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Five Character Pitfalls & Ways to Avoid Them by Robin Gianna #Giveaway

 We have author Robin Gianna talking about Character Pitfalls and ways to avoid then. There's a giveaway her latest release Her Greek Doctor's Proposal! 

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Top Five Character Pitfalls and Ways to Avoid Them

1.    Heroes that are too good
            You want to create a character readers can feel empathy for, or some kind of admiration and connection. But its important to recognize that your hero (and heroine) must have flaws, too. They have strengths, weaknesses, and needs they often dont acknowledge that sometimes get them in trouble. They might not even be aware of these traits at all. When they act a certain way, theyll give a reason they believe, but often its not the real reason. That reason could be a deep-rooted fear, pain from the past, or any number of things.  When developing characters with depth, decide on what their flaws and character traits are, then have them have to face these at points in the story when their needs arent being fulfilled.

2.    Characters with no conflict
            Just as a story without conflict isnt very interesting, characters without internal conflict arent particularly interesting either.  A story isnt going to be particularly compelling if a character doesnt have a particular goal thats hard to accomplish. Also boring if they get pretty much everything they want in the story without sometimes being worried about whether or not theyre going to get it. You dont want them going through scene after scene feeling pretty happy and content, without conflicted feelings from wanting two things at the same time that are mutually exclusive. Thats conflict, and thats what keeps readers turning the pages.

3.   Antagonists that are two dimensional
            There are a lot of books (and movies) out there with antagonists who come across as pretty cartoonish. Theyre bad just because they are, or we never really know why they want to rob that bank or keep the hero from getting what he wants.  Put as much time into exploring your antagonists as your heroes. Know who they are, and not only what they want, but why they want it. The character shouldnt  view himself as a villain, but as a person whos doing what he has to do. When the reader understands who the antagonist really is and why theyre a formidable foe, it makes the hero seem a lot more heroic having to deal with him or her.

4. Characters that dont change
            If a character is the same person at the end of the book as they are at the beginning, you havent created a satisfying journey for them. Show at the beginning who they are in their everyday life. Then make them deal with obstacles and problems that force them to face their flaws and preconceived attitudes about what they want, and why.  By the end of the book, they should have done something they never thought theyd do and come out a better person for it.


5. Having characters that all seem too similar
            We all have our own voice, and it takes an effort to make sure our characters dont all talk like us, walk like us, act like us.  If youre struggling with this, a good exercise is to go sit in a coffee shop and eavesdrop.  Listen to women, men and children talk. Watch people coming and going, how they sit in their chairs, etc. Make notes about how they differ from one another, and how some stand out. Also think about friends and relatives, or actors and actresses you like, and study how they sound and move. Getting those visuals and voices in our heads as we write can really help differentiate one character from another, and enrich your story.

      


Her Greek Doctor's Proposal

The question he thought he'd never ask… 

Archaeologist Laurel Evans put her career on hold to care for her younger sisters. Now, close to achieving her goals, she won't let anything distract her. Laurel has come to Delphi to dig up ancient treasures, but she finds a modern-day Greek god instead—local doctor Andros Drakoulias!

A devoted single dad, Andros is determined to give his little girl stability. He knows his fling with Laurel can't last, so why is it so hard to imagine a future without her by his side?

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Enter this Goodreads Giveaway to win a signed copy of Her Greek Doctors Proposal.

One Kindle Copy Giveaway of Her Greek Doctor's Proposal to one commenter!       

20 comments:

  1. All awesome advice and great tips, thanks for sharing! Congrats on the release.

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  2. Great tips! Conflict is something I needed to learn a lot about - but I'm getting better at it :)

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    1. It can be tricky, Jemi, for sure! But so important to get the internal and external conflict in place, isn't it? Thanks for stopping by!

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  3. I love all the tips you wrote here... they are true and are the reason I read or don't read a book. Nobody is all good or all bad xox

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    1. Thanks, Launna! Characters without real depth are the biggest reason a story falls flat, in my opinion, and often the reason I stop reading a book, too. It's not easy to accomplish that as we're writing, but so important. :-)

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  4. This is a great list to remind us about deepening our characters. Thanks a lot, and wishing you much success with your book!

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    1. Thanks so much, Lexa! Hope you find a nugget or two in there that helps. xoxo

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  5. It's nice to meet Robin. Nas, thanks so much for the intro. As a reader and a writer, I can appreciate good characters. Thanks for the tips and info!

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    1. Nice to meet you, too, Karen! Thanks for stopping by :-)

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  6. Great tips, Robin! I'd also add the hero/heroine who is too flawed. If they are too unlikable, a reader will stop reading.

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    1. Good point, Cherie! A character with too much angst and negativity is a definite turn-off. Thanks for mentioning that!

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  7. Those are all very good tips!

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    1. Hope you found one or two helpful, Sherry! Thanks for posting your comment :-)

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  8. This all rings true. We need complex characters that we want to follow throughout a story.

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    1. We do, Medeia - and we've all read books where the characters left us flat and not even finishing the book, haven't we? Thanks for your comment!

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  9. I'm a huge fan of flawed characters. Perfect ones are just so annoying.

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    1. Kind of like in real life too, TBM! ;-) Thanks for your comment

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  10. This sounds like a fun read. And your character pitfalls are a great reminder of what we need to be on the alert for when we are writing.

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  11. Thanks, Sandra! Glad you got a nugget to think about when you're writing :-)

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