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Characters

How to use hopes and dreams to make a character come alive

April 7, 2025 by Nathan Bransford

You probably already know that motivation is everything in a novel. Nearly everything worth reading flows from a character who wants something and actively goes after it. In writing advice land, it’s popular to subdivide a character’s motivations into conscious motivations and unconscious motivations. Meaning, there’s something on the surface that’s motivating the character (saving […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: Characters

Why protagonists need to be active

March 4, 2024 by Nathan Bransford

One of the most crucial “story essentials” when writing a novel is to craft an active protagonist. Protagonists who are active and engage meaningfully with their world will grip the reader. Protagonists who feel like they sleepwalk through a novel will have them reaching for something different to read. And the protagonist(s) (for simplicity I’m […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: Characters

Avoid naming universal emotions in a novel

July 12, 2021 by Nathan Bransford

What follows is some really basic and essential advice that will help you create characters that leap off the page. But I’m gonna start with the caveats on this post straightaway: don’t take this advice overly literally. I’m not saying you can’t name a universal emotion in a novel full stop. When I say “avoid,” […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: Characters

Shy characters don’t have to be passive

July 7, 2020 by Nathan Bransford

Every protagonist in a novel should start in one place and end up in another irrevocably changed. Character arcs are crucial building blocks of novels. One very common arc involves a character who starts off shy, timid, and/or aimless and has to become brave or find their voice and purpose. But here’s the problem that […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: Characters

Even minor characters need to want something

July 6, 2020 by Nathan Bransford

One of the core tenets of writing advice is that everything flows from a protagonist’s motivation. It’s what inspires journeys to Mordor, jaunts through strange chocolate factories, and maniacal voyages to exact revenge on a white whale. Characters need to want something. What’s often neglected: this applies to minor characters too! Every single character, all […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: Characters

Make characters interesting through contradiction

February 25, 2020 by Nathan Bransford

When you think of some of the most iconic characters in film and literature, there’s often an interesting contradiction at the heart of charater. James Bond is capable of heroic action stunts, but he’s sauve and debonair. Hannibal Lector eats people, but he can be charming and intelligent. Dolores Umbridge is a strict rule follower, […]

Filed Under: Writing Advice Tagged With: Characters

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About Nathan

Hi, I’m Nathan. I’m the author of How to Write a Novel and the Jacob Wonderbar series, which was published by Penguin. I used to be a literary agent at Curtis Brown Ltd. and I’m dedicated to helping authors achieve their dreams. Let me help you with your book!

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My Books

How to Write A Novel
Cover of How to Publish a Book by Nathan Bransford
Jacob Wonderbar and the Cosmic Space Kapo
Jacob Wonderbar for President of the Universe
Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp

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