Writers' quote of the day: Barbara Fradkin on how to create an engaging series character

‘Create a real person you can care about.  Forget the spunky females and angst-ridden guys with the artificial quirks and flaws.  Dig inside yourself.  Create a character you can know well, in a setting and job you can describe from the inside.  Surround him with family, friends, co-workers — the pressures, emotions and yearnings of a real life.  Let her grow, let him struggle, let people care about whether she succeeds or fails.  A mystery sleuth should be intelligent, insightful, courageous and empathic, but the flaws, and the humanity, emerge in those moments when he falls on his face.  And gets up again.’ ~ Barbara Fradkin

About these ads