text: Reunion Too
  August 23, 2017 Uncategorized, Writingcharacterization, reunion, WritingSteve
  In My High School. I went on to major in Biology at Bowling Green State University.
  Being a writer by vocation, I could not do a thing such as attend a class reunion (50th) without connecting everything about the experience to telling lies, er, stories. Fifty years after we graduated, I learned some interesting things. For one thing, my high school was, and is, a mid-century modern masterpiece. See my previous article for details. Also, my old friend Gwen, whose hair I apparently pulled on in a class one year, told me that I seemed taller. I'm not aware of having grown since I was a Senior in High School, but, as I said to her, I have grown in other ways. Out, mostly.
  And then there was the shock when Evelyn, who I always liked as a classmate, told me that I "hadn't changed. Still always laid back." What? Laid back? I was continuously worried in High School. Was my zipper up? Was I ready for that test? Do my friends really like me? How do I get up the nerve to ask <insert co-ed classmates name here> to a dance? But, according to Evelyn, who I always thought was a decently intelligent girl (she still seems reasonably so) I was "always laid back." I made a joke (my response to stress) about that being due to a lack of internal energy, but really I was trying to fit that impression into my own impressions of High School life, and my own state of mind during that time.
  And thus we have a lesson in Characterization.
  Especially if writing for High School age readers, one must remember that your protagonist, or any character, will disagree with everyone else on how they feel or act. In fact, this, I imagine, continues right through one's life, so that I think that we can expand the target audience and say that any character will disagree with all of the other characters on matters of comportment, feelings, and actions. Okay, you figured that out years ago. Sorry I bothered you. Guess I'll go back to my little keyboard and punch in some more drab prose . . .
  (By the way, is that the proper way to use an ellipsis?) 🙂
  See what I mean? My overactive imagination already told me that I'm not saying anything that anyone else hasn't figured out in their twenties. So, I'm nervous about even posting this article. But, I am going to, because I know that you, dear reader, disagree with me on the value of, well, anything. Something to keep in mind while making up lies about fictional people, huh?
  Looking for solid advice on Characterization? Check out The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes, by Sue Viders, Caro LaFefer, and Tami Cowden. Tami Cowden has also written a companion volume for villains: Fallen Heroes: Sixteen Master Villain Archetypes.
  Create Memorable Characters: The Secret's in the Details – Anne R. Allen's Blog… with Ruth Harris
  August 29, 2016 WritingAnne R. Allen, characterizationSteve
  Create memorable characters using carefully chosen details by Ruth Harris The 20th Century architect, Mies van der Rohe, designer of iconic contemporary buildings like Crown Hall in Chicago and the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library in Washington, DC, and classic chairs like the Barcelona and Brno, said: "God is in the details." His […]
  Source: Create Memorable Characters: The Secret's in the Details – Anne R. Allen's Blog… with Ruth Harris