Character Arcs Rise and Fall
Part of the editing process is considering how character arcs rise and fall in the course of the novel. Movement, growth and change are key.
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Character
Three Scales of Character
Some of the takeaways from Brandon Sanderson’s 2020 lectures include his three scales of character.
Sanderson’s three scales of character are:
- Likability
- Proactivity
- Competence
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Sanderson on Character
Another gem from the BYU online writers’ course features author and lecturer Brandon Sanderson on character. In this lecture, Sanderson outlines his theory of character in fiction. It’s a remarkably simple and effective formula, from a best-selling genre writer.
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Plot, Character and Second Sight
Editing my genre series
got a lot harder thanks to the collision of plot, character and Second Sight. That’s right, my key big fantasy idea is clairvoyance, the ability to perceive future or distant events. It enables the author to see just how big a hole they’re about to bury themselves in.
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The Legacy of the Rings
What I call Tolkein’s Legacy of the Rings doesn’t kick-start the fantasy genre. It originates in the roots of story telling. …
BBC Inside Cinema’s Strong Female Characters
This BBC Arts thread continues on the iPlayer with Inside Cinema’s Strong Female Characters. It’s a barely-there critique that fails to nail marketing over actual writing. …
Twenty Characters to Start a Book?
According to Christine Frazier’s Better Novel Project you need twenty characters to start a book. Her post advocates this as an essential kick-starter for pop-fiction. It cites first chapters for Harry Potter and The Hunger Games (19 each) and Twilight (24). Even generalising for genre-fiction, twenty characters in Chapter One seems a bit much.
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Archetypes in Fantasy
Like few other genres, archetypes in fantasy make or break a story.
An archetype is a character that fulfils a role or symbolises some aspect of story telling. Most of our oldest surviving stories are myths and legends, which qualify as epic fantasy in my view. Greek epic poems and dramas include heroes, heroines, villains, guides and mentors, helpers, fantastical creatures and quests. …