Writing a Novel with Multiple Main Characters…
Listen to this post on my Podcast! As a writer, the last thing you want when creating multiple main characters is creating the same “super” guy, copy and pasted ten times over. But that’s why you’re a great writer. You already know that making a story more engaging means creating more unique, relatable, and special main characters. Even if that means doing so for a story with multiple main characters. But what if that balance is difficult to strike? What if you find you are struggling to create strong identities for multiple main characters? How can you make sure your own mmc’s (multiple main characters) are unique, relatable, and unforgettable? How do you make certain your mmcs aren’t drowning out your plot? Well the main word to keep in mind here is unique! Unique! Unique! And I’m going to repeat this word a lot more than three times, so just bear with me! Unique Personalities: A valuable entourage of mmc’s in a novel can be related to a family or a group of your closest friends. Each member of your family/ friendship circle brings something to the table. (I’m just gunna run with the family concept here) In a family, each member may be totally different from the next both in appearance, personality, likes, dislikes, ticks, and attitudes. And when you think about each family member you can no doubt name exactly what those are and how they are unique to that relative. Why is that? It’s because those personality traits are prominent, identifying who they are. Your mmcs should be just as diverse.This sort of diversity amongst your mmcs makes each character stand out from the...
How to Make your Novel Impossible to Put Down: 2 Key Methods
Listen to this post on my Podcast! Think of your two favorite books. I know, I know, what an unreasonable demand! But just humor me for a moment and try to narrow it down. Okay, got the two in your head? Awesome. Now, I want you to list the top two reasons why you loved loved loved that book, or fell asleep in bed reading it because you simply could not put it down. Got those two reasons? Great. Keep them in mind because I’ll circle back around to your two reasons in the end. There are many reasons fans come back to the same author time and again. It could be writing style, character building, world building, relatable issues- really the list goes on. But, for every story there exists two underlying keys that hook the reader into helplessly wanting more. What are those two reoccurring reasons keeping readers glued to the pages?: 1. Regularly introduced problems 2. Character-reader connections 1. Regularly introduced problems Each chapter of your novel is like a short story. Or at least it should be. Each chapter should support the scene introduced on its own, while simultaneously moving the overall plot along. With one challenge or problem that is dealt with, introduce a brand new problem right at the close of the same chapter. It doesn’t always have to be a major problem, but it should at least be a problem that is enough to frustrate or surprise the reader. Such nasty little cliffhangers leave the reader both intrigued and helplessly hooked. Unanswered questions plague your reader. No reader wants to toss and turn at night wondering what the heck is going to happen to...
The Love Triangle: Why You’re Doing it Wrong
Listen to this post on my Podcast! Everyone wants to see it happen: that tense, frustrating, and agonizing divide between their favorite characters. Everyone chooses sides, makes bets, heck even decides whose babies would look cuter. Yup, everyone loves a delicious, drama-filled love triangle. Or do they? Believe it or not, not every love triangle is a sure-fire guarantee to both indulging and satisfying your reader’s love for the dramatic. In fact, you may be creating a love triangle that no one will even care about, if you’re not careful! So how do you know if the love triangle you’ve created in your story is pulling on the right heart strings? How do you properly vamp up the drama in your novel? There are three questions to ask yourself when creating a love triangle that is sure to drive your readers mad. In fact, three ‘W’s to ask yourself, more precisely. Who?: Is the first ‘W’ to ask yourself when creating a spicy love triangle. Who is the love triangle between? Think about the cast of characters in your story for a moment. Simply ask yourself: of them all, who is most likely to enter into a situation like this? Who is least likely to? Who would this situation effect the most? Which characters would your reader want to see a romance bloom between? The most important factor to remember when choosing your characters for a juicy love triangle is this: your character should not exist based on the soul purpose of creating a love triangle. You’re probably saying, “What?! But that’s why he’s there! He’s a very important character because he creates the wedge between my...
Create Unforgettable Main Characters
Listen to this post on my Podcast! Your main character is the platform for the message of your story. Main characters live out the message you aim to speak to your audience. They ultimately embody the realities we one and all can understand. So what is it exactly that makes characters like Katniss Everdeen, Sherlock Holmes, or Bilbo Baggins so incredibly unforgettable? What is that underlying key which can make your character just as worthy? There’s a little something called the “ cause and effect” theory that works out in every unforgettable main character. So what exactly is this theory and how can you too utilize it in your novel? Your MC experiences “cause and effect” through many avenues, but the most common way they experience this is through unexpected tests of character or through a villain/antagonist. Looking at the main characters above, think about the outset of their story. Each character’s life was relatively “normal”. Nothing was aggravating the steady day-to-day living (even if that day to day living was a day to day nightmare). Each character also lacked a vital key to human happiness or success. This is where “the cause” comes into play. Each character soon faced an unexpected challenge or villain (a cause) that changed their life from the inside out. Cause: Katniss: Prim gets selected for the Hunger Games Cause: Sherlock: Dr. John Watson moves in, tags along at the next crime scene investigation Cause: Bilbo: Gandalf volunteers Bilbo to be the team’s burglar Someone or something forces change upon the average day-to-day of your MC’s life. But this isn’t just any old off-road excursion. It’s a major alteration specific...I’m Rae Elliott: Author, Blogger, Geek
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