A Goodreads user
asked
Ruta Sepetys:
What is your go-to advice for an aspiring author in developing, naming, and choosing a main character, whose narrative would be the most helpful in making the story come to life in the way you wish it to be, yet still be realistic? Thank you!
Ruta Sepetys
Hi Miri!
My advice for developing a main character is to be specific.
Specificity is authenticity.
Give the character VERY specific likes, dislikes, hopes, dreams, etc.
If you say, "He dreams of being a football player" that might give the reader a bit of info, but if you say, "He dreams of being a Dallas Cowboy" that specificity suddenly give us so much potential information:
- He wants to live in Texas or loves all things Texas
- He loves the colors blue and silver
- He loves the star symbol
- He might name his son Emmit, or Aikman, or Landry.
etc.
When you drill down to specifics, characters and details come to life.
Hope that helps!
Ruta
My advice for developing a main character is to be specific.
Specificity is authenticity.
Give the character VERY specific likes, dislikes, hopes, dreams, etc.
If you say, "He dreams of being a football player" that might give the reader a bit of info, but if you say, "He dreams of being a Dallas Cowboy" that specificity suddenly give us so much potential information:
- He wants to live in Texas or loves all things Texas
- He loves the colors blue and silver
- He loves the star symbol
- He might name his son Emmit, or Aikman, or Landry.
etc.
When you drill down to specifics, characters and details come to life.
Hope that helps!
Ruta
More Answered Questions
A Goodreads user
asked
Ruta Sepetys:
Hi! I have heard so many amazing things about your books and so many people have told me how brilliant your writing was... I look forward to reading all of your works :) I wanted to ask, as an aspiring author myself, how do you plan for your books? With a full out-line, or do you just sort of wing it?
Peggy
asked
Ruta Sepetys:
Hi, Ruta, I have enjoyed reading Salt and I have enjoyed sharing it with so many others. My daughter's comment was typical, "That book didn't even need a bookmark!" Clearly it takes a huge amount of strength to emigrate as a refugee. We are seeing huge refugee migrations now. Were you struck by the parallels as you researched and as you observed the present-day happenings? Thanks for writing books that need 2 B read.
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