Creating Characters by Charity Norman
From Shakespeare to Austen to Wodehouse to Winnie-the-Pooh, most storytelling involves exploring the human experience.
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From Shakespeare to Austen to Wodehouse to Winnie-the-Pooh, most storytelling involves exploring the human experience.
The People in Books Our aim as writers is to make the characters in our
Characters in a novel are not just part of the story they must drive the
Names help to define an individual and form the basis of the many layers it
It was not enough to simply research what it was like to live in the
What you are looking for when you develop a character are experiences or memories that
“Don’t expect the puppets of your mind to become the people of your story. If
There is an age old debate about whether great crime is plot or character driven.
The aim of all fiction is to induce emotion in the reader. While immersed in
I was asked recently how I came up with the character of Kay Kelly. For
What if something happened in my next-door neighbour’s house, and nobody knew? What if we’re
Get ready to lie. Crime fiction is surfing a wave of evolution right now. The
In 2009 I was making a documentary for RTE television and, as part of the
When you consider the books that are your favorites, what comes to mind immediately? Is
If you are lucky, every now and then you get a light bulb moment while
There’s a scene towards the end of Muriel Spark’s The Finishing School where Rowland Mahler,
Last year, at the launch of my second book, I pulled a stunt on my
Whenever I’m asked what it is that sets a book, a movie or a piece
It was a real child who was the inspiration behind The Children of Albion. I
Relationships are the key to drama. Characters can’t exist in a vacuum, and even if
