Yesterday, I talked about the first secret to creating characters that make the reader cry: Compassion. It’s always a challenge to decide what element is most important to lead with in introducing a character – Sympathy (helping the reader identify with the main character) or compassion. Ideally, it should be both. But in the opening scene of my upcoming book Taming Rafe, I struggled with finding that perfect mix. In Taming Rafe, socialite and philanthropist Katherine Breckenridge just wants to make her mark on the world, her mother did. But she thinks she’s running out of time. I started with that premise in my rough draft. RD: One hour before her engagement party to the most eligible bachelor in New York Katherine Wilcox Breckenridge had the insane urge to throw […]
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About Susan May Warren
Former Russian Missionary Susan May Warren is the best-selling author of more than 40 novels and novellas with Tyndale, Barbour and Steeple Hill, and Summerside. A Christy award and RITA winner, and multiple finalist for the RITA, Christy and winner of Inspirational Readers Choice contest, Susan currently has over a million books in print. A seasoned women’s events speaker and writing teacher, she is the founder of http://www.mybooktherapy.com an online community for writers, and runs a fiction editing service teaching writers how to tell a great story. Visit her online at: http://www.susanmaywarren.com.Author Archive | Susan May Warren
Doctor’s Notes: Secret #1 to making readers cry over our heroes!
I’ve been studying lately secrets to making my characters not only unique, but heroic – heroes and heroines that live on in our hearts, and will make readers cry over them! I’ve discovered three that hold the keys to great characterization. I’ll be revealing them over the next three weeks on Tuesdays “Notes” blog. First – I’ve learned that If the character isn’t someone we would want to know, then won’t care about him, regardless of the fantastic things he does in a book. I have to want to know the hero to invest in his story, to put him in my heart, and I have to like him to be able to cry for him. So, the first secret to making readers cry over our heroes is: Compassion — […]
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Read the RestBook Therapist Picks: The Restorer
I have to admit, I didn’t think I was a fantasy reader. One look at a Robert Jordan Wheel of Time book has me in shivers. I just can’t wrap my brain around the magic, and the elves, or mythical creatures, the rules of the different worlds, the ongoing list of characters. My brain isn’t that big, maybe. But when my friend Sharon Hinck asked me to read her new book, The Restorer, I was intrigued. The premise — the story of a soccer mom who goes through a portal to a different land to become their champion had me cheering. (Because, secretly, wouldn’t we all like to do that?) But…fantasy? And then I looked at my viewing habits — LOTR, Star Wars, Star Trek, and I remember devouring the […]
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