Backstory: Avoid Info Dumping by Making It Essential: Part 2 — Guest: Kris Kennedy
A character’s false belief is central to a story’s internal arc, and the defining moment in a character’s backstory is key to creating that false belief.
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A character’s false belief is central to a story’s internal arc, and the defining moment in a character’s backstory is key to creating that false belief.
Pin ItNear the end of a story the protagonist often takes “a leap of faith.” How can we make our protagonist’s leap feel earned and strengthen our story’s theme?
Pin ItOur characters don’t want to change, so they often start with passive internal goals. How we can make those passive goals work for us and our story?
Pin ItWithout spoilers for Avengers: Endgame, let’s explore how the power of the Marvel movies isn’t about the plot or spectacle—but with the characters.
Pin ItEver feel like popular writing advice doesn’t apply to your story? Defining our story’s mix of drive vs. focus might help us know when advice is a bad fit.
Pin ItEvery page of our story should include tension, such as friction between characters, but how do we create characters who clash? Let’s see how to develop characters who create tension in every interaction.
Pin ItThe romance genre is often called “aspirational,” but even romances with a happy ending can fail at being uplifting. What other elements contribute to an uplifting story and what can they teach us about other genres?
Pin ItAs writers, we have to make our characters seem real to readers, but it’s often not easy. So here’s two resources that can help us create characters that seem real.
Pin ItI’ve been helping Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi at Writers Helping Writers keep a big secret: The Emotion Thesaurus Second Edition! Angela and Becca have added new responses, new entries, and new writing tips.
Pin ItA character’s essence is about more than just unique characters, but what is their essence? These 3 perspectives on character essence teach us about our characters.
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