Crafting Compelling Characters and Plotlines

#1

Hey all :sunglasses:,

I’m reaching out to the collective wisdom of this community as I navigate the intricate art of storytelling. While passion fuels my writing journey, I’m eager to refine my skills in character development and plot construction.

Character Depth and Authenticity

Bringing characters to life with depth and realism is a constant challenge. I find myself grappling with common pitfalls like one-dimensional characters and predictable backstories.

Backstory Integration: How can I seamlessly incorporate a character’s past without overwhelming the narrative? :thinking:
Character Flaws: What techniques can I employ to create believable imperfections that make characters relatable and engaging?:thinking:
Character Arcs: How do I ensure characters evolve convincingly and meaningfully throughout the story?:thinking:

Building Complex and Engaging Plots

Crafting a plot that captivates readers while maintaining intricate layers is a demanding task. I aim to create unexpected twists that feel organic to the story.

  • Plot Structure: Are there specific frameworks or methods that excel in organizing complex plotlines?
  • Foreshadowing: How can I subtly hint at future events without sacrificing the element of surprise?
  • Balancing Subplots: What strategies can I use to weave multiple storylines into a cohesive narrative?

I have explored resources/article like Crafting Compelling Characters: A Writer’s Toolbox how to learn mulesoft , but I still find myself struggling with these aspects.

Beyond these specific areas, I’m keen to absorb any general advice or recommended resources. What books, articles, or courses have significantly impacted your writing journey?

I’m committed to honing my craft and believe this community holds invaluable insights. Thank you :pray:for sharing your expertise. I look forward to engaging in fruitful discussions and contributing to the forum as I grow as a writer.

#2

Hi Luciana, how fantastic that you want to build your writing skills. I have studied writing for many years, and honestly I can say that the improvement journey never stops - you can always be learning, tweaking, and improving! Here are some thoughts for you:

  • For crafting characters, I’ve found that a character development worksheet helps me to flesh out my main characters. There are heaps of these available for free on the internet - just search for a term like “character development worksheet”. Look at a few and find one that appeals to you the most. I prefer to use one that has a LOT of prompts/questions - I never use them all for any one character, but the prompts let me think about each character in a detailed way, and I home in on the prompts that make sense for the character I’m working on. And depending on the character, I sometimes imagine that I’m chatting to them and asking them the questions. Here’s one example that I found when I did a search just now (not the one I use)
    https://www.dabblewriter.com/articles/character-development-worksheet

  • Also for characters, something else I find helpful is a behaviour/styles tool that I learned about in business and then used when I was a coach. It’s called the DISC model which is an acronym for 4 major groups of behaviour preferences - D is driver, dominant; I is influencer, the social butterfly; S is stability, steadiness; and C is conscientious, compliance. No-one is all of one style, but each of us tends to have one primary style. I think of the 4 styles like slides on an audio graphic equalizer’s control panel, that can all have different settings, with one of the sliders up higher than the other three. DISC can act as a general guide to a person’s style in how they behave and interact with others. I use this to “categorize” each character, e.g. my hero is primarily D, my heroine is mainly C or I, her best friend is S, or whatever. Again, if that concept interests you, just google “DISC styles” and read up about it to see how that helps. There are much more complex behaviour/style profiles like Myers Briggs, Enneagrams, Kolbe Index, and so many more, many of which I’ve also used, but I love DISC because it is so relatively straightforward. (By the way, I also love it because it was developed by the same man, William Marston, the psychologist, who dreamed up the Wonder Woman character when he was a consultant for the company that eventually became DC Comics. His wife encouraged him to come up with a female superhero, as a counter to all the male ones of the time like Batman, Superman, Green Lantern, etc.! I think that’s such a cool story :grinning:

  • For plotting, this will usually depend on the genre you’re writing in, e.g. rom-com would have a different plot structure from a cosy mystery, for instance. Having said that, I’ve found it’s helpful to know about “the hero’s journey” which is a traditional structure for most stories going back in time, and I’ve also looked at the following: Christopher Booker’s story archetypes; the Snowflake Method developed by author Randy Ingermanson; Freytag’s Pyramid.

Hope you find those ideas helpful.
–Cherry