Lucy Mitchell – romance author – book blogger
Have you ever finished a story, thanked your cast of fictional characters for their work, wished them well for their future projects, walked away from the story…only to find one or a few characters refuse to leave you alone for WEEKS / MONTHS / YEARS afterwards? Have you ever had a new character appear in […]
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Not all fictional narrators are trustworthy. Some have other plans about how a story should be told. These untrustworthy fictional souls use manipulations, omissions and mischief to try and misdirect their reader. Last year I wrote a draft with an unreliable narrator and I had so much literary fun. However, I came to realise that working […]
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You’re busy writing your draft romance novel. Things were going well…until you started getting a nagging thought; there is something very familiar about your new fictional character. You can’t put your finger on it. Why does it feel like you have met them before in another life? The hairs on your neck stand upright and […]
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I am sure all of the literary greats, during the creation of their masterpieces, raised an eyebrow at their fictional characters and muttered under their breath; “what do you think my book is – a fun-filled 18-30 holiday for you lot?” The realisation that your characters are enjoying themselves a little too much can be […]
Read MoreI am a big fan of giving fictional characters the limelight. As a writer we have to accept we are simply the host. Once our fictional beings have been created by us they need to be released and allowed to take centre stage. On a serious note, as writers, we have to be constantly looking for […]
Read MoreThis can be a troubling situation for a writer and worthy of a blog post. I have recently suffered from this literary affliction and it is a tough one to wrestle with, readers. You will have created an amazing fictional character who lights up your creative world. They are like an angel. For some strange […]
Read MoreDo you want to get to know your fictional characters? Do you feel like you and your characters need to bond? Don’t despair! I have an amazing new trick for writing better characters. It involves two of my favourite pastimes; writing and shopping. As writers we need to create interesting and compelling characters because no […]
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If you have never rolled your eyes at a minor character, who has ideas above their station, and then found yourself shouting, through your laptop screen, “will you stop being such an attention grabbing minor character!” – you haven’t lived! Some minor characters are born into your story knowing they are never going to be centre […]
Read MoreHave you ever experienced that heart stopping moment when you realise you have a whiny character? Have you created a character who repeatedly complains at length (be it internally or externally) about the problems facing them, and does nothing significant to address their problems? For the record, I would rather tackle a rebellious or unruly character […]
Read MoreWriting the death of a much-loved character can be demanding and can leave you inconsolable. There is, however, another literary situation which can be just as challenging and it can cast a nasty gloom over your writing day – deleting a character from your story. I am not talking about deleting a random minor character; […]
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