
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If we don’t want to waste time writing a story that will never get anywhere, we have to make sure we’ll be able to complete it.  And guess what?  It’s not completed when we, as writers, think it is.  Going from seed idea to completion happens over two stages. So far, in Parts One and [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, editing, emotional heart, high-concept hooks, Jami Gold, page turning stories, paranormal author, story seed, strong characters, tension

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Strong Character Wrap-up & Veteran’s Day

November 11, 2010 Writing Stuff
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Okay, what have we learned from the big series on creating strong characters?  To feel realistic, characters need to have goals, a delusional self-image, multiple personalities, flaws, and a reason for their actions.  Hmm…  All that makes them sound a touch crazy, doesn’t it?  (Not as crazy as I am, but getting closer.) What does [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, giveaway, Jami is insane, listening to characters, muse, strong characters, support for soldiers, writers are insane

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How to Create a Strong Character: Let Them Live

November 9, 2010 Writing Stuff
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Congratulations!  We made it to the end of the checklist for creating strong characters.  We’ve given our characters goals, delusions, lies, and flaws.  Only one thing left could go wrong… Do They Die Before the End of the Story? The flowchart specified that a character had to survive to the third act.  Why the third [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, character archetypes, character flaws, listening to characters, strong characters

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