Fans of Fiction. Purveyors of Dodgy Writing Advice.
Tips for Character Consistency
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Differentiate your characters - You should be able to tell who is speaking without dialogue tags​.
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What motivates your characters? - Think about the motivations and backstory for each of your characters before you write them.
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Character generates setting - The setting is a world that the character is experiencing and you are seeing through their eyes.
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The reader only knows what you tell them. - Even if you are writing in a limited POV, you can still deliver all the information you need for a scene to work by giving important information ahead of time.
Four Questions to Ask your Characters
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What is their greatest desire?
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What is their greatest fear?
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What is their greatest unconscious desire?
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What is their greatest unconscious fear?
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Often, the character arc develops in answering the last two questions and bringing the unconscious to the surface.
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About our Guest
Tony Daniel is the author of eleven fantasy and science fiction novels, the latest of which is young adult fantasy, The Amber Arrow. His science fiction books include Guardian of Night, Metaplanetary, Superluminal, Earthling, Warpath, and the two Star Trek Original Series novels, Devil’s Bargain and Savage Trade.
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In addition to being a writer, Daniel is a senior editor at Baen Books.