Creating Memorable Characters, Part 1

Passion, Pizzazz and Power

Whether consciously or unconsciously, when we read a book we want to connect with the story characters. We want to find something about them we share--their life goals, ethnicity, age, life experience, etc. These shared aspects (connection) draw us into the story and help us care about what happens to the characters.

Humans are three dimensional beings—body, soul, and spirit. But we often fail to show all three dimensions in our story. Let’s start by analyzing the protagonist and antagonist from your present work in progress (WIP). What do you know about your characters? Do you know how do they look (body), think (soul), and feel (spirit)? Do you know their personality type, their goals, their motivations? What are their flaws or vulnerabilities? Why do they get angry, sad, or excited? About what are they passionate and why? What in their life history has made them the way they are today? Why are they in conflict and how do all these characteristics play into that conflict? These character features and more influence how they act and react as you throw obstacles at them on their way to obtaining their goals. 

Give your story characters the passion, pizzazz and power they need to capture your reader.


Create memorable characters by giving them depth and dimension.

Recommended reading: Unleash the Writer Within by Cecil Murphey and The Writer’s Little Helper by James v. Smith, Jr.

Debra L. Butterfield © 2012

New Series Begins Next Week

Starting next week, I'll begin a series on creating memorable characters. I hope you'll join us. In the meantime, be sure to take advantage of this month's special offer, valued at $50, to get a free copyedit of an article of up to 2000 words.

Know What You Want Series—Part 11

Do You Have What It Takes?

Editing is a process all writers utilize in their own writing. We call it revision (or rewriting). When we critique others’ writing, we are employing the tasks of editing to help others improve.

Perhaps you’re wondering if you have the skills to freelance edit. The answer may come readily if your weakness lies in grammar, punctuation, or spelling. Don’t let this stop you—your strength may lie in content editing. My suggestion to you would be to evaluate your skills and your aptitude (do you enjoy working with the details?). You may want to peruse The Copyeditor’s Handbook, The Chicago Manual of Style, and The Associated Press Stylebook at your local library (there’s an exception to every rule!). Know your strengths and weaknesses to find your niche in freelance editing.

I hope you have found this series helpful both in knowing what to look for and how to communicate your needs to a freelance editor, but also in editing your own work.

To conclude this series, I’m offering a special good now till May 31, 2012: a free copyedit of one article up to 2000 words. Contact me via email at Deb [at] DebraLButterfield [dot] com.

Until next time…

Debra L. Butterfield © 2012 

Know What You Want, Part 10

Do You Want Full, Queen, or King?

Sending your manuscript to an editor with the instructions of “I need this edited” is like going to the mattress store and saying “I need a mattress.” You are very likely to get what you don't want.

When last I posted, we were discussing Goldilocks, freelance editor. Let’s take a brief look at her results:

This bed is too little: Goldilocks barely made any changes.

This bed is too big: Goldi made so many changes your manuscript is unrecognizable. 

This bed is just right: Goldi corrected your poor punctuation and spelling, made the story flow more smoothly, and retained the integrity of your voice and the story. “Wow! This is amazing. She’s made me sound so much better.”

There are three edit levels in the editing world. What I have dubbed full, queen and king size equates to a light, medium and heavy edit. The level of editing required to make your manuscript “just right” and ready for book shelves depends on the quality of your writing. It may need only a light edit or it may require a heavy edit. But a good content editor will not do what Goldi did—return to you an unrecognizable manuscript.

The major difference between these levels of editing is rewriting. According to Amy Einsohn, author of The Copyeditor’s Handbook, a light edit will “point out paragraphs that seem egregiously wordy or convoluted,” but will not revise or suggest revisions, and will “ignore minor patches of wordiness.” Let’s take one step up to medium, and now those patches of wordiness will get “suggested revisions.” A heavy edit will actually rewrite those passages in addition to all the other things a standard copyedit entails.

Understand the details and levels of editing, communicate your needs and expectations clearly, and you will have a better chance of achieving “just right” the first time around.


Debra L. Butterfield © 2012 

Goldilocks, Freelance Editor--Part 9

You’ve sent your manuscript off for editing. Congratulations! You’re one step closer to publication. Now, let’s look at what might happen when you get your manuscript back.

This bed is too little: Goldilocks barely made any changes. “Wow, I knew I was a good writer, but I honestly expected more input than this” you say.

This bed is too big: Goldi made so many changes your manuscript is unrecognizable. “She’s stripped my voice out of the story and demolished my theme and motifs.”  

This bed is just right: Goldi corrected your poor punctuation and spelling, made the story flow more smoothly, and retained the integrity of your voice and the story. “Wow! This is amazing. She’s made me sound so much better.”

Did you simply tell Goldi “I need this edited” and leave it at that? If so, Goldi should have been asking lots of questions, one of which should have been “Do you want a full, queen, or king size?” (In editor-ese that’s a light, medium or heavy edit.) Next week, we’ll dive deeper into levels of editing so surprises like “too little” and “too big” don’t happen.  

Debra L. Butterfield © 2012

Content Editing—Part 8

This is probably the one area of editing you've been chomping at the bit to learn. After all, this is where rewriting occurs. If you decide to send your work to a freelance content editor before submitting it to an agent or editor, here’s what you want to ask yourself: Do I want the editor to do the rewriting or just point out my errors so I can fix them myself? Your answer will guide your communication with the potential editor.

Below is a short list of the items a content editor will look for:

Confusing passages

Smooth flow of the content

POV—does it shift when it shouldn’t?

Consistency of character traits and plot details

Incorrectly used analogies, similes and metaphors

Factual accuracy

Accuracy of tables and graphs with reference material

Correct placement of graphic material (graphs, tables, pictures)

When you edit yourself, complete a content edit with only content in mind. Complete an edit for mechanics examining only the mechanical details. This may help you from missing critical errors.

Debra L. Butterfield © 2012 

We have a winner

Congratulations to Sarah for correctly finding my mistake in last week's post. She receives my workshop "Creating Memorable Characters."

Check back this evening for my post on content editing.