Comments on: Ask Becca: How Not to Develop Characters 101

By: eddie

eddie — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 01:31:00 +0000

best character i’ve written is a character that i don’t think people will “like” though he is a protagonist. He is a youth with many health challenges and I focused in specifically on his body and the physical challenges he was having so that the reader was put in a position of intimately understanding who he was and what he was going through. This presented the problem of repetition: “showing” everything can lead to cheesy and cliche writing as one struggles to find new ways to present information, and “telling” too often which, can lead to dull writing that doesn’t engage the reader. It was a fine balance to make to pull the reader along and put the emphasis where it was needed most. This did, however, lead to another character that was a bit of a stereotype – his father – becoming as much of a protagonist as the boy is with a full story arc of his own… so there ya go.

By: Rebecca Ann Jordan

Rebecca Ann Jordan — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 18:19:00 +0000

In reply to Christine. Great! Glad you found a nugget of gold among all that jibber-jabber, Christine :)

By: Christine

Christine — Thu, 14 Aug 2014 06:49:00 +0000

This is really helpful 🙂 thanks so much! By the way I like the examples a lot XD

By: Rebecca Ann Jordan

Rebecca Ann Jordan — Wed, 09 Jul 2014 02:36:00 +0000

In reply to Fabia Walker.

Hi, Fabia! Wow, sounds like you’ve got a great character going there. In my opinion, you’re approaching that scene the right way. It’s great that nobody pays attention to Fay’s outbursts, therefore SHOWING they are so common! (To contrast, if a character was very quiet, then everyone would definitely take notice when that character threw a tantrum.) And your’e right, saying “She was short-tempered” is ‘telling,’ so it’s best to avoid that.

Congratulations on working on your first novel. No matter what happens, it’s really true that practice makes perfect! You have a great outlook on writing. Stay tuned at DIY MFA this month for an upcoming challenge that I think you would really enjoy. Best of luck with your writing!

By: Fabia Walker

Fabia Walker — Wed, 25 Jun 2014 02:59:00 +0000

Best character I’ve ever written, hmm. That’s a dangerous question, my friend. I know who the best is, but they are not my favorite, or does that mean that they aren’t truly my best? I would say my best was Fay Walker, a young woman in her mid twenties, who was fiery to say the least. She tended to rush into things without thinking about them, but was still very intelligent, and though she didn’t take much seriously, she gave her heart and soul when it counted, and couldn’t stand someone making fun of a serious situation. The book she is in is so far unfinished. I think I’ve done okay with show don’t tell but you never know- for example, their kingdom is at war. She strongly apposes this, as the other country is far weaker and she see’s it as picking on a kid much younger than them, as they rarely have actual battles, and generally just raid the outer towns and villages like jerks. She had a prominent position in their government, eventually actually marrying the king, but the scene I’m about to describe takes place before that. She sees him and a decent sized troop heading out while shopping, and goes to confront them, basically scolding them in front of the entire village. She rants at them for a fair while, and they finally shrug her off and “escape” on their way, only for the highly embarrassed child of said king that she had taken out while babysitting because she claimed social interaction was good for him to realize no one had actually looked up or payed attention to the argument, and wonder if her outbursts were really that famously common. Is this a good way to show her temper instead of just saying “she was short-tenpered” or is it just dumb? Thank you for feedback, I’m only in high school, so this is my first attempt at a full scale novel, and I love and constructive criticism I can get 🙂 I’m honestly not too hopeful for actually getting it published, but I figure 1. That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t write it like it will be and 2. The more experience the more I can improve, right? And if a publisher does except it then maye I won’t be quite as broke in college (at least, it can’t possibly hurt). Sorry if this was long!

By: Rebecca Ann Jordan

Rebecca Ann Jordan — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 19:22:00 +0000

In reply to Sarah. So glad you found this helpful, Sarah! I definitely need to come back to these once in a while, as I'm still muddling through character development myself. :)

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 22 May 2014 15:30:00 +0000

This is great! I’m editing a first novel and am more lost than before I began. I’m trying to make my scenes more fresh, in-the-moment, and showy (less telly). Great examples of what *not* to do!

By: Rebecca Ann Jordan

Rebecca Ann Jordan — Wed, 19 Mar 2014 04:50:00 +0000

In reply to Christine. So glad you liked the article, Christine! :)

By: Christine

Christine — Wed, 05 Mar 2014 03:23:00 +0000

Very helpful. Thank you. Feel like I’ve just been given a lucky packet.

By: Rebecca Ann Jordan

Rebecca Ann Jordan — Sat, 25 Jan 2014 00:21:00 +0000

In reply to heyjamie. I totally feel the same way, Jamie! When you're drafting "in your head," it can be easy to forget that readers aren't seeing the same thing you are and externalize those characters. Glad you liked the article!