Often times you will hear authors talk about the details of plots and how to write great ones the readers will love and accept as believable. They cite any number of rules on how to write, and bring up rules of things never to do. While all this can be useful in making better writers, I think the more useful things to talk about are how well you can make the readers connect with your characters, and at the end of the book be able to say to themselves…”gee, I wish I could meet them” or, “I hope things turn out okay for them,” or “I wonder how they are doing?” Writing may be about rules, all well and good, but if you don’t draw the reader into caring about what happens to characters, all the story techniques won’t matter a bit. Can you relate to the character, can you understand their concerns and fears? Formulaic writing works, but almost always, it works best when you come to love the character. It’s why quirky Stephanie Plum keeps you coming back, It’s why Walt Longmire concerns you as to how his life is turning out, it’s why Joe Pickett’s family struggles and frustrations with the government and his love of the environment makes him so much more real to us, and we root for him and come to care about the outcome. It’s why we love Harry Bosch because we know how he feels about his daughter and the agonies he feels over growing up an orphan of a murdered mother. A story without characters you love and identify with on some level can have the greatest plot ideas and still fall flat. I like what Tony Hillerman once said. He gets to know his characters in the deepest ways, and let’s them write the story they want to write. What will your characters say?
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Greg
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