To figure out heroes it sort of helps to figure out in real life who do you root for?

In your own life, this question is usually pretty easy.

We root for ourselves. A lot of the time we root for our friends, our family. We almost always root for the dog. I mean, even in Cujo, the horror-novel by Stephen King where the dog is killing everyone? A lot of us still root for the dog.

But when we write books?

We want to root for the hero. The hero is who we like. The hero is who we admire.

Sometimes though, that’s sort of hard.

There are moments in Harry Potter where we’re rooting for Hermione more than Harry because Harry’s being a butt face, stubborn, sulky and insolent.

But many people believe that Harry is a better hero because of that. We can relate to him and find hope in our own hero potential because he is imperfect. If imperfect people can be heroes, so can we.

So can we.

Here’s the truth.

Heroes aren’t perfect. Not in real life. Not in books. And a lot of the time people don’t identify with heroes that are too perfect like Captain America or Superman because their goodness seems so impossible. They’ll prefer Iron Man or Batman because they are flawed and moody or temperamental and snarky. It’s easier to relate to that lack of perfection.

This is not true for me obviously. I’m all Cap all the time because I can relate to being imperfect because of my own self righteousness and savior complexes more than being Iron Man imperfect because I don’t have that great sulky snark. It’s kind of a problem, honestly.

But back to the point. Your hero probably shouldn’t be perfect. Perfection is kind of annoying.

How Do You Write a Hero Who Isn’t Typical or Basically Doesn’t Suck?

The same way you write everyone else.

Listen to people other than yourself, how they talk, how they think. Use your empathy to understand their character and then steal some of those traits and motivations for your own hero.

Tweak the tropes. Sure, you have archetypes of messiahs/warriors/matriarchs/mystics, but go beyond the trope when you’re making your hero. She might be like Xena the Warrior Princess, but she can have a goofy Whose That Girl side like Jess. Give your ‘mystic’ trope a ‘matriarch’ profession like a lawyer or judge.

Think about your own heroes - the ones in real life. What do they do that isn’t all that heroic? Talk with their mouth full? Wipe their boogers on the edge of the seat of the car? Use that.

THE HERO AS ARCHETYPE

So, main character energy is a thing and a lot of us think that our main character energy is the hero (no matter what kind). The hero is an archetype and it’s an old one and a darn popular one.

“The hero is usually an expression of our collective unconscious. Heroes strive to maintain justice and fight against evil. The ability of the hero to stay true to themselves is ultimately what makes them heroic,” Knowyourarchetypes (That’s a real site!) writes.

They write, “One definition of an archetypical hero is ‘someone who overcomes great odds in order to achieve his or her objectives.’ The hero’s main undertaking is to defeat the monster of darkness – a long-awaited and hoped-for triumph of consciousness over the unconscious.”

KnowYourArchetypes further explains:

“Here is a standard heroic archetypes list for you to consider when thinking about this archetype:

“The Perfect Hero – As a shining example of human morality, this hero is a role model for all of us.

“The Misfit – This unexpected hero isn’t like everyone else, for whatever reason. He may be a social outcast because of his ethnicity or religion, or because he has a handicap that makes him an outsider in his community. In most cases, this is accompanied by some degree of emotional trauma that has to be dealt with.

“The Grizzled Old-Timer – The seasoned veteran doesn’t need to be taught the intricacies of heroism; in fact, it’s more probable that he will be the one passing down his knowledge. His time may have passed, but he still has enough of fight left in him, even if he is beyond his prime.

“The Everyman – It’s not usually those who are the most intelligent or physically powerful that become heroes. This kind of hero is one that we can identify with. He shares our concerns and our anxieties. We could easily imagine ourselves in his shoes.

“The Anti-Hero – It’s not always possible to find a hero to take on a task that has to be done. Rarely, the position of hero must be assumed by someone who is completely unsuited for it.

“The Prodigy – Some people are born a hero, while others have to work hard to become one. The genius may begin as an unpromising lump of clay, but there is unquestionable potential there, and it is just a matter of time until it may be unlocked by the appropriate circumstances.

“The Un-Hero – Most of the time, the un-hero is a misfit who appears just at the wrong moment and causes more harm than good, but somehow things in the end things resolve themselves and he gets the credit.”

Literary devices also explains:

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I usually send these emails twice a week.

*My WRITE BETTER NOW posts also come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should.

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I was recently helping a poet/author who was worried about forced rhyme moments and then she realized she wasn’t absolutely sure what ‘forced rhyme’ even met.

So, here’s a bit of rundown on ways we can all force our rhymes.

Weird Phrasing.

The most common way picture book editors balk at forced rhymes is when the author rearranges the phrase or sentence so that the rhyme comes at the end but the whole thing sounds unnatural. Like this:

Whenever we go out for a run,

With you, I like the sun.

Look at me! I’m unnatural.

Normally, it would be in natural conversational U.S. English:

Whenever we go out for a run,

I like the sun.

The ‘with you’ wouldn’t even be there because of the ‘we.’ We just shove that on to make it rhyme, which is why we call it forced.

I love imagining all of us poet-people brandishing our mugs of tea and pens and screaming, “Rhyme, damn it! I force you!” It’s all very on-brand for 2026.

Random bits

The other big thing that happens in picture books is we stick random information into the story just to make a rhyme.

I like manatees. I think they’re great.

My aunt got sick from a tomato she ate.

This is pretty cute, actually.

So, if the rest of the book was about manatees and no family members or above-ground fruit or vegetables, then that line about the aunt wouldn’t make sense, right? That’s another example of a forced rhyme.

Making a Big, Long Line

I did this so much when I was young and I still have to hold my typing hands back because it’s what I ALWAYS WANT TO DO. I would make a really big line to get a rhyme in.

I was working over at the Dairy Joy,

Just minding my own business, scooping the scoops, when I finally scoped out this boy.

Most of my grade-school poems were about being in love with random imaginary humans.

Anyway, if the rest of the couplets are short, then this looks silly and forced.

Almost But Not Quite

Another big thing people do is the almost but not quite there rhyme. They call this a slant rhyme or a half rhyme. Poets actually use this on purpose all the time. Here’s an example that I pasted from the web. It’s a poem called “To My Wife” by George Wolff

If love is like a bridge
or maybe like a grudge,
and time is like a river
that kills us with a shiver,
then what have all these mornings meant
but aging into love?
What now is straight must have been bent;
what now is whole must have been rent.
My hand is now your glove.”

George Wolff

Wrenched rhymes

This happens when the words rhyme, but different syllables are stressed like here where the stress goes on the first syllable of laughing so on the laugh and not on the ing:

I was laughing

On the swing.

Random pretend poem

So, there you go. A tiny little lesson (Lesson? It sounds so formal!) about forced rhymes. Remember force is not cool. Talk to your poems, chill with them, let them decide to hang out with you.

And hopefully, I’ll have some more about archetypes later this week.

I hope you’re all doing well! - Carrie

QUICK NOTE.

This blog/newsletter/Substack/whatever will always be free to read (except for Saturday’s writing posts, but it’s also how I pay my bills. If a paid subscription is way too big an ask, I’m always thankful for help buying dog treats. Or, honestly, just sharing that this Substack exists is cool.

I usually send these emails twice a week.

*My WRITE BETTER NOW posts also come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should.

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week.

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I’ve been talking about writing archetypes for our characters and how they also apply to the real life humans we used to meet and interact with before Covid-19.

Remember the before? I barely do, actually.

Anyway, there are lists out there all over the place about archetypes (And, quite honesty, COVID). Most of those lists have slight variations on the number of archetypes or the names of the archetypes.

Oh! If you haven’t read it on an earlier post, an archetype is according to MasterClass:

An archetype is an emotion, character type, or event that is notably recurrent across the human experience. In the arts, an archetype creates an immediate sense of familiarity, allowing an audience member to relate to an event or character without having to necessarily ponder why they relate. Thanks to our instincts and life experiences, we’re able to recognize archetypes without any need for explanation.

I’ve talked about the seducers; I’ve talked about the misfits and mavericks, I think, if not I will. This week, I’m going easy on us all with the creator archetype.

According to MasterClass, the creator is “a motivated visionary who creates art or structures during the narrative.”

They make things! Like writers!

They usually have willpower. They are sometimes self-involved. Or they suck at practical things. Potentially like some of us writers, right?

Over on ArielHudnel.com, it says (all bold their emphasis),

“Also known as the artist, innovator, inventor, architect, musician, and dreamer, the Creator is solely focused on examining the boundaries or our reality and perception. As a character, they often take the position of the well-meaning scientist, or savant artist.

“The Creator carries an inexhaustible imagination, often excelling at their chosen vocation. When presenting as a mortal character in a reality-based world, he is often portrayed as a man ahead of his time. There are often better examples of this archetype in the real world (Galileo, Einstein, Mozart, Steve Jobs) than in fiction!

“Mediocrity is the Creator’s worst fear. Whether this result comes from concept or execution doesn’t matter. The creator wishes to be an authentic voice in a world of white noise. They gain rivals easily, answering those challenges with innovation in their work, and their personal outlook.”

Zeus. Dr. Frankenstein. Iron Man. All creators.

Phoebe in Friends. Jo in Little Women. Frida Kahlo as herself. Creators.

Over on the Character Therapist, they list the creator’s goals and fears:

LIKELY GOALS

“To create things of enduring value
To see a vision realized
To hone artistic control and skill
To create culture through self-expression”

LIKELY FEARS

“To have a mediocre vision
To only execute a vision half-way
To believe all is an illusion
To remain unchanged/unmoved by beauty”

Cool, right? Relatable? Cough. Maybe. Honestly, it’s like being psychoanalyzed by a literary device when I write this stuff.

There’s a great quote by Fictionary about us, me, them here:

“Whether awkward and shy, or well-spoken and polished, creator types must negotiate their everyday world like everyone else. Except in their case, they focus on their vision throughout time. There will likely be repercussions from their achievements, which might deter them from going forward with their plans, or cause them to cast aside those who try to dissuade them from their appointed tasks.

“In particular, the creator archetype is well-positioned to cast a light on social ills, ethical dilemmas, and the impact of shifts in cultural norms. Their innovations, in whatever realm of creation they espouse, will conflict with the status quo, disrupting belief systems, dividing opinions, creating strife, and opening the way for change in the story world.

“The creator archetype, whether as a main character forging a major shift in a story world, an ally aiding the protagonist, a villain opposing the protagonist, or a foil providing contrast to the protagonist, is a powerful tool for a writer.

“Archetypes are versatile literary devices for adding depth and nuance to a story, as well as shaping the narrative and sharpening characterization.”

Writing Tip of the Post

We need all types of stories. When you create, think about who your archetypes are. If you are creating and expressing yourself, are you doing so in a way that is beautiful, clear, and fair to the rest of the world?

Dog Tip for Life by Teddy and Jack

Single minded obsession is never good unless it’s about making bacon.

QUICK NOTE.

This blog/newsletter/Substack/whatever will always be free to read (except for Saturday’s writing posts, but it’s also how I pay my bills. If a paid subscription is way too big an ask, I’m always thankful for help buying dog treats. Or, honestly, just sharing that this Substack exists is cool.

I usually send these emails twice a week.

*My WRITE BETTER NOW posts also come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should.

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week.

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Someone asked what the difference is between an archetype and a stereotype.

So here you go, someone and everyone else!

First up, archetypes!

According to masterclass.com when it comes to writing an archetype is

“An emotion, character type, or event that is notably recurrent across the human experience. In the arts, an archetype creates an immediate sense of familiarity, allowing an audience member to relate to an event or character without having to necessarily ponder why they relate. Thanks to our instincts and life experiences, we’re able to recognize archetypes without any need for explanation.”

So, what’s a stereotype?

It can be positive. It can be negative. But it’s also usually freaking simplistic.

A stereotype for us writers (and other humans) is basically a reductionist generalization about an entire group of people that a bunch of humans believe and it’s often b.s.

I know! I know! I swore sort of. I’m very anti-stereotypes.

So, yeah, it’s a broad generalization about a group of people based on one demographic. It could be stepmothers, lawyers, politicians, teachers. It could be about van drivers, vegans, people in political parties. It could be about gender or race or religion or other cultural aspects.

They are mostly negative.

And what’s a cliché?

It’s something you see so many times in tv, stories, life, that it becomes ultra banal, ultra boring, and ultra predictable.

• The mad scientist.

• The nerdy, but secretly sexy librarian.

• The rich old cranky lady.

• The egotistical warrior.

• The quirky writer who talks about zombie hamsters too much and has a messy desk and dog slobber on her windows. Oh, wait. That’s me. I’m the cliché.

As a writer, how do you stay away from clichés or stereotypes? You can parody them. You can deconstruct them. You can think about how to subvert them into something unexpected. Can the old rich lady actually be kind and not wear high heels and have a small dog? Can the egotistical warrior not be egotistical and self-effacing and neurotic? Can the nerdy librarian not be secretly sexy but actually overtly sexy in a glam way? Can the quirky writer not have dog slobber on her windows but zombie hamster slobber instead?

Writing Type of the Post.

Think about your main character and the other major ones in your story. Are they normal? Typical? How can you tweak that and surprise the reader?

Dog Type for Life Via Jack Jones.

How are you a cliché? Are you fulfilling society’s expectations? Do you want to be doing that or not? If you want to, how can you step out of your role and people’s expectations?

RANDOM EXERCISE/FREE WRITE:

Write 250 words on Jack Jones meeting the Barbies or write about it for 5-10 minutes.

Go back to that later.

Did you write with stereotypes or clichés? Now revise it for 5-10 minutes and make it OVER THE TOP with the stereotypes or clichés. OR go back and try to take every stereotype and cliché out of there.

QUICK NOTE.

This blog/newsletter/Substack/whatever will always be free to read (except for Saturday’s writing posts, but it’s also how I pay my bills. If a paid subscription is way too big an ask, I’m always thankful for help buying dog treats. Or, honestly, just sharing that this Substack exists is cool.

I usually send these emails twice a week.

*My WRITE BETTER NOW posts also come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should.

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week.

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A while ago, we had a podcast. We had a couple actually and they were pretty fun. Starting a newspaper took that off our plate because running a daily newspaper when you’re just two people.

I kind of miss it.

Most of our episodes dealt with how writing craft coincided with life skills. Maybe not exactly that, but it was one of our main topics.

We had a series about archetypes in writing.

Literary Device explains them as:

Ah, yes, the archetype.

Merriam-Webster says an archetype is:

“The original pattern or model of which all things of the same type are representations or copies.”

Good ole Merriam-Webster

Archetypes, according to Tami Nantz, help us understand what makes our characters tick. She says to ask:

What does he fear?

What motivates him?

What does he care about most?

Tami Nantz

This, obviously works for people too, right? When we try to understand them?

And while I was afraid to talk about this on the podcast with Shaun because his mind goes . . . places, one week we talked about the seductress archetype.

Over on the Reedsy blog, the seductress is explained pretty well.

“I’ll give you whatever you want,” is the refrain of the seductress — a character that comes in all shapes, sizes, and genders. They might offer power, sex, love, money, or influence but remember, these things always come with strings attached. If a seductress is involved, the moral of the tale is almost always, “Don’t believe anything that’s too good to be true.”

“Strengths: Allure, charisma, lack of morals.

“Weaknesses: The emptiness of their promises.

“Desires: Control.

“Examples: Mephistopheles in Faust, Delilah from Samson and Delilah, 90% of the female characters in The Odyssey.”

Some more examples would be Mystique in X-Men and Meg in Hercules. ‍Gilderoy Lockhart, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone or ‍Patrick Verona, 10 Things I Hate About You.

I worry a bit about the definition up there when it says the lack of morals, but we’re going to move on so I don’t go down a wormhole.

I am not a seductress though I kind of envy them sometimes. I’m more the kind of person who will accidentally fall out of a car or have her skirt fall down or trip on her way to a podium.

Anyway, Valeria Black, writing for The Writing Cooperative had a very definite take on the Seductress, which seems a wee bit reductive, but reductiveness can sometimes be so helpful. She said,

“The Seductress cares deeply about being in the spotlight. She loves attention and the way people fall head-over-heels for her.

“But most of all, she loves being the most admired woman in the room.”

Dabble Writer explains:

“The Seducer understands their target’s deepest fantasies. They see what this person longs for or—more powerfully—how this person wants to feel about themselves. The Seducer then chameleons their way into the role of lover, mentor, confident… whatever position gets them where they want to be.”

So, why is she/he/they like this?

Because, if you dig deeply enough, the seductress is a child and a dreamer at heart who craves constant stimulation in the quest for her one true love.

There, that’s not so bad, right?

Anyway, this hidden quest for lasting love is the main reason why it seems like the seducer strings people along. But in reality it’s because the seducer just gets bored quickly.

And this is so cool to think about if you have one of these characters or one of these people in your life.

I think we all know one of these seducer or seductresses, the person who is all about the sexual and physical validation, and doesn’t know what to do without it. Their self-worth comes from capturing as many admiring looks or hearts as possible. They are dependent on other people’s affection and attention. And that makes it hard sometimes for both them and their friends. Their dark side is like the femme fatale like Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct, right? But that doesn’t mean they are all evil or even evil at all. It just explains their motivation and how they interact with the world.

Though most of the literature discussion leans on the female version of this archetype, the male version is very much alive and well, too. He is everywhere.

That same Reedsy blog has some really great advice about archetypes:

For authors, character archetypes are a useful concept to understand — if only to save you from tying yourself in knots, trying to create stories and characters completely unlike anything that’s come before. Every story has already been told, so focus on what matters most to readers: creating rich, specific worlds populated by people living specific lives, whose struggles are so grounded in realistic human behavior that their stories become universal — no matter where the reader is from.

But the thing is that this is true about life, too. When you understand those three questions we talked about in the beginning, you can understand your friends, family, and enemies a lot more. What motivates the people you love? What do they fear? What do they care about the most?

What about you? What motivates you? What do you fear? What do you care about the most?

Those questions can help you out too.

QUICK NOTE.

This blog/newsletter/Substack/whatever will always be free to read (except for Saturday’s writing posts, but it’s also how I pay my bills. If a paid subscription is way too big an ask, I’m always thankful for help buying dog treats. Or, honestly, just sharing that this Substack exists is cool.

I usually send these emails twice a week.

*My WRITE BETTER NOW posts also come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should.

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week.

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I’m going to delve quickly back into the world of AI writing to discuss two things. Ready?

1. What people say the smart way to use AI in writing is right now.

2. Why AI-written blog posts are kind of super boring.

So, over on Medium, Florian Roth has an interesting post about why they are sick of reading AI-created posts.

Florian puts it pretty simply, “They all sound like the same guy.”

Similar to my post about how to spot AI in fiction, Florian talks about tells and writes:

His other tells include: “absurd certainty;” “the rhythm is too perfect;” and “it is desperate to sound perfect.”

These are all tone-related, but what’s cool (to me at least) about it is that there are certain sentence structure/word choices that create each of those qualities.

For absurd certainty even when you don’t know the context, it tends to be:

1. Short sentences.

2. Hyperbolic words.

3. Actual use of the word “certainty.”

Florian gives these examples:

• “This changes everything.”

• “The old way is dead.”

• “We now know, with certainty, that…”

AI is a much more confident beast than Carrie Jones.

When it comes to perfect rhythm in the post (or the novel), it’s more about the structure of the post (or scene).

Florian again breaks it down like this:

“short hook big claim three neat support points dramatic conclusion

“And then those little sentence groups:

• “No vendor. No black box. No negotiation.”

• “They don’t pause. They don’t reflect. They guess.”

And finally—trying to sound super important. When I read it, it’s sort of like the blowhard at the bar or cocktail party or Thanksgiving dinner who is secretly insecure but thinks it’s ultra-manly to seem confident.

Florian gives these examples:

• “This is the moment everything changed.”

• “What happens next will redefine the industry.”

• “We are witnessing a fundamental shift in how humans create.”

All of this style of writing, over and over again, makes it feel like the same person is writing absolutely everything. If you’re into that style? That’s kind of awesome. If you’re not into that style? It’s super dull. To be fair, I sort of have had this issue before AI because I’m easily bored.

THE HOPE

Florian offers hope, writing,

”Not because they are necessarily wrong. Many of them are technically fine. But the moment it feels generated you automatically apply a discount to it. I think of it as an authenticity penalty. The content might be okay, but you know the cost of producing it was basically nothing. A few prompt lines and a model doing the rest.

“So the reader ends up investing more attention than the writer invested effort. That imbalance is noticeable.

“There is also another thing building up which I would describe as synthetic fatigue.

“People spend more and more time talking to generated voices. Support chats that clearly start with an AI agent. Replies that sound very polite, very structured, very careful — but also strangely empty. You can almost feel the system trying to keep you in the loop of friendly explanations instead of actually solving the problem.

“After a while that just becomes irritating.”

HOW IT CAN STILL BE USEFUL

So, I have critiques to this argument, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. I think a lot of what Linda Carroll says here is right.

She thinks that AI is helpful to writers not as a writer doling out words for them, but as a teacher or developmental editor.

She writes, “Here’s how a lot of writers use AI. They type in a prompt and then work with AI to refine it. Basically, the human becomes the editor. Change this or that, add nuance. Give it details. Type another prompt to edit it.

“They let AI pull the words out of its belly for them.

“But when you look at the economics of the AI industry, there’s only one smart way for writers to use AI. As a teacher.

“Don’t start with a prompt. Start with a blank page. Write your own sh*tty draft. As Hemingway said, all drafts are shite. It will suck. That’s okay.

“Then? Ask AI to critique. What’s wrong with it? Where is it weak? Does it use passive voice or active? Ask what the strongest paragraph is. Move it to the opening. Rearrange from there. Ask it if there’s anything in the draft that’s irrelevant and doesn’t belong. Is the ending weak or strong?

“Once you’ve moved the strongest paragraph to the top and deleted anything that was irrelevant, feed the edited draft back into it. Now attack sentences. Which are weak? How can you tighten it up, increase the pace?”

“Do not ask anything that’ll trigger praise mode. AI is a sycophant. It seeks to please. Tell it — don’t praise me, critique me.

“You want AI to know it’s functioning as a teacher.”

What do you all think? Yes, no?

QUICK NOTE.

This blog/newsletter/Substack/whatever will always be free to read (except for Saturday’s writing posts, but it’s also how I pay my bills. If a paid subscription is way too big an ask, I’m always thankful for help buying dog treats. Or, honestly, just sharing that this Substack exists is cool.

I usually send these emails twice a week.

*My WRITE BETTER NOW posts also come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should.

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week.

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Deep point of view is basically where I live, which is why it makes it hard for me to write a newspaper story that’s straight news. It’s a bit opposite of that, actually.

Deep point of view, though, is a really great tool when writing young adult novels and immersive stories. It’s a tool that you’ll want in your writer’s tool box.

Enough intro! Let’s get into it.

What Is Deep Point of View?

It’s when you’re in the point of view of the character and the narrative voice? It’s not all intruding on stuff. Or if you want to sound more hoity-toity like on the Editors’ Blog, which explains,

“Deep POV is third-person subjective taken a step farther than the normal

“Thus readers see scenes through the viewpoint character, feel story events as that character does. What that character sees, the reader sees. What the character feels or thinks, the reader knows.

“And the reader knows automatically that what is being reported are the thoughts and feelings and the intentions of the viewpoint character.

“Deep POV allows writers to do away with he thought, he felt, he wondered, he saw, all those phrases that intrude into the fiction, that unnecessarily encumber story.”

Let’s do some examples.

So, this is a third-person limited point of view. (The simplest way of explaining this is it’s when the narrative voice isn’t I but still focused on just one person.)

It was already five and the neighbors were coming over for dinner.

Carrie thought, “Gosh, I hope I remembered to turn on the oven.”

It’s a bit gaumy. It feels like there’s a narrator. We’re a bit distanced, right?

This is that third person limited point of view without the filtering of “Carrie thought.”

Here’s it in deep point of view.

It was already five and the neighbors were coming over for dinner. Gosh, did I turn on the oven?

Or in third, but even deeper

It was already five and the neighbors were coming over for dinner. Gosh, did Carrie remember to turn on the oven?

Why is Deep POV Good?

It’s good because it makes stronger connections between the reader and the story because of those lack of filters.

It usually makes the character more developed because you’re right in their head with them.

It’s more freaking lively

It’s less blah, blah, blah and more concise in a Raymond Carver sort of way.

So How Do You Do THIS Deep POV Thing?

You have to know who your character is and don’t be afraid to lose yourself in the character.

Cut out the middleman/narrator and just use your character’s voice.

Get rid of those distancing words like “she heard,” “he felt,” “they noticed.”

Don’t hop around into other characters’ heads.

But it’s also about subtext

Subtext is gestures, glances, and body language and how that’s interpreted. It’s veiled conversations, innuendos, and shared experiences. This is a HUGE component of real life communication you need to incorporate into your fiction. But there’s art to it. The reader has to know what’s really being communicated. - Lisa Hall-Wilson

“Deep point of view is about eliminating distance between the reader and the point of view character (POVC) and the beginner guides will tell you to look for words like watched, thought, heard, felt, etc.

“Remove the dialogue tags and use beats instead. Write with immediacy instead of recalling the action. These are all great starting places and are necessary, but there are so many ways you (as the writer) insert yourself into the story and break the fictive dream for readers. Learning to recognize these and eliminate them takes practice and objectivity.”

It’s about knowing your character and the world and being in the moment versus telling the moment.

Everything the character sees comes from what the character has already experienced. So the character doesn’t explain the whole world. She just lives in the whole world.

Carrie sits at her desk when she looks up out her window and sees a kid on skateboard fall off.

Super boring, right, even though it’s an ouchy moment.

Try this instead.

Something rattled outside. The world shook just the tiniest of bits. The kid on the skateboard’s pants were too long, hanging below the deck of the board. Dangerous. Everyone always wiped out there, right at the corner of School Street and Edgewood. This kid was no different. People were no different either. People always fell down.

It’s also about internal dialogue

Your point-of-view character needs to have an internal life, too. Bridget Jones’s Diary is rather insipid but totally fun. It’s so fun because we’re right inside her head. That’s an extreme example of deep point-of-view in the first person. In my simplest explanation, the first person POV is just when the narrator is the “I” or me.

Jamie Schmidt has a great example of this:

“I jumped at the loud noise.

“This isn’t enough (plus, it’s telling, not showing).

“Deep POV would be: What the heck was that? My heart slammed into my chest at the sound of the window shattering. (Plus, it’s showing, not telling.)”

You can see that right? And it happens in all POVs. And it’s really a lot about showing not telling. Jamie has another good example here.

“First Person: I couldn’t believe this was happening to me. My knees shook as I walked up on stage to get my award.

“Third Person: Sheila couldn’t believe this was happening to her. Her knees shook as she walked up on stage to get her award.

Deep POV: OMG. OMG. Sheila sat stunned. She didn’t hear the applause over the pounding of her heart. She stumbled in her new heels as she walked up on stage to get her award.”

WAYS TO CHECK IF YOU’RE DOING THE DEEP POV THING

1. Is your narrator butting in with comments?

2. Have you banished filtering/distancing words like saw, looked, heard, felt?

3. Is the information you’re putting out there in the moment without a bunch of conclusions (telling bits) around it?

4. Are you using subtext?

5. Are there no italics for the internal monologue and no “I thought” or “She thought” instead the thoughts are just there in the moment?

6. Are you using more dialogue beats and less dialogue tags? Let me know if you all don’t know this difference. Maybe I’ll just write about it anyway.

   ---

RESOURCES

https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-write-deep-pov#how-to-write-in-deep-point-of-view

https://www.instituteforwriters.com/achieving-deep-pov.aspx

https://lisahallwilson.com/5-pro-tips-to-write-deep-pov-effectively/

https://theeditorsblog.net/2011/11/16/deep-pov-whats-so-deep-about-it/

QUICK NOTE.

This blog/newsletter/Substack/whatever will always be free to read (except for Saturday’s writing posts, but it’s also how I pay my bills. If a paid subscription is way too big an ask, I’m always thankful for help buying dog treats. Or, honestly, just sharing that this Substack exists is cool.

I usually send these emails twice a week.

*My WRITE BETTER NOW posts also come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should.

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week.

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This post is about the brain, idea generation, and using memories to make story, which is pretty fun. I hope you like it! I’ve tried a different format here and I was also wondering if you’re into it or if you prefer the straight blog post that I normally do. Please let me know when you have time/if you have time, okay?

Just click the link . . .

The presentation of awesome

There’s also a very in-depth post here.

QUICK. NOTE.

My WRITE BETTER NOW and LIVING HAPPY posts come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should, I think, maybe?

I’m all writing advice (and life hopes/advice) and pretty damn positive in a weird, negative internet. If you’re into that? Come hang out. Also, you can always become a paid subscriber so that I can buy the pups food, but no pressure!

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week usually.And as always, thank you so much for being here with me!

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Okay! It’s random grammar tip time. Mostly because I stayed up until 10 p.m. last night working and my brain is too fried for anything else this morning.

Ready? It’s a big one.

“Must” isn’t exactly the same as “have to.”

What the what, right? I know! I know! I had somehow forgotten this rule a bit.

Anyway, the word must is this funky and special kind of word called a modal verb. In the language I’m writing in right now (English) those words show certain things, right?

They indicate that either something is:

• likely

• possible

• an obligation

That sort of thing.

Examples of this kind of verb (the modal kind) are things like:

• Must

• May

• Shall/Will

• Can

If you use “must” in a sentence, you’re indicating that there’s an obligation going on or that it is necessary that you do something.

• I must wake up to search for zombie hamsters.

• We must remember that there are differences between “must” and “have to” and get that out here before this post is a zillion words long.

I’m getting there! I promise. So, we could also write:

• I have to wake up to search for zombie hamsters.

• We have to remember that there are differences between “must” and “have to” and get that out here before this post is a zillion words long.

Neither set of sentences is wrong, but there is nuance to the meaning depending on which word you’re using.

As Fluentu.com explains, “Both refer to an obligation, but must indicates an opinion or suggestion. Have to is an expression of a more objective obligation coming from an outside force.”

If you say that you must wake up and look for those poor zombie hamsters it’s more of an opinion. If you say that you have to look for those zombie hamsters, then it’s something required by an outside force like the government agency on detaining zombie hamsters or something.

Most of us, however (cough: me), don’t remember this rule and speak without intention all the time and they become interchangeable. It’s a totally cool difference to know that.

QUICK. NOTE.

My WRITE BETTER NOW and LIVING HAPPY posts come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should, I think, maybe?

I’m all writing advice (and life hopes/advice) and pretty damn positive in a weird, negative internet. If you’re into that? Come hang out. Also, you can always become a paid subscriber so that I can buy the pups food, but no pressure!

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week usually.

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It is rare that I engage in social media threads (This is mostly because social media is scary.), but I did yesterday in a big moment of weakness.

Why?

There’s been some writing world drama about a traditionally published novelist having her book pulled after the publisher decided (post printing) that there were AI tells within it.

So, I responded to a post because it was about AI writing.

And AI writing has started to take up a lot of my time as a developmental editor.

This means I highlight sections of text and say, “This sounds like AI” a lot. So much. Sometimes it isn’t AI-helped, but a lot of times it is.

AI tells change as its development and modelling grows. It used to be all about the em-dash, which shows a break in thought—I am a mushroom—during a sentence or at its end.

That’s still a tell, so let’s get into it, okay?

Oh! And I am only talking about fiction here. There are a ton of brilliant articles about spotting AI (or making your work sound less like AI) in nonfiction and press releases and blog posts.

EM-DASH.

This doesn’t always mean that there’s been an AI assist in a novel. Human novelists have used the em-dash for ages and AI has been trained off the work of human novelists.

And these little buggers are addictive. They make you think less about clauses and commas and we lean into them to be funny or for emphasis. It’s a bit of cheat when it comes to digging deeper and working harder.

So when does the em-dash indicate AI?

Usually when:

1. There’s one in every paragraph.

2. When they aren’t actually indicating a break in thought.

Let’s zoom in on that one, okay?

If read:

I’d think, “What the what?”

That’s not a break in thought. It’s a continuation of thought. That’s an AI tell.

That would do better as two independent sentences or with a semicolon between them. Like one of these:

I am now a bit intrigued by this, actually.

So, to use that em-dash appropriately to show a break in thought and not necessarily an AI tell, it would work like this:

THE MAGICAL SENTENCE FRAGMENT PARAGRAPH.

A lot of people think that the rule of threes indicate AI, but again, good writers have been using that for emphasis for ages. What they haven’t been using is this: the broken sentence paragraphs.

In this tell, each sentence fragment is its own paragraph on the page. So like this:

Often these come at an end of a scene, right before a “hook” to read more.

THESE ANNOYING SENTENCES.

There is a self-declaratory feel to a lot of AI writing even when in first-person close narratives.

I’ve pulled these two examples from the NYT examples of Claude (an AI tool) that shows what I’m talking about.

These super declarative sentences with weak verbs is very AI.

THE COMMA + LIKE or + AS IF

The “comma + like” construction. AI systems often default to structures like:

• “…reflections up the trees, like a cruel joke”

• “…herded, as if livestock into slaughter”

The issue isn’t that the comparison is wrong. It’s really just that the rhythm is becoming recognizable as an AI pattern. Human prose tends to vary the phrasing a bit more, either by reordering the sentence or making the comparison more specific or more fun, honestly.

But when you have a ton of the same construction, it begins to feel like AI.

THE HUMAN ELEMENT: EMOTIONAL RESONANCE/DEEP POV/MRUs.

In fiction writing, we tend to want emotional resonance. AI does this on a sentence level often with those em-dashes, declarative sentences.

So that means it tends to avoid deep point of view and also emotional cause and effect and also motivation-reaction units.

Here’s a quick example of deeper point of view:

Oh, man. I lied. So, this isn’t just about the deepness of her point of view which is shown via that internal voice (“Idiot” “What an idiot”); it’s also about concrete detail (broken asphalt, flat wall) and the action that makes sense for the context, which also brings you deeper into the POV (sprinting, groaning, leaning, rubbing).

You can see it, right?

Motivation-reaction units are other thing that breaks down especially the longer the story is.

Dwight Swain’s Motivation-Reaction Unit (MRU) theory is basically the idea that character reactions should follow a logical order: first the stimulus (motivation), then the reaction (which itself unfolds in a logical sequence: feeling → reflex → action → speech). It’s all about logical cause and effect.

AI can often get cause and effect, but it will repeat the same cause and effect over and over again OR it will fail to have the emotion linked to it. Or it will just lose the sequence of it.

There! I could go on, but this is sort of long already and I wanted to get the major players in there. I hope it helps you spot AI, but also maybe helps remember to lean into the human part of good writing, too. Or, if you use AI to write your stories, helps you know what to look for to make your story stronger.

You’ve got this, okay?

REEDSY STUDIO THINGS

So, there’s some cool resources on Reedsy for building a character, including a character template. I think I might get two cents or something if you go through it via the link because I’m now an affiliate, which means I get to say, “I may receive a commission if someone makes a purchase through your affiliate link.” But mostly there are some cool tools on Reedsy that you might want to check out. No pressure though!

QUICK. NOTE.

My WRITE BETTER NOW and LIVING HAPPY posts come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should, I think, maybe? I’m all writing advice (and life hopes/advice) and pretty damn positive in a weird, negative internet. If you’re into that? Come hang out.

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week usually.

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Update! Apparently counting is not one of them. There are four things! FOUR! Agh.

WRITE WITHOUT AI

Gasp! Okay. The first one is to not have AI write your novel. I am an editor and writing coach and lately I’ve been seeing so much AI.

It’s a lovely tool to help you edit your novel, but when it comes to the actual writing? It’s still not there.

It will write.

And then break—so many em dashes involved too—sentences

Into one word sentence fragments.

Then there will be a construct like this.

No way. No money. No how.

And your copy will look like it’s not human.

This actually doesn’t just go for writers. I’m so sorry! I know this is kind of a downer for some of us, but if you have AI write your press release or social media post or newsletter, it’s usually incredibly obvious. If you brand is supposed to be approachable and human and caring, then that content you are putting out is often doing the opposite of all of those things.

So, all this to say (I got on a bit of a soap box there, apologies) that you want to try to write every day without AI. It doesn’t have to be a ton of words, just try to do some.

Just write a little every day. Just 250 words is good. Do not pick up your phone during this either okay? Just you and your beautiful brain.

WALK AROUND OR EXERCISE

I know! I know! Walking! Exercising? What an evil human I am to suggest such things.

Spoiler: I am suggesting them because the human body AND the human brain aren’t meant to sit or recline or flop all the time.

From forever ago, authors and inventors and artists have taken walks to help inspire themselves. Plus, endorphins get released when you exercise and endorphins are the best. Seriously, they should be your besties. You should search them out.

READ WITHOUT SCROLLIING

If you can try to read for 15-30 minutes each day without scrolling, it will help your brain remember how to focus, how to get out of its own way. It can inspire you if you’re a writer, but it also will help you overall as a human either learn something, focus, increase your empathy, spark your imagination.

LEARN ABOUT WRITER THINGS

Also, it’s cool to learn about the craft of writing. You can do this by studying books of writers you think are amazing. You can do this by reading random blogs. You can do this by going to school if you can afford it or taking classes or working with a writing coach/editor.

Or you can even watch videos. There are a million videos about writing by all sorts of humans.

You can learn about things like polysyndeton, which is a literary device that you can use to impact pacing and make your sweet readers more anxious. I bolded it to make it important. :)

But it is, according to LitCharts, “a figure of speech in which coordinating conjunctions—words such as ‘and,’ ‘or,’ and ‘but’ that join other words or clauses in a sentence into relationships of equal importance—are used several times in close succession, particularly where conjunctions would normally not be present at all. For instance, the following sentence contains polysyndeton: ‘We ate roast beef and squash and biscuits and potatoes and corn and cheese and cherry pie.’”

Cool, right?

You use it for emphasis.

The United State Postal Service’s motto is an example, right?

Or you can imagine it in your own story about zombie gerbils.

The device (and all devices, right?) can help you be a better writer. This one can slow the moment by stretching it out. It can show a character be overwhelmed. It can emphasize things and be used for fear or comedy. So cool.

QUICK. NOTE.

My WRITE BETTER NOW and LIVING HAPPY posts come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should, I think, maybe? I’m all writing advice (and life hopes/advice) and pretty damn positive in a weird, negative internet. If you’re into that? Come hang out.

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week usually.

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Let’s talk about anagnorisis, which is an incredibly fancy word for that bit of time where the character in your story finally gets what the actual truth.

It’s the moment they get what’s going on.

It’s the moment that they gasp with recognition.

They suddenly get it.

It almost always shifts the track of the story as well as the character.

Here, let’s be fancy for a second with a big, pace-slowing paragraph full of complex sentences.

“Anagnorisis, a term borrowed from Aristotle’s Poetics, refers to a character’s moment of critical discovery or recognition,” writes Literary Devices. “It’s the point in a story where a character first comes to understand a previously hidden truth about themselves, another character, their circumstances, or their fate. It’s more than simply ‘finding out’ something; it’s a deeply impactful realization that often leads to a reversal of fortune or a significant shift in the character’s actions and the plot’s direction. Think of it as a ‘lightbulb moment’ with serious consequences.”

In the best writing, it leans not just into plot, but into the emotional complications. There should be some resonance going on here.

As Cole Salao writes for TCK Publishing, “A well-crafted realization lets readers feel the character’s shock, grief, or joy, making the moment unforgettable. It also drives character growth, pushing them to rethink their beliefs, motivations, or actions.

“Anagnorisis can also strengthen a story’s themes by reinforcing ideas like fate, deception, or redemption. But if it feels forced or unearned, it weakens the story.”

Weakens it? That’s so scary!

Do not be scared.

Zoe Dumas for BackStage shows three examples with movies, because it’s so much darn easier to show things with movies, right?

The first is from The Matrix (1999, Lana and Lilly Wachowski):

“‘You take the red pill—you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes.’ Though the ‘red pill’ has taken on a life of its own in social and political discourse, this moment from The Matrix stands as a prime example of anagnorisis. After Neo (Keanu Reeves) has his mind freed from the Matrix, his eyes are opened to a horrifying reality as he gazes out into the endless void of human batteries. Reeve’s performance in this scene illustrates one of the key strengths behind this iconic role. The actor perfectly captures the absolute terror and genuine confusion of finding out that the world as he knows it isn’t just a lie, but one that hides a devastatingly ugly truth.” - Dumas.

Again, it’s not the same as an epiphany or just discovering information. This information changes everything for the character in how they believed things worked or were.

There are certain elements that make it different from those things.

These are from Literary Devices again.

1. “Suddenness: The realization often comes as a surprise, a shock to the character. It’s rarely a gradual understanding.

2. “Impact: The discovery profoundly affects the character, altering their perceptions and actions.

3. “Change in Understanding: The character moves from ignorance to knowledge, often about something fundamental.

4. “Emotional Resonance: Anagnorisis usually evokes strong emotions – sadness, anger, regret, or relief.”

This is super helpful in your novel (or short story) because it isn’t just making your story something full of events, but events related to a character that cause that character’s transformation, right?

It is moment where their emotions change, where a bit of who they are changes and that damn change? It’s earned.

REEDSY STUDIO THINGS

So, there’s some cool resources on Reedsy for building a character, including a character template. I think I might get two cents or something if you go through it via the link because I’m now an affiliate, which means I get to say, “I may receive a commission if someone makes a purchase through your affiliate link.” But mostly there are some cool tools on Reedsy that you might want to check out. No pressure though!

QUICK. NOTE.

My WRITE BETTER NOW and LIVING HAPPY posts come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should, I think, maybe? I’m all writing advice (and life hopes/advice) and pretty damn positive in a weird, negative internet. If you’re into that? Come hang out.

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week usually.

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Atmosphere. Mood. There are probably a few more synonyms for this, but I’m a bit brain tired to think them up and looking at the thesaurus feels lazy.

I’ve been working on a few writers’ stories this week and one of them actively asked me about this: about how to build the mood in your story.

So, creating an atmosphere for your story is something that happens via creating the setting of the story, but it’s more than just description. It’s about how your main character (protagonist) feels about that mood and the words that you choose to create that mood.

That was wordy.

Let me try again!

Atmosphere comes from:

1. The setting

2. The words that you use to describe that setting

3. How your main character feels about the setting

4. How you want your reader to feel about the setting

You want the mood, the atmosphere, to be part of the whole experience for your reader and your main character in the book, scene, and chapter.

The very first book I ever wrote (the one that won a lot of awards but made no money), had an atmosphere problem. And my editor told me this in a nice way that didn’t make me cry, which I appreciated.

He also told me to read Twilight and to read it just for setting and atmosphere.

I maybe balked a little bit because I was in my Pretentious Carrie phase of life, but I did it, and what Twilight had, which is also what gothic romances have, is a lot of mood and atmosphere and setting. We are there in the claustrophobic atmosphere, right? It’s dark. It’s rainy. There are cliffs. Tall trees press in and you don’t quite know what’s around their harsh trunks.

So, how do you do that atmosphere thing?

You pick your words.

If I write,

it’s just sort of there. The rain helps, but it’s not a lot to make the atmosphere. Or to really control the mood for the reader.

If I write,

it does a bit more.

If I write,

it sounds like I’m writing a sex scene.

But you get it right? Those words make a difference. We have to choose the words to make the atmosphere we want, the mood we want. As my examples show, it can be boring, aggressive or sexy. You’re in charge, writer. You get to decide what the atmosphere will be.

That first tip? Picking your words? It’s key because all the other tips revolve around that. We’re writers. Our tools are words. We can wield them like Thor’s mighty hammer or like a Q-tip, but the thing is that we have to wield them.

LINKS TO LEARN MORE

There’s a huge post about this on the Mythcreants.

And another here on Literary Devices.

And the Novelry.

If you’re into templates, Reedsy has a few setting templates for writers.

QUICK. NOTE.

My WRITE BETTER NOW and LIVING HAPPY posts come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should, I think, maybe? I’m all writing advice (and life hopes/advice) and pretty damn positive in a weird, negative internet. If you’re into that? Come hang out.

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week usually.

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We’ll keep talking about characters next week, but this Saturday, I’m taking a bit of a pause to talk about setting.

Why?

Well, I’ve been working on a couple of novels by other authors and they have moments where there is no setting.

In my time editing other authors, I’ve noticed that we tend to be I LOVE SETTING LET ME WRITE CHAPTERS OF IT camp and then also the WAIT WHAT? I HAVE TO SAY WHERE THEIR BODIES ARE IN SPACE camp.

I am of the sprinkle it in camp.

So, behind the paywall (Which I’ve been forgetting to do! So many free posts! But I have to make some money so I can go to the doctor because I seem to have broken my foot and it’s been three weeks and not gotten better.) is more about setting.

How to put your setting on the page. How to see the landscape of your novel. How setting is about more than “is it a maple or a pine tree” but about the entire world your story is in.

As Rebecca Makkai says on her Substack about how film teaches novelists the wrong things about writing, “Do think that setting is one of our most underutilized tools on the page, and there’s absolutely no reason to limit yourself to the budget or visual language of film. You have, right now, no matter who you are, an unlimited budget. And you might want to do something more interesting with setting, like picking one that puts pressure on characters, or one that presents opportunities for dynamic interaction.”

Here we go!

Read more

That dog in the photo above pretty much owns the scene right. We don’t know what’s going on with him. Why his collar looks like that. Why he’s in a chair where the arm rests have been chewed off, but we kind of already care about him because he is a cutie face.

Writers can learn from this, right?

Many of us writers are super focused on making sure our plots are in perfect working order, but what readers truly care about isn’t usually plot, but the character that propels the plot and solves the problem of the story.

Sometimes it’s good to get down to basics especially when we think about the story as a whole structure, so let’s do that in this (drumroll please), the second in our series about character.

So, no matter what you feel about J.K. Rowling, think about the first Harry Potter. Harry was on the page for most of that story and we were in Harry’s POV rather than the fantastic Hermoine or Ron or even Dumbledore. The problem of the story was Harry’s problem (and his friends were along for the ride).

Because we don’t switch out of Harry’s POV often (particularly if he’s in the scene), we end up focusing on him throughout, we never doubt whose story it is, and we grow terribly attached to the little boy wizard, right?

That’s because Rowling spends her time in Harry’s head much more than any others and the points where she verges off are in the beginning mostly.

Our readers don’t care about the sequence of events generally. What they do care about is who the sequence of events happen to. We care about the events that happen only because THE MAIN CHARACTER cares about the events that happen. So, the most important thing is to get the audience to care about that main character.

And to do that, we have to live the story through the character’s experience.

And to do that, our character needs to be the POV character in almost all the scenes that the character is in. I know! I know! That’s so unfair to the other characters. But writing is about crap choices sometimes and being heartless and ruthless to our beloveds.

Once we care about a little boy with bad dreams, horrible foster-parents/relatives, and a bullying problem, then we care about his bigger problem to save an entire world, right? But at the core, his problem is first: How do I stop my nightmares? How do I get my cousin to stop bullying me? How do I get to the magical school? How do I ever feel loved and safe?

The rest of the plot can unfold from there, but if we spend too much time on the side characters and in their heads as we introduce the story elements, then we start to forget why we cared about the little boy in the first place and what exactly his problem was and now is.

Even when we meet other characters, we want to try to meet them from our hero’s (main character’s) POV. The different layers of the other characters emerge as our hero experiences them and through our hero’s lens of perception.

You want the reader to experience the world of the story (at least initially) and/or series through the main character’s eyes. As they learn, the reader learns.

So, a good thing to do is to:

• Put every scene that your main character is in through their perspective.

This isn’t quite so true about romances. Romances have slightly different rules sometimes.

Another good thing to do is:

• If you’re writing a kids’ book try really hard to stay out of an adult’s POV in a scene, particularly if your kid main character is in that scene. If you have a ton of adult POV scenes, maybe ask yourself if what you’re writing (or want to write) is really a kid’s book?

  ---

Janice Thompson has a great pdf where she gives out 20 tips for characterization. If you’ve been writing a long while, you likely know most of these, but it’s good to have a refresher once in a while. I mean, it is for me? Maybe you too?

She writes:

“1. Understanding the Character’s Background: Start by fleshing out the character’s background. Where were they born? What was their upbringing like? What major events have shaped their life? Knowing where your character comes from is key to knowing where she’s going.

2. Motivations and Goals: What does your character want? What are their goals, both short-term and long-term? These motivations will drive their actions throughout the story.

3. Strengths and Weaknesses: Characterization: Every character should have strengths and weaknesses. These can be physical, emotional, or psychological. Consider how these traits impact their decisions and interactions with other characters.

4. Personality Traits: Develop a distinct personality for your character. Are they introverted or extroverted? Optimistic or pessimistic? Analytical or impulsive? Consistency in personality traits helps make characters feel more real.”

LINKS TO LEARN MORE

Janice’s PDF.

Janice’s website.

QUICK. NOTE.

My WRITE BETTER NOW and LIVING HAPPY posts come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should, I think, maybe?

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week usually.

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I’m here! It’s the day before my birthday! There’s all sorts of scary things happening in the world and my dog is currently barking through the glass sliding doors at kayaks on the Bar Harbor, Maine street outside where we live.

No, that doesn’t make sense.

The kayaks are being carried into the back of the YMCA so people can learn how to roll them in the Y’s pool. The kayaks aren’t just randomly floating in the air above the street.

It’s chaos here basically.

Despite that chaos, today, I’m starting a series about how to not have flat characters, which are basically like kayaks just floating in mid-air.

They kill the story.

They feel like cardboard cutouts. There are names, but there is no three-dimensionality to them.

Flat characters are a big deal. That’s because if your characters are flat, then your reader can’t connect with them. And if your reader isn’t connecting with your characters, it means they aren’t connecting with your story.

When you are writing about people (or honestly when you are living in a society with other people), it’s important to remember that they aren’t just cardboard things for others to interact with. They make choices. They have yearnings. Those choices and yearnings make the story of the novel or the story of people’s lives.

THE FIRST HINT ABOUT MAKING GOOD CHARACTERS

The first hint about creating a character that sings off the page is to remember that when it comes to the plot of your story, it is the character that makes the plot happen.

It is not the plot that makes the character happen.

The character makes the plot happen by:

• choices

• actions

• reactions

• more choices.

Shaun (the husband) and I are really incredibly different people. This isn’t just because he’s quite tall and I’m regular height. Or because he is from Florida and I’m quite New England/Canada. It’s because we solve problems differently. It’s because we approach daily tasks differently. It’s because our hopes and dreams are totally different, too.

That’s what it needs to be like for your characters.

When we make tea:

• I see a couple of bubbles and call it good.

• Shaun waits for a roaring boil.

• I leave the tea bag in the mug/cup.

• Shaun sets a timer.

Yes, Shaun does make a better cup of tea. But my horrible approach to tea making is for a few reasons.

• I never feel like I have enough time to wait for the real boil.

• I am afraid of being burned because I have no depth perception and if I’m not totally mindful, I will miss the cup/mug when I’m boiling the hot tea from the kettle.

• My parents were not sticklers about doing things in exact ways.

• Shaun doesn’t miss when he pours.

• He has giant hands that never shake.

• Shaun had more stickler role models about the right way to do things.
  

So, you can already see from that one tiny act the real-life characterization of a Shaun and a Carrie, right?

That’s what you need to do for your characters, too. Have them solve problems in ways that aren’t like everyone else. Think deeply about what they’d do in a zombie apocalypse or how they’d make tea.

And maybe do this about the people in your community, too. Why do they act the way they do? Even when you absolutely oppose something they do or represent, can you see why they are doing it? If so, you should probably be a writer. Just kidding! Just kidding! Sort of.

But that ability to see different approaches and problem solving skills and yearnings helps us to write better, fuller characters.

QUICK EXERCISE

Flat characters all solve problems the same way.

Real characters don’t. This exercise hopefully will help you discover who your character actually is, not through backstory, but through choices.

Step 1: Give Your Character a Tiny Problem

Choose one ordinary situation:

• Making tea or coffee

• Running late for an appointment

• Finding a lost dog

• Cooking dinner with only three ingredients

• Carrying a kayak into a building (ha!)

• Waiting in a long line

• A stranger is asking for help

Keep it small. Small moments can reveal big truths.

Step 2: Answer These Four Questions

Write fast. Don’t overthink it, okay?

1. What does your character do first?
   (Action)

2. What are they secretly worried about?
   (Fear or belief)

3. What mistake do they make?
   (Imperfection equals humanity)

4. What choice do they make next because of who they are?
   (This is the plot, right.)

Step 3: Now Change One Thing

Rewrite the same situation with a different character.

Same problem. Completely different person.

Notice:

• Different priorities

• Different reactions

• Different outcomes

That difference? That’s your adorable character creating your awesome plot.

Stories don’t move forward because events happen.

Stories move forward because someone makes a choice. That choice moves the story forward. The reasons for that choice help to create a less flat character.

Next time, I think I’ll talk about character flaws. Not my own! But the ones in novels.

QUICK. NOTE.

My WRITE BETTER NOW and LIVING HAPPY posts come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should, I think, maybe?

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week usually.

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I was super longwinded yesterday, so today we’re going bullet points and white space and hopefully, it’ll be helpful.

You ready?

There are a zillion things you can learn about craft and dialogue, character arcs, pacing, sentence structure and more when it comes to writing a novel, but the key to writing a successful novel is to get the readers to keep turning the page.

So, as a novelist, your question becomes: How do I make readers care enough to keep turning pages?

That’s it.

You can wonder:

• How do I write beautiful sentences?

• How do I world-build?

• How do I structure Act Two?

• How do I surprise people?

Those all matter and are great questions, but they only really matter if the reader cares enough to keep turning the pages. They can help make that happen, but there needs to be a base of story for those aspects to shine and perform on. Oh! The base is a stage, right? You need a solid stage to do the showing off stuff.

So, usually readers care when three elements lock together:

1. A character who wants something deeply

2. Meaningful obstacles in the way of getting that want

3. Escalating consequences if they fail

If any one of those is weak, the story feels dull.

The Three Issues That Derail a Lot of Novels

I speak from the Land of Many Derailed Novels also known as my house.

1. The Character Doesn’t Want Something Specific Enough

When you only focus on the yearnings of the main character and they are abstract things, it’s too vague. It’s hard for readers to emotionally invest in something super abstract initially in a novel. They invest in concrete wants and needs.

Examples of abstract wants are things like:

“Be happy.”
“Find herself.”
“Fix things.”

So, instead of: She wants to feel worthy.

You might want to focus more on: She wants to win the statewide coding competition to prove she belongs.

Or she wants to find her father’s missing grimoire before someone else does.

Or she wants to pass the bill before the town meeting vote.

2. The Stakes Aren’t Personal Enough

External stakes matter. But personal stakes are the ones that hook readers.

Saving the town from pixies is always interesting, but saving the town because she failed once in another town before and she can’t survive failing again is more compelling.

It can help sometimes to ask:

• What does failure cost this character internally?

• What identity would shatter?

• What fear would be confirmed?

The bigger the emotional cost, the tighter the grip on the reader.

3. The Story Doesn’t Escalate

Many novels plateau. Things happen, but they don’t get harder.

Escalation in a story basically just means:

• The problem grows as the story goes along.

• The choices get more painful.

• The cost increases.

• The opposition (villain or society or internal) adapts to the main characters ways of trying to get their goal.

If your midpoint feels like “another obstacle” rather than a super big deal and turning point, then the escalation might be a tiny bit weak.

A way to fix this could be just remembering and (acting on) the theory that every major turning point should:

• Remove an easy option.

• Force a harder choice.

• Reveal new information that reframes the goal.

When the tension in a story gets deeper and deeper and deeper like a tunnel below your house to the center of the world, that usually makes the reader stay.

The Bigger Issue (That sounds so mean. I do not mean it meanly.)

So, most novels that don’t have a big wow factor yet are usually because it’s all about a character reacting to events rather than driving the events. This is what agents mean when they say “you’re character Awesome Blossom the Hamster of Love is too reactive. She’s not proactive enough.”

Reactive characters often feel small to readers while active characters tend to generate the story.

Even if the character is overwhelmed, grieving, blocked, or confused, they must still:

• Choose.

• Decide.

• Attempt.

• Fail forward.

A lot of times, I tell my authors to lean into every moment of choice the character has so that the reader sees the stakes and feels them. This is even true for ‘quiet’ novels, okay?

A Way To Help Figure It Out

If you want to test whether your story is working, it can help to answer these five questions. They are so simple and kind of everywhere in writing help books, but it’s good to go back to them once in a while, especially if you’re story feels flat.

1. What does my protagonist want (in one clear sentence not like 100 pages)?

2. Why does it matter to them emotionally?

3. What specific person or force is in direct opposition?

4. What happens if they fail (externally and internally)?

5. How does the problem become worse over time?

   ---

PLACE TO SUBMIT

Book Pipeline Contests

There are two competitions: one for unpublished and one for established writers. You can win $2,500 in the Unpublished Contest, plus circulation of your manuscript to publishers and agents. You can win $5,000 in the Adaptation Contest for published novels, plus film/TV industry circulation and development. Entry fee depends on deadline.

Entry Fee: $35 – $70

Deadlines: Special 20 March 2026; Early 20 May 2026; Regular 25 August 2026; Late 22 September 2026; Extended 15 October 2026

Submit: first 5,000 words plus synopsis for both contests. Check website for full submission details and rules.

QUICK. NOTE.

My WRITE BETTER NOW and LIVING HAPPY posts come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should, I think, maybe?

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week usually.

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I am the queen of writing boo-boos when it’s my own text.

I am so open about this.

Why?

Well, everyone makes mistakes. Even AI makes mistakes (particularly about ellipses), and pretending to be perfect? It’s a lie.

None of us are perfect.

Dictionaries are our friends. Words have meanings. Don’t stress out if you mess up. We all mess up, but try to do the best you can. We’ll be in awe of your mad word-smithing skills.

Here are three major boo-boos that a lot of us make when writing English. You ready?

It’s I! No, it’s Me! No, it’s Myself! Agh!

If you are doing things, it is I.

If things are being done to you, it is me.

If is super emphatic and you are both the doer and receiver, then it is myself.

What the what, right?

Here, hopefully, this will make it clearer.

• I (Subject): The person performing the action.

  • Example: I went to the zombie convention. It was a mistake.

• Me (Object): The person receiving the action.

  • Example: The zombie cowboy saw me. His name was Rip. This was appropriate.

• Myself (Reflexive/Intensive): The subject and object are the same person, or for emphasis.

  • Reflexive: I bought myself some zombie repellant.

  • Intensive: I will spray Rip myself, thank you very much.

It isn’t fancier to say myself instead of me. You look sort of silly or sound like a zombie.

See? Silly.

THAT OR WHICH?

Clauses are scary, which is why a lot of writers lean toward sentence fragments instead of even attempting to use that or which.

This is all about relative clauses, which also sounds sort of scary. But the rule is kind of easy? I’m being positive here.

As Now Novel explains, “Use ‘that’ to introduce restrictive information, i.e., anything that is essential to the meaning of the sentence. Use ‘which’ to introduce other, nonrestrictive information.

Let’s give it a go, okay?

If you take out “that Beth bought me,” you don’t know for sure what zombie repellent is being talked about. That makes “that Beth bought me” restrictive info, right? That means we use THAT.

If you take out “which Rip used to love before he was a zombie,” we still all know that we’re talking about the Cowboy Hash Shack, so “which Rip used to love before he was a zombie” is nonrestrictive information.

In the United Kingdom the rules are a bit different.

AAH vs AH vs AW vs AHH

Aah!

This is an interjection. It’s like a giant mosquito as big as a velociraptor is hovering in front of your nose. You are afraid. Aah is what we use for those moments.

It has a super close relative: Ah!

Ah!

Ah is an interjection, too. But this time you aren’t expressing fear; this time you are expressing love, surprise, pleasure, a realization.

Ahh.

And then we have their lovely relative, Ahh.

Ahh is when you get something or you accept something.

Let’s move on.

Aw

Aw is what most people are meaning when they write ‘awe.’

Aw is when something is super cutie or adorbs.

Sometimes we use it to show we’re disappointed. Aw! English! You make no sense.

So, it’s like this:

And then we have the all-mighty awe.

AWE

CUE GODLIKE MUSIC HERE.

Feeling like you are full of admiration, fear, reverence because of something super big-time like God or manatees swimming nearby or some really amazing underwear?

This is awe.

QUICK. NOTE.

My WRITE BETTER NOW and LIVING HAPPY posts come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should, I think, maybe?

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week usually.

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My high school creative writing teacher Mr. Sullivan was a coach, radio host, baseball ump and a sports columnist for the major New Hampshire daily newspaper.

He spent a lot of time explaining to us tools and tricks of good writing: mosaics, sentence length variation, restrictive use of adverbs.

I, wanting an A because I desperately wanted to get out of Bedford, New Hampshire, go to college and save the world, listened passionately to everything he said.

“What matters to you?” he asked us one day.

We all sort of sat at our half metal and half wood desks, tucked into perfect rows and stared at him.

“What makes you go wild with joy or grief or anger?” he said. “What matters?”

The answers came pretty quickly.

“The Red Sox.”

“The Celtics.”

“The Patriots.”

We were in New Hampshire and these sports teams were big deals and Mr. Sullivan was a sports guy.

“Good. Good. But why? Personally, why?”

“Cause we want to be winners!” one guy said.

High-fives all around.

Mr. Sullivan turned to me. “Barnard,” he said, calling me by my last name. “What matters to you?”

Everything? I couldn’t say that though. I couldn’t say that I wanted to save the world, to get people to be kind to each other, to have my mom stop smoking, to have a meaningful life.

“Social justice?” I said.

“She’s the president of the students for social justice club,” one of my friends said.

“Why does that matter?” he asked.

“Because I don’t think people, that kids should get kidnapped or sold. I think everyone should have equal rights, that …” The list was pretty endless, honestly.

“And why does that matter?”

“Because people should take care of each other.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s the right thing to do.”

“Why?”

“Because John Locke said so? I don’t know. Because all religions pretty much say so.” I was taking a law class, too. “Because our legal system is supposed to be based on it.”

“But why do you care if people take care of each other?”

Someone whistled. I remember that. I remember everyone facing me.

“Because I want a world that’s better than that.”

“More. Make it personal.”

“Because I want someone to take care of me?”

I am pretty sure my voice broke.

Mr. Sullivan put his giant hand on my shoulder and said, “Barnard is brave. And she’s passionate. And she’s honest. That, class, that is what it takes to be an outstanding writer. You have to care about something.”

Passion and care? That’s what makes a story stand out. Truth? That’s there too. Being human and not AI? I like to think it still helps. I know that the writers I work have stories that fall consistently flat when they use AI to write chapters.

As Dim Nikov says on Medium,

“Now that AI is here, I should probably revise this to say that anyone can prompt ChatGPT to spew out an essay on, well, anything. Yet the question remains: Why should anyone else bother to read it?

“This is the first thing I look for in a story as an editor: I want to know why you, of all people on this Earth with access to a word processor, sat down to write this particular story in this particular moment in time.

“Are you excited about something? Is something bothering you? Are you happy? Sad? Angry? Ecstatic? Is the world finally perfect? Is it falling off a cliff? Are you celebrating? Coping with it? How? Did you just do something — or did something just happen to you, or maybe to a loved one — that turned your life on its head?

“What made you write this piece?”

Over on the Writing Cooperative, Jordan Ring breaks down people’s reasons to write as:

1. “To share your knowledge or unique expertise: Everyone should write a book because we’ve all had unique experiences that helped shape who we are. Every single person has valuable content just waiting to be expressed. Your ideas are absolutely worth sharing in book form.

2. “To tell a story: Writing a book can be an excellent way to share your hard-fought personal experience and triumphs.

3. “To inspire or motivate: Many books have changed my life. Your story will motivate someone and change lives.

4. “To establish authority: “Writing the book on it” makes you an automatic expert. It doesn’t mean you are better than anyone else, but people (would-be clients!) place a high value on the time and care it takes to put a book together.

5. “To leave a legacy: For many people, writing a book is the perfect way to leave a lasting legacy and share their wisdom or experiences with future generations.”

And all that is true.

I am talking about something a little different, though. It’s the thing that I think matters more than anything else when you’re writing. It’s the best tip I can give writers.

Write something that matters to you in a big way—in a way that you’re passionate about—in a way that you think could make people gasp and go, “Yes! Oh, that’s true.”

Under all the plot, the world building, the dialogue (or the essay for nonfiction), you want to have a OH, THAT IS SO TRUE that ties it all together.

That’s what makes a story stand out.

So why do you write? What are you passionate about? What matters to you? Mr. Sullivan and I both want to know.

*My WRITE BETTER NOW and LIVING HAPPY posts come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should, I think, maybe?

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week usually.

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This is not about writing. It’s about love. And it’s something that I’ve shared before.

Recently, some very cool humans on this island I get to be on died. One was the dad of one of my friends. He had A.L.S.

Another one of my friends, Dick, also had A.L.S. He died too. I’d been lucky enough to be a fill in dog walker for him and his wife and it made me think of my friend, Jerry Kauffman, who also died of A.L.S. back in February 2008, which is so long ago.

Anyway, I still think of Jerry in the present tense even though it’s been years, but I still adore him and that is the sort of thing that doesn’t go from present tense to past tense because of something like death.

That’s what Jerry Kaufman taught me. He taught me that the good things – love, adoration – they endure.

Jerry was not a perfect man. He could be almost too loud sometimes. He could be brash some other times. That was part of his enthusiasm, his style. He always knew what he believed and sometimes what he believed struck people in a bad way. That’s not why I adore him, but it’s part of why I admire him. It takes an immense amount of courage to always loudly and bravely state what you believe and what you think is right even when no other person agrees with you. And then to sometimes change your opinion after you’ve done that.

It’s something I wish more people could do, could feel safe to do, that their egos could allow them to do.

But the reason that I adore Jerry is because he adores his wife, Jacqui.

Jerry’s adoration of Jacqui stays in the present tense, too. Something like death never changes that.

The first time I met them I was doing an article for WERU’s newspaper/bulletin. I drove down to their house in Surry. I was in my twenties.

I was really, really shy.

I parked my Subaru, listened to the sounds of dogs yipping and stared through the darkness at a house lit up from inside with absolutely golden light, trying to brave myself up enough to go inside.

Then Jerry flung open the door.

The first thing I noticed was his hair. There was all this hair, wild, dark, curly, like a lion’s mane.

I may have stepped back.

But Jerry wasn’t good about letting people step back. He stepped forward bellowing, “Hello! Hello!” and pulled me into a hug.

Then I noticed Jacqui, his wife. She too had amazing hair, amazing in a beautiful way. But the best thing was her eyes.

Writers always talk about people’s eyes sparkling, but Jacqui’s really did. They sparkled brilliantly reminding me of the warm golden lights of their house. Then I looked at Jerry’s eyes. They were sparkling too.

“The great love of my life,” he said, gesturing towards her.

I knew right then, absolutely, without a doubt, that what they were sparkling about was each other. They loved each other more than any couple I have ever met. It made me sigh with happiness. It made me smile. It made me want to be just like them.

It’s about twenty years later and now I am a lot closer.

It’s about twenty years later and now I love a man more than I could ever imagine. It’s the kind of love that Jerry and Jacqui have.

It’s about twenty years later and Jerry has died so many years ago already.

I know, I know absolutely without a doubt that a lot of people think Jerry is a hero for dealing with A.L.S., for making himself into Stem Cell Man (his adopted superhero name) and approaching illness with a vitality and humor that most people never show when they are healthy.

But for me, Jerry and Jacqui Kaufmann are heroes for loving. It’s rare that you find people so willing to put all of their hearts, all of their souls, out there for the world to see. Every time Jerry saw my little girl, which was about once a year, he would throw his arms open, wrap her in a hug and tell her how beautiful and brilliant she was. That’s the way love should be. It should be something that solids you up, that makes you throw your arms open, makes your eyes sparkle, something that spreads and spreads and stays in the present tense.

That’s why I adore Jerry Kaufman.

That’s why I will always adore Jerry Kaufman, because no matter what else he did or what else he was, no matter what fights he faced or opinions he carried, he is someone who taught me all about that kind of love and how that kind of love is truly the essence, the joyous essence of a beautiful, beautiful soul.

*My WRITE BETTER NOW posts also come twice a week if you sign up for them, too, which you should.

And COMFORTING is where I just have no filter at all and am totally schmaltzy is here. That’s once a week, too.

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