Shannon Bolithoe : A Writing Life


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How to Choose the Right Antagonist for Your Story

What’s the secret of how to choose the right antagonist for your story? If you’re thinking it’s probably a little more complicated than simply making him a “bad” guy who’s out to get your protagonist, you’re definitely on the right track.

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Asking “Why?” to Create Rich Characters for Your Novel

For this week’s Throwback Thursday, we’re looking at an excerpt from a previous post titled Why, Why, Why? I do a lot of manuscript critiques. Hundreds a year. I find the best way to get writers thinking about their plot and characters is to ask a lot of questions.

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The Secret to Writing Dynamic Characters: It’s Always Their Fault

It’s a morbid joke among writers: we are so mean to our characters. And we love it. It’s the stuff of good stories. It’s the stuff of epic conflict.

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The #1 Key to Relatable Characters: Backstory

Ever stop to think about why you enjoy backstory? I receive lots of questions from writers about backstory, most of it along the lines of: I love my backstory soooo much. How can I cram as much as possible of it into the main story?

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Sympathetic Characters in Unsympathetic Worlds

         A few years ago, I read Xenophon’s The Education of Cyrus. I’d heard that Thomas Jefferson admired Cyrus as a leader and wanted to find out why.  Before long, I came across this bit of advice Cyrus’ father gave him about resupplying his troops during wartime.

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Never, NEVER settle for “oh-him-again” characters. Dig deep to round out the personality.

Never, NEVER settle for “oh-him-again” characters. Dig deep to round out the personality.
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One Major Pitfall of Writing Strong Characters

Writing strong characters should be one of your major goals for any type of story. But what exactly is a strong character? This phrase is tossed around a lot (especially, it seems, when it comes to female characters), but it can be frustratingly vague.

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As a writer, creating characters is probably the most important thing you do. Get it wrong, and the story will be wrong no matter how well plotted. Here are 25 things to know. Characters that have everything they need and want in life are pretty damn boring. In the real world, strong female characters go by another name: women. Try writing about them. Not every character needs to have some past trauma simmering beneath the surface to be interesting. Well adjusted people can be just as deep …

As a writer, creating characters is probably the most important thing you do. Get it wrong, and the story will be wrong no matter how well plotted. Here are 25 things to know. Characters that have everything they need and want in life are pretty damn boring. In the real world, strong female characters go by another name: women. Try writing about them. Not every character needs to have some past trauma simmering beneath the surface to be interesting. Well adjusted people can be just as deep …
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Writing The Perfect Flaw {in-depth article} Fantastic article! Great insights for writers, whether you’re developing a character, writing your rough draft, or trying to wrestle your way through revisions.

Writing The Perfect Flaw {in-depth article} Fantastic article! Great insights for writers, whether you’re developing a character, writing your rough draft, or trying to wrestle your way through revisions.
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What’s in Their Wallet? Character Development for Writers

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Psychiatrist Jon Steeples offers advice to authors on writing characters with bipolar disorder

Psychiatrist Jon Steeples offers advice to authors on writing characters with bipolar disorder.

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100 Questions for Character Couples – Alyssa Hollingsworth

These questions can help you flesh out your WIP’s relationships, find hidden details to use in your tale, and discover more about your characters.

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