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Toledo Character Development

How to avoid plot devices: Fish out of water character

I had a professor in college tell me that there are only seven original plotlines; it is what we do with them to own them for ourselves that...
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Getting to Know Your Characters

How many times have you heard an interview with a writer where they say the characters tell them the stories, not the other way around? How do you...
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Character 101: Four ways to develop your LARP character

When you're into roleplaying and LARPing (live action role playing), character and your presentation of it is usually very critical. Your...
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The economic crises is creating character

Contrary to what most people might think, the present economic crisis is actually a good thing, even if it doesn’t feel like it. Times like...
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Character inconsistency as a medium for creating dynamic characters

Mobsters have friends. Comedians have enemies. When creating dynamic characters, be they villains or heroes, the greatest tool in the writer&rsquo...
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Get your story straight: Sequence of events matters!

One of the most common errors amongst new fiction writers is a mishandling of the sequence of events. While what they say may be grammatically...
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How to Create Fascinating Characters

News of a plane crash means more when we know someone on board. As fiction writers, our job is to create maximum impact when delivering a punch. We...
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Character markers help readers find their way

Have you ever noticed that kids in a new environment instinctively know which toys are there for them to play with and which ones are not? We have...
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The Use of Phonetic Dialect and Profanity in Fiction: Part 2

In the first part, we talked about why phonetics and profanity are perfectly okay in fiction writing so long as they fit the character you are...
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The Use of Phonetic Dialect and Profanity in Fiction: Part 1

The question of dialect in fiction has been hotly debated by pros and amateurs alike for years, and there is a sense that what was okay in...
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