Characters In A Romance Novel

Written by Patty Apostolides


Before you even begin writing your novel, you need to know who your characters will be. Minimally, you would want two major characters,repparttar hero andrepparttar 129081 heroine. They will interact mostly with each other throughoutrepparttar 129082 novel. How they interact with each other will determinerepparttar 129083 outcome ofrepparttar 129084 story. Will they resist each other inrepparttar 129085 beginning ofrepparttar 129086 story and byrepparttar 129087 end, fall in love? Or will they fall in love inrepparttar 129088 beginning ofrepparttar 129089 story and then be driven apart by conflict? Once you’ve chosen them, then you need to decide what age they are, their personality traits, and their names.

AGE

Age-appropriate actions are paramount to development ofrepparttar 129090 character. Ifrepparttar 129091 heroine is in her teens, she will react differently to situations than if she is in her late twenties. The same goes withrepparttar 129092 hero. In a romance novel,repparttar 129093 typical heroine is in her early twenties, whilerepparttar 129094 hero is older. If he is in his twenties, he shouldn’t be shown as a tycoon, unless of course, he inheritedrepparttar 129095 wealth. If he is in his thirties, he shouldn’t be shown doing activities that are immature for his age.

PERSONALITY TRAITS

A character in your novel needs to have distinct personality traits that make them unique. By distinguishing them fromrepparttar 129096 other persons inrepparttar 129097 novel, you can create all kinds of situations based on those traits. Personality traits are typically revealed inrepparttar 129098 story through actions, dialogue with other people inrepparttar 129099 story, and sometimes through flashbacks that may reveal how that person becamerepparttar 129100 way they are.

If you are not familiar with personality traits, you can begin by studyingrepparttar 129101 psychology books that describe them. Some examples of personality traits are introvert/extrovert, obsessive-compulsive, Type “A”/Type “B” personalities, etc. For example, an introverted person would appear shy, doesn’t speak much, and shuns being in social situations, whereas an extroverted person would be gregarious, out-going, and usually a partygoer.

There are many types of personalities that you can choose from for your heroine, but typically, a “romantic” female would includerepparttar 129102 following: kind, young, nurturing, loving, warm, single, sensual, doesn’t fool around, and attractive. For your hero,repparttar 129103 characteristics could vary even more, and usually include being: older, decisive, powerful, kind, caring, single, gentle, and handsome.

Typically, you should have well-rounded characters. However, beware of making them too perfect. Readers prefer reading about realistic people, and yet atrepparttar 129104 same time, want to escape a little. Leave some room for improvement to allow character development to take place. As a writer, you will have to do some mental gymnastics to allow this to happen. Maybe she is stubborn and headstrong, and doesn’t listen to other people’s advice. Maybe he doesn’t trust anyone, so he is wary and cautious. That’s fine. Once you decide onrepparttar 129105 traits of each character, thenrepparttar 129106 next step would be to envision how they would react to certain situations. For example, an impulsive person would probably react differently than a cautious person torepparttar 129107 same situation. Be prepared to get intorepparttar 129108 shoes of your character and feel what they would feel. When a hero and heroine get together, they may help each other overcome their character flaws byrepparttar 129109 end ofrepparttar 129110 story. Through their love for each other, they help each other grow as human beings, and atrepparttar 129111 same time, accept each other’s flaws and imperfections. Of course, there will be some type of conflict in attaining their love. What story exists without conflict? But byrepparttar 129112 end ofrepparttar 129113 story, they realizerepparttar 129114 importance of each other in their life and cannot live withoutrepparttar 129115 other, no matter whatrepparttar 129116 price. Ahhh, true love!

Seven Ways to Make Your Fiction Compulsive Reading

Written by Raven


Do You Have What It Takes to Grab and Hold Reader Attention? Does your fiction writing dorepparttar sales work for you? Do you have that magic ingredient to hold readers until story's end? What are readers looking for in a good read anyway?

This article tells you howrepparttar 129079 What's In It For Me? (WIIFM) formula, normally applied to commercial endeavors, is equally important to readers who are browsing or scanning fiction looking for that next good read.

What's In It For Me? is all about you giving something of value. This is what attracts and holds your reader. As a fiction writer this thing of value that you give torepparttar 129080 reader is an experience.

An experience is an exchange betweenrepparttar 129081 story andrepparttar 129082 reader that sets up a thinking and feeling connection forrepparttar 129083 reader.

When a reader first approaches any story they have no connection, no feeling response. At this point no exchange has occurred and no experience has begun.

It is your story's responsibility to moverepparttar 129084 reader into a state of connection by giving them a thinking and feeling experience. The betterrepparttar 129085 experience,repparttar 129086 more your story is valued.

How You Create an Experience for Your Reader. Your fiction story is built from components: plot, structure, characters, action, description, dialogue and your writing style. It is from these components that an experience can be created if you ensure they have quality.

Without quality components your writing will be, at best, bland or uninteresting (default reader disconnection: browsing on torepparttar 129087 next book), or at worst, even irritating (active reader disconnection: noting never to look at that author's works again).

Rigorously applyrepparttar 129088 following checklist to your story, before and during writing. This ensures each component contributes to a quality reader experience?

Plot  Does it offer enough temptation forrepparttar 129089 reader to come along forrepparttar 129090 ride? (Apply this question to every component.)  Arerepparttar 129091 twists and turns believable even if incredible?  If it's a simple or well-used plot, remember that more responsibility for creating reader experience will therefore fall onrepparttar 129092 other components of your story.

Structure  Have you chosen a structure that presentsrepparttar 129093 story in its best form and light? Or did you pickrepparttar 129094 easiest or most familiar structure without thinking about it?

Character  Here is your most important opportunity to giverepparttar 129095 reader an experience. If you don't create connection here your reader has little reason to stay withrepparttar 129096 story.  Psychological depth and originality create some ofrepparttar 129097 most compelling and successful characterizations. Are you creating characters using a 'cut and paste' approach from elsewhere in fiction or life? Or are you originating from within your own creative depths, having absorbed observations and experiences from life and let that settle intorepparttar 129098 mix within yourself? A Philip Marlow character or an unfamiliar (new) mix of traits?

Action  Are your action scenes genuinely originating out of your characters' interactions withrepparttar 129099 plot and each other? Or are you artificially imposing action responses onto your characters? The latter can lack believability and loserepparttar 129100 connection you may have established withrepparttar 129101 reader via other components of your story.

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