Have you signed up to be a DIY MFA Radio Insider yet? This is an exciting new monthly newsletter especially for our podcast listeners. Every month, you’ll get an email from our podcast producer with recaps of the most recent episodes, a curated Listening List of episodes on a particular theme, and other fun goodies we only share via email. Best of all, it’s free to join! The theme for February is romance, and you can become an insider by signing up with your email at diymfa.com/insiders.

In this episode Ryan Dalton and I discuss:

• Why he wrote This Last Adventure as a middle grade story, as opposed to YA.
• How he created a sense of hope when his amorphous antagonist was undefeatable. 
• Writing group scenes and what to include and what to leave out to make each character distinct.

Plus, his #1 tip for writers.

About Ryan Dalton

Ryan Dalton spends his time thinking up stories when he’s not wearing a cape and fighting crime. He’s a singer, a voiceover artist, a pretty decent amateur chef, and a lover of all things geek. Ryan lives in an invisible spaceship that’s currently hovering over St. Louis, Missouri. Please don’t tell anyone he’s Batman–it’s a secret.

You can find him on his website or follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Goodreads.

This Last Adventure 

Archie’s grandpa has always been his hero. But after Grandpa is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, the confident and adventurous man Archie’s known all his life starts disappearing. He’s not just losing his memory. He’s losing pieces of himself.

Archie desperately wants to slow the progression of Grandpa’s memory loss. Using Grandpa’s old journal entries as inspiration, he creates shared role-playing fantasies with epic quests for them to tackle together–helping Grandpa to live in the present while staying in touch with his fading memories.

But there’s a limit to the power of the fantasies. And not all the memories recorded in the journal entries are happy. When Archie learns a painful secret about Grandpa’s past, he questions everything he thought he knew about his hero.

As Grandpa’s condition worsens, Archie has to come to terms with the reality of what he’s losing and decide what it truly means to live a life worth remembering.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 396

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 396: When Fantasy and Reality Intersect: Writing Contemporary Middle Grade Fiction – Interview with Ryan Dalton appeared first on DIY MFA.

Sacha is an author, rebel podcaster, and professional speaker. She has five obsessions; words, expensive shoes, conspiracy theories, self-improvement, and breaking the rules.

Sacha writes books about people with magical powers and other books about the art of writing.

When she’s not writing, she can be found laughing inappropriately loud, sniffing musty old books, fangirling about film and TV soundtracks, or thinking up new ways to break the rules.

She lives in Cambridgeshire, England, with her wife and genius, giant of a son.

In this episode Sacha Black and I discuss:

• The main types of supporting characters and what you should do with each type.
• Why you need to create contrast between your supporting characters and your protagonist.
• How to balance giving supporting characters depth without letting them take over the story.

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About Sacha Black

Sacha Black is an author, rebel podcaster, and professional speaker. She has five obsessions; words, expensive shoes, conspiracy theories, self-improvement, and breaking the rules.

Sacha writes books about people with magical powers and other books about the art of writing.

When she’s not writing, she can be found laughing inappropriately loud, sniffing musty old books, fangirling film and TV soundtracks, or thinking up new ways to break the rules.

She lives in Cambridgeshire, England, with her wife and genius, giant of a son.

You can find Sacha on her website or follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Patreon. You can also join her Facebook group.

8 Steps to Side Characters

Do your characters fail to bring your story to life? Are they flat, boring or have no depth? Is your story lacking a little cohesion or sparkle?

In 8 Steps to Side Characters, you’ll discover: 

• A step-by-step guide for creating side characters that bring your story alive
• The main types of side characters and what you should do with them
• The key to crafting character depth that hooks readers
• How to harness your character’s voice to deepen your reader’s experience
• Tips and tricks for using details to enhance characterization 
• Methods for killing characters that will help deepen plot, theme and story
• Dozens of ideas for creating conflict with your side characters 
• Tactics for differentiating characters and making them feel real to your reader 
• Character archetypes and functions
• The most common pitfalls and mistakes to avoid 

8 Steps to Side Characters is a comprehensive writing guide that will help you create the side characters your story needs. This book is packed with tips and tricks for polishing characters for writers at any level.   If you want to power up your characters, eliminate dull and lifeless archetypes, and perfect your characterization, this is the book for you. By the end of this book, you’ll know how to strengthen your characters to give your story, prose and plot the extra something special it needs to capture readers and fans for life.

If you like dark humor, learning through examples and want to create better side characters, then you’ll love Sacha Black’s guide to crafting supporting roles with intention, purpose, and power. Read 8 Steps to Side Characters today and start creating kick-ass stories.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 388

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 388: How to Craft Your Supporting Characters – Interview with Sacha Black appeared first on DIY MFA.

Leslie was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She graduated with a bachelor’s in communications from UCLA and went on to write television comedies for Gerald McRaney, Burt Reynolds, Roseanne Barr, Norm McDonald, Drew Carey, and Ralph Macchio, as well as The Wild Thornberrys and Sweet Valley High. She later earned a master’s degree in nutrition and ran her own business for ten years.

Most recently, Leslie has written personal essays for online magazines such as Huffington Post, Maria Shriver, and SheKnows. She loves dogs and in addition to having two adorable Labradors, she volunteers at the Burbank Animal Shelter in Burbank, California. Leslie lives in Los Angeles and has two sons, and a husband she’s been with since college. After Happily Ever After is her debut novel and it is out now.

In this episode Leslie and I discuss:

• How she captured family dynamics by writing about three different generations.
• The ways her past as a sitcom writer helped her create a strong supporting cast.
• Why she chose to write about after the typical “happily ever after” ending.

Plus, her #1 tip for writers.

About the Leslie A. Rasmussen

Leslie A. Rasmussen was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She graduated with a bachelor’s in communications from UCLA and went on to write television comedies for Gerald McRaney, Burt Reynolds, Roseanne Barr, Norm McDonald, Drew Carey, and Ralph Macchio, as well as The Wild Thornberrys and Sweet Valley High. Later, she earned a master’s degree in nutrition and ran her own business for ten years.

Most recently, Leslie has written personal essays for online magazines such as Huffington Post, Maria Shriver, and SheKnows. She loves dogs and besides having two adorable Labradors, she volunteers at the Burbank Animal Shelter in Burbank, California. Leslie lives in Los Angeles and has two sons, and a husband she’s been with since college. After Happily Ever After  is her debut novel.

You can find Leslie A. Rasmussen on her website, follow her on Twitter and Instagram, or check out her book After Happily Ever After on Facebook.

After Happily Ever After

Maggie Dolin is forty-five and isn’t dealing with getting older very well. Seventeen years ago, she gave up her job in publishing to raise her daughter, Gia―but now her only child is about to leave for college, and Maggie isn’t sure what her new purpose will be.

She’s been the caretaker and nurturer for so long that she can’t even remember the last time someone took care of her. She wishes Jim, her husband of nineteen years, would take that role on―but he’s been distracted and disconnected, and she’s convinced he’s hiding something from her.

Her self-involved, judgmental mother and resentful brother, meanwhile, are certainly no help, and her father―the only person in her life who’s always been there for her and asked nothing in return―is dealing with increasingly serious health issues, leaving Maggie without her rock.

As all these stressors pile on, a chance meeting with a younger man causes Maggie to act in a way that is completely out of character for her. As she gets deeper in, she’s forced to make some big decisions about what she wants and deserves―decisions that could change her life forever.

If you decide to check out the book, we hope you’ll do so via this Amazon affiliate link, where if you choose to purchase via the link DIY MFA gets a referral fee at no cost to you. As always, thank you for supporting DIY MFA!

Link to Episode 362

(Right-click to download.)

If you liked this episode…

Head over to iTunes, Stitcher Radio, Spotify, or Google and subscribe so you’ll be first to know when new episodes are available.

Also, remember that sharing is caring so if you know anyone who might enjoy this podcast, please tell them about it or leave us a review so other listeners will want to check it out.

Until next week, keep writing and keep being awesome!

The post Episode 362: A Deep Dive into the Supporting Cast – Interview with Leslie A. Rasmussen appeared first on DIY MFA.

If you’re wondering about the distinction between villains and antagonists, check out this other post where I address this very question. Essentially, what you need to know is that antagonists are any obstacles that get in the way of the hero’s goal, while the villain is a specific character who personally interferes with that goal. All villains are antagonists, but not all antagonists are villains.

During Thrillerfest, I attended an excellent talk by author Allison Brennan, who emphasized the importance of having a compelling villain as well as a sympathetic hero character. Brennan talked about how it’s important for the reader to understand the villain’s endgame and the motivation behind what he or she is doing. The reader needs to want that the villain almost gets away with it (but not quite). This means that the villain must believe his or her cause is justified.

How does this play out in story-telling? The writer’s job is to make the villain not be 100% evil and this means the villain must have a reason for doing what he or she does. Here are a couple of ways to enhance the traditional good vs. evil model of heroes and villains.

Make the hero and the villain want the same thing.

Sometimes the hero and the villains actually want the same thing. Vigilante villains are fascinating and it’s easy for readers to relate to a villain whose motivation is to kill the “real” bad guys.  If the hero wants the criminals brought to justice and the villain is out to kill these criminals, then really, the hero and villain are on the same side, they just have different approaches. This hero-villain dynamic also forces the hero to question his or her own motivations and beliefs, which makes for a more interesting story.

Make your hero a less-than-super hero.

Everyone has a fatal flaw. Even superheroes have a fatal flaw: they always have to do the right thing. Traditional heroes on the other hand don’t always have to do the right thing, but they are constrained by rules of law or moral boundaries. The key here is to push your hero to see how far he or she will go to stand for a cause. Villains, on the other hand, do not need to abide by rules of law or moral boundaries, they can stop at nothing until they reach their goals. To heat up your story, use your villain to push your hero almost to that point of no return.

Give the villain a pet-the-dog moment.

The pet-the-dog moment is a term used in film making where the hero is about to fight the bad guys in a dark alley. He hears a rustle and turns to find a stray dog. The hero pets the dog and says: “Better get outta here, little fella. There’s gonna be trouble.” The dog scampers off. That’s the classic pet-the-dog moment and it’s usually used to give tough-guy heroes a little bit of a soft spot. Note: Pet-the-dog moment don’t always have to involve dogs. They can involve any number of cute fluffy animals or adorable small children. (For instance, that movie Kindergarten Cop is basically one long film-length pet-the-dog moment. There’s a classroom full of cute kids, plus a ferret. Need I say more?)

How do the pet-the-dog moment this relate to your villain? Ever notice how the evil bad guy is often found petting a cat, usually with a saccharine name like “fluffy”? That’s a pet-the-dog moment and the point is to give the villain a soft spot. Brennan gave a fabulous example of how this works. In Silence of the Lambs, Buffalo Bill has a pet toy poodle named Precious. It’s an annoying little yappy dog, but he constantly coos over it. That dog is ultimately his undoing because while he’s able to do horrific things to his victims, when one of his victims lures the dog and threatens to kill it, Buffalo Bill can’t bear to lose his Precious. That’s the pet-the-dog moment at work right there.

Give your villain an “all is lost” moment in the story.

For the hero, the “all is lost” moment is when it appears everything is over and the good guys have lost. This moment in the plot is often dubbed the hero’s “dark night of the soul” because it’s when the hero has to do some serious soul-searching and figure out whether or not to go on. But the villain also needs an “all is lost” moment, though in the villain’s case it’s more like a “ray of hope for the soul” where we feel like maybe the villain might actually do the right thing. This goes hand in hand with the pet-the-dog element because the point of the “all is lost” moment is to show that the villain is not all bad, that there is a glimmer of humanity buried inside that monster.

While your villain might not change completely in the story, giving him or her that “ray of hope” moment adds depth to the character. Perhaps the villain has doubts about what he or she is doing. Perhaps he or she regrets what has been done. The difference between the villain’s doubts and regrets and those of the hero is that hero must change throughout the story, but the villain can always go back to his or her evil ways.

Make your hero and your villain into rivals.

This is the flip side of the villain and the hero wanting the same thing. In this case, your villain wants the exact opposite of what your hero wants. Remember how your villain will stop at nothing, but your hero must be bound by rules of law or morality? That definitely comes into play when the hero and villain are direct rivals because the villain is automatically at an advantage. The villain is usually a little bit smarter and a lot more ruthless than the hero. Since your villain does not play by the rules but your hero must do so, this means your hero needs to work twice as hard in order to win the day.

Ultimately, these techniques are just variations on a theme. You need to figure out what works best for your story. So sit down, write, and make those characters so real they jump off the page. In the words of Allison Brennan:

The post The Villain’s Journey – from ThrillerFest appeared first on DIY MFA.

Prompt: Take out a blank piece of paper and write the name you selected at the top. Without thinking too long, answer the following questions about your character.  Don’t agonize about these questions, just write down the first answer that comes to mind.

• What is your character’s occupation?
• Where does your character call home?
• Who are the 2 or 3 most significant people in your character’s life?
• What is your character’s biggest secret?
• What does your character want most in the world?

Turn your paper over and use the following line of dialogue as a starting point for a scene with that character:

“You think you know what it’s like, but you don’t.”

Now write until you’ve at least filled that one page.

The post Prompt: The Name Game appeared first on DIY MFA.

When I began writing the book, I wanted the names to reflect both the personality quirks of the characters as well as their magical powers.  There area few ways to do this.  You can either start with the name and create a character or start with the character and develop a name accordingly.  Or you can choose a name to make your character stand apart from the others in your story

Names That Define Characters

Daphne, the oldest sister started out as having shape-shifting powers, but as wrote draft upon draft, I realized that the name didn’t seem to fit with her magic.  I knew that the name came from the Greek myth in which Apollo chased the nymph Daphne, trying to seduce her.  Daphne prayed to Artemis and the goddess turned her into a tree, thus saving her from Apollo’s desires.  Yes, there was that shape-shifting element in the original myth, but it was more the plant connection that resonated with me.

Suddenly I realized that my Daphne’s powers had nothing to do with shape-shifting.  Instead, it was all about the plants… a green thumb gone haywire.  Once I made this discovery, Daphne’s character came together.  In this situation, the character’s name helped me figure out who that character really was.

Thematic or Ironic Names

The youngest members of the protagonist’s family are twins: Miranda and Gwenifer.  The twins share a magical power with Miranda having the ability to turn people or objects invisible and Gwenifer being able to make invisible things visible again.  The twins represent two sides of the same magical power and I wanted their names to reflect that.

At first I named them both after flowers, Lily (Miranda) and Violet (Gwenifer), because lilies (particularly calla lilies) can appear flashy and extravagant while violets strike me as a humble, simple flower.  These characteristics seemed to reflect the personalities of the characters, with Lily/Miranda being a spunky girl and Violet/Gwenifer being much more quiet and shy.

Then one of my critique group members reminded me that in the Pixar movie The Incredibles, the daughter who turns invisible is named Violet.  I didn’t want to associate my story with that movie (even though I happen to love the film) and I wasn’t wedded to the names anyway, so it was back to the drawing board.

This time, I decided to start with the meanings of the names.  I wanted the twins to have names that had some irony relating to their magic.  Miranda literally translates from the Latin as “she who should be looked upon,” which seemed appropriately ironic for a character who turns herself and other things invisible.  Gwenifer was more of a challenge, but I finally settled on this name because it means “white ghost” or “phantom” which is ironic since her power is to make invisible objects visible and solid again.

Names to Provide Contrast

Finally, for the protagonist Samantha I wanted to have a name that could be shortened to a gender-neutral nickname (not unlike Jo March from Little Women) and I also wanted to give a nod to my favorite retro TV show that has magic, Bewitched.  In addition, I wanted her no-frills, one-syllable nickname to contrast with her sisters’ names, which were elaborate to the point of almost being ridiculous.  Sam–the brains behind all the magical shenanigans and in some ways the leader of the group–needed to stand apart.  In this case that meant having the most “normal” name of the bunch.

Take-Home Message:

Names can carry a lot of meaning and add depth to a story.  When you’re naming your characters, think about who that character is and how that name can either reflect or contrast with that character’s personality.

Do you have a character-naming saga?  If so, share with us in the comments!

The post The Magic of Names: Finding Names that Capture Your Characters appeared first on DIY MFA.

1.  They provide conflict.

The post Why Moms Matter in YA and Children’s Literature appeared first on DIY MFA.

Supporting characters exist for one reason only: to add depth to the protagonist.

Now don’t you all jump up and start protesting that supporting characters are much more than just a support for the main character.  Let me explain.  In the confines of the story, supporting characters exist for the sole purpose of interacting or otherwise engaging with the protagonist.  Supporting characters might be multifaceted but they are still supporting characters.  They exist so they can do things in the story that will affect the protagonist and thus allow us to better understand that main character.

But just because a character is “supporting” doesn’t make him or her “secondary” to the protagonist.  In the original Star Wars trilogy for example, Darth Vader is far more interesting and complex than Luke Skywalker, despite being the “supporting” character.  The purpose of the supporting character is to help us better understand the main character, but that doesn’t mean the supporting character is any less important.

That said, there are many different types of supporting characters.  I’ve chosen five archetypes and will give you a quick run-down of who these characters are and why they exist in the story.

The Nemesis

Also known as the “villain,” the nemesis is at odds with the protagonist and creates conflict from the get-go.  Whether this conflict is big “good vs. evil” stuff or simply a scuffle between the unpopular protagonist and the mean cheerleader, the purpose of the nemesis is to create conflict for the protagonist.

Examples: Darth Vader (original Star Wars trilogy), Voldemort (Harry Potter series), Regina (Mean Girls).

For more details on the role of villains and antagonists in a story, click here.

The BFF / Sidekick

Just because this is the main character’s best friend, doesn’t mean there’s no conflict.  In almost every protagonist-BFF relationship, there ends up being some sort of falling out part-way through the story that causes additional conflict for the main character.  Look at Harry, Ron and Hermione in the Harry Potter series.  It seems like two of the three are always fighting and the only thing that changes is which two happen to be getting along at any given moment in the story.

Examples: Ron and Hermione (Harry Potter books), Goose (Top Gun), Murtaugh (Danny Glover’s character in the Letal Weapon movies), Dion (Cher’s BFF in Clueless).

The Mentor

This character exists to advise the main character and pass on valuable information.  Interestingly enough, the information that the mentor usually shares is intended just as much for the reader (or audience) as for the main character.  For example, whenever Dumbledore gives Harry Potter one of his end-of-the-book monologues, he’s imparting valuable information that not only Harry needs to know but the reader as well.

Examples:  Obi Wan Kenobi (Star Wars movies), Dumbledore (Harry Potter series).

The Love Interest

This is the Peeta to the protagonist’s Katniss (The Hunger Games trilogy), the Juliet to the main character’s Romeo, the Princess Leia to his Han Solo, the Harry to her Sally.  Note that just because one member of the lover pair might love the other, it doesn’t mean the other returns that love.  After all, unrequited love is one of the greatest sources of conflict for a story.

The Fool

In Shakespearean terms, the fool is a character (usually the court jester) who says the things that the protagonist may not want to hear but needs to hear.  Just because the fool is called “The Fool” doesn’t mean he or she is foolish.  In many cases, the fool may be the wisest character of the bunch, sharing pearls of wisdom with the rest of the characters, only no one seems to listen.

Examples: The Fool (King Lear), Haymitch (The Hunger Games trilogy), Alan Arkin’s character (the grandfather) in Little Miss Sunshine.

This list is by no means exhaustive, but you’ll find that most supporting characters will fall into one of these five categories.

Can you think of any other archetypes for supporting characters?  If so, please share in the comments.

The post 5 Archetypes for Supporting Characters appeared first on DIY MFA.

• “Decorating” the living room with shredded articles of mail
• Skulking atop the fridge and swatting at our heads as we pass by
• Pouncing on and harassing the other feline inhabitants of the household, and…
• Using the hand that feeds him as a chew toy.

The job of the antagonist is to make life difficult for the protagonist, and those difficulties occur because the antagonist becomes an obstacle blocking the protagonist from what he or she wants.  If heroine needs to escape from the tower, the antagonist is the dragon that blocks her way.  If sleuth wants to solve the crime, the antagonist is the criminal who’s masterminded the dastardly plot, making it (nearly) impossible to crack.  If the hero wants something as simple as a glass of water, the antagonist becomes the drought that keeps him parched.

But not every story has a villain, but regardless of style or genre, there is always an antagonist.  In fact, villains are a subcategory of antagonists so while all villains are antagonists, not all antagonists are villains.  Here’s a quick rundown on the difference between the two.

Antagonist

The antagonist is a force, entity or person that gets in the way of the character getting what he or she wants.  The antagonist does not have to be human, nor must it even be a sentient being.  Antagonists can be “bad guys” but they can also be natural disasters, an oppressive society or even the protagonist himself.  The antagonist is the protagonist’s worst enemy within the context of the story.  This means that someone or something that is an antagonist in the story may not necessarily be evil or even all that antagonizing in another context.  For instance, the storm in The Perfect Storm is the antagonist for the men on the boat, but for the people on shore, sure it’s a big scary storm but it’s not really an antagonist.

Another example is the book Wicked by Gregory Maguire in which the story of Oz is told through the point of view of Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West.  In the original story of the Wizard of Oz, Dorothy is the protagonist and the wicked witch is the antagonist.  In Wicked, Elphaba becomes the protagonist, the character we root for and the Wizard (among others) become the antagonists.

There are six basic types of antagonists.

Notice that of all these options, only the first one constitutes an actual villain as the antagonist.

• Protagonist vs. Another Character (villain)
• Protagonist vs. Nature
• Protagonist vs. Society
• Protagonist vs. Technology
• Protagonist vs. Supernatural Forces
• Protagonist vs. Self

Villain

The villain is a character who is at odds with the protagonist.  This character specifically wants to prevent the protagonist from getting what he or she wants.  While it’s tempting to paint villain characters as pure evil, it is far more compelling when a villain has a streak of good.  Even more so, when the author shows the motivation behind the villain’s actions, the reader is able to understand why the villain is in conflict with the protagonist.  Villains are not usually all-bad, they’re just misunderstood.

Just like the Bad Cat, whose behavior has vastly improved after some treats and playtime with the mouse-toy.

The post Villains vs. Antagonists appeared first on DIY MFA.