Show Notes for Episode 02: Building a Better Character
Alone in a Room with Invisible People is a podcast focusing on topics related to writing, revising and publishing fiction.
In this episode, host and writer Rebecca Galardo discusses Building a Better Character with author and teacher Holly Lisle, covering problems writers face with characters, how to overcome those problems, what a good character is and does, and more.
They take a look at the following:
- Basing Characters off of real people
- What ‘Character’ is and is not and what it does
- Digging deeper into character creation
- Characters that surprise in good and bad ways and what to do about them
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Mentioned in the Podcast
- Hunting the Corrigan’s Blood
- Warpaint
- Fire in the Mist
- How to Motivate Yourself
- Syd Field
- The Minimalists
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- HollysWritingClasses
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- Holly’s Personal Website
- Holly’s Blog
- Rebecca’s Website
Credits: Producer – Rebecca Galardo. Sponsor – Holly’sWritingClasses.com. Intro written by Holly Lisle and performed by Mark Hermann. Our podcast is 100% free and sponsored only by Holly’s Writing Classes.
Loving the podcast so far.
Gotta say – the intro voice on Ep. 2 is a great voice (would be FANTASTIC for an audiobook), but seriously, the intro is creepy. I kept getting distracted so I would re-start the podcast over a few times, forgetting about the intro, and scare the bejezzus out of myself every time.
Just wait until you hear the Halloween episode 😉 And yeah, he’s got a great voice!
I wanted to leave a quick question here if it’s not too much to ask.
Do you guys have any guidelines for how to balance the amount of depth/detail an “extra” has?
My current story is set in a fantasy world, and there are multiple scenes which take place in taverns, shops, and military barracks. Obviously, there will be “extras” who inhabit these places, and who the main characters will have brief conversations with. I’ve written up some basic, bullet-pointed notes on these “extras”, but was wondering if there’s a point at which they can become TOO notable.
I was hoping for some tips on making sure you hit that sweet spot between “1990s video game NPC” and “scene-stealing sore thumb”?
I have a two fold problem do I introduce all my characters at once because they are four generations of the same family? The second problem that I am having even though there are dark secrets running through all four generations how do I intertwine them into the plot?