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Characters that spend a lot of time together need to have a certain spark, a certain pop, a certain fizz. They need to interact in such a way that makes us want to see them interact more. That’s character chemistry, and it’s what we’re talking … read more »
Making your protagonist a relatable underdog is a great way to encourage your audience to bond with them. Unfortunately, it’s easy for this effort to go wrong. Instead of feeling sympathy for your hero, the audience might think your character is whiny and unpleasant. The narration … read more »
We talk a lot about character competence, and one of our listeners had to remind us that we’d never really explained what that means. So this week, we explain ourselves. We talk about what competence means, why it’s important, and how competent various characters should … read more »
If you’ve ever put down a story because you didn’t care what happened, there’s a good chance it was suffering from poor character likability. That’s our topic for this week, and we are joined once again by our excellent guest host Sarah. What is likability? … read more »
Sometimes, stories have to make it clear that a character is bad or at least that they did a bad thing. This vilification has numerous uses, from making us hate a villain to showing us why a hero must seek redemption. Why do we cheer … read more »
The definition of a hero changes over time. What kind of heroes did you like when you were a kid? What kind of heroes do you like now? How are they different? That’s what we’re talking about this week. We reveal the darkest secrets of … read more »
In the ancient days of 2013, Chris coined the terms “candy” and “spinach” to describe the way characters need to be cool but also have problems. This week, in the far future of 2018, we take another look. How much candy should a character have? … read more »
Likability is a critical aspect of storytelling.* If the audience doesn’t like a character, they won’t become invested in what happens. This investment is especially important for the protagonist. If the story has an unlikable protagonist, many people won’t finish it. Let’s look at some blatant offenders. A “likable” character … read more »
Everyone loves characters, so you should be able to simply add more and more of them with no consequences, right? Turns out that’s not quite true, and we talk about why today. We discuss how an overabundance of characters can clog down a narrative, when … read more »
Character change brings a lot to our stories, but the more dramatic the change, the harder it is to craft. That’s why arcs that transition characters between good and evil are some of the most difficult but also the most rewarding. Previously, I’ve covered arcs … read more »