Friday's Links to Writing & Marketing Blog Posts

THE CAST OF CHARACTERS IN A NOVEL

By: C. S. Lakin

Last week we started looking at secondary characters in a novel. I often see characters populating a story that seemed to be tossed in for no apparent reason. At least no reason that ties in with the main plot—which is about the protagonist of the novel trying to reach some visible goal.

Sure, life is interesting when you have interesting people around you. But we shouldn’t be writing novels just to showcase fascinating characters. Novels should be keenly focused, and those secondary characters, however colorful or intriguing, play a specific role.

It’s about Relationships

I mentioned last week that the purpose of inserting characters into a novel isn’t just about plot—what you have these characters do. It’s more about who they are. About relationship. Relationship to one another, but most importantly, relationship to the main character.

If it’s true (and I wholeheartedly believe it is) that the purpose of telling a story is to evoke emotion from your readers, what better way to do it than to show meaningful, purposeful relationships? The best novels, to me, are about characters who undergo significant change, and if you can create a character arc in your novel for your protagonist that has him change greatly and in meaningful ways by the end of the book, you are way ahead of the game.

What Facilitates Change?

. . .

Read the full article HERE!

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If you missed my writing & marketing tweets and retweets yesterday, here they are again:

1. The Pen's Point of View http://ow.ly/zMZKP Writing Tips: Formatting a Chapter
2. Karen Woodward: 7 Tips On How To Get Your Guest Post Accepted http://ow.ly/zMZRI
3. Fiction University: Expect the Unexpected: Creating Plot Twists http://ow.ly/zMZV1
4. Self-editing masterclass snapshots: endings and epilogues | Nail Your Novel http://ow.ly/zN00j
5. The Cast of Characters in a Novel | Live Write Thrive http://ow.ly/zN051
6. It’s A Mystery To Me | Molly Greene: Writer http://ow.ly/zN09h
7. Martha Alderson aka Plot Whisperer: The Exact Right Beginning of Your Story -- How Do You Know for Sure? http://ow.ly/zN0fI
8. 5 Reasons Images are King with Social Media Marketing http://ow.ly/zN0l0
9. An Easy Guide to Creating a Presentation in Canva http://ow.ly/zN0t6
10. Why Self-Publishing Authors Must Think Like a Publisher - The Savvy Book Marketer http://ow.ly/zN0x5
11. Ultimate How-To Guide on LinkedIn for Writers | LinkedIn http://ow.ly/zN0zW
12. Write Emails that Don't Drive People Crazy - Books & Such Literary Management : Books & Such Literary Management http://ow.ly/zN0G7
13. Every Writer for Him/Herself | blindoggbooks http://ow.ly/zN1cM
14. 4 Things Writers Should Know About Beta Readers http://ow.ly/zN31Y
15. Waste less time on social media with this little trick http://ow.ly/zN38i
16. 11 Ways to Get More Followers for Your Google+ Business Page | Social Media Examiner http://ow.ly/zN3ng
17. BookMarketingBuzzBlog: How Publishing Loses When Amazon Loses Money http://ow.ly/zN3ra
18. New Kindle Feature | The Passive Voice | A Lawyer's Thoughts on Authors, Self-Publishing and Traditional Publishing http://ow.ly/zN3Fc
19. Pulse on Pacing: How Smooth Transitions Keep Your Story Moving | WRITERS HELPING WRITERSWRITERS HELPING WRITERS http://ow.ly/zN4mf
20. Dry Spell In Your Writing? The Swing from Desert to Oasis - Where Writers Win http://ow.ly/zN6wc
21. How Can Authors and Publishers Partner Better on Book Marketing? [Smart Set] http://t.co/K0UwnQZXSc via @JaneFriedman

Happy writing and running, Kathy