By:
Karen Woodward
Today
I continue writing about science fiction and fantasy author Michael Moorcock
and his guidelines for writing a 45,000 to 60,000 word novel in three days.
Last
time (see: How
Michael Moorcock Wrote A Novel In Three Days) I wrote about how to begin
setting things up, how to prepare for this literary marathon. Today I'm going
to continue that discussion by talking about characters.
How
many characters should you have?
I've
heard it said that, "You should have as many characters as the story calls
for." That's true but not terribly useful, especially for a beginning
writer.
While
there is no clear-cut answer to this question, I would advise someone setting
out to write their first book to let the adage "Less is more" be
their guide. In other words, as long as each character has an arc that ties in
with the main character's goal, that's fine. But if a character doesn't advance
the story then one needs to think long and hard about whether that character
should be in the story.[1]
Also,
in general, you likely don't want two or more characters filling the same role.
For instance, if you're writing a 60,000 word novel and you have two vixen
characters, ask yourself whether you really need them. What is each of them
doing for the plot? Can you combine them?
Main
Characters: Protagonist & Antagonist
Read the full article HERE!
~*~
If
you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they
are again:
- Anne R. Allen's Blog: Tweet THIS, Not That! 12 Things Not to do on Twitter http://ow.ly/wYTLk
- The Price of a BookBub Promotion - BookBub Unbound http://ow.ly/wYYMh
- Should Self-Publishing Authors Hire Editors, Producers and Cover Designers? Team Publishing vs. DIY | http://ow.ly/wYZjJ
- Writability: Why Tumblr is Useful for Bloggers http://ow.ly/wZ0W0
- Fiction University: Need Help With Your Novel? Planning Your Novel: Ideas and Stucture http://ow.ly/wZ0Yr
- Karen Woodward: Preparing To Write A Story: Characters http://ow.ly/wZYAf
- The First Digital Plateau | Dear Author http://ow.ly/wZZFK "...it appears that digital book adoption has reached a small plateau."
- Point of View: How Writers Can Master This Crucial Story Element http://ow.ly/x008B
- The Kill Zone: How to save a bundle on editing costs...without sacrificing quality http://ow.ly/x00jp
- The Write Conversation : Writing Advice You Should ALWAYS Follow http://ow.ly/x00ok
- Metadata in the Book World | Wise Ink's Blog for Indie Authors about Self-Publishing http://ow.ly/x00Bl
- Are You Looking for Google Plus Tricks? | Jimmie Lanley http://ow.ly/x027Z
- How to Use Breaking News to Buzz Your Book - Eight Strategies http://ow.ly/x02gI
- Getting Both Ends of Your Novel Right (Thank You, Mr. Chekhov!) | Word Café http://ow.ly/x02rJ
- The Writer's, uhhh, Friend http://ow.ly/x02GFI "The only writing session that’s ... a failure is the one you...abandon or don’t begin."
- 2014 Social Media Marketing Industry Report | http://ow.ly/x03n5 "...how your peers are using social media?"
- 10 Quick Tips for Entrepreneurial Bloggers : @ProBlogger http://ow.ly/x03M5
- The Illusions of Money, Power, and Fame | Goins, Writer http://ow.ly/x0iom
- Words That Begin with Q http://ow.ly/x0ite Daily Writing Tips
- 7 Reasons NOT to Name a Character http://ow.ly/x1I0J
- Silver Surfers: How The Older Generation Uses Social Media [INFOGRAPHIC] - AllTwitter http://ow.ly/x1I95
- How To Write a Book from Start to FINISH http://ow.ly/x1IdI
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