A daunting question every writer must face but one that doesn’t have a definitive answer, how does a writer create a protagonist that is engaging and makes the story worth reading? Something to note though is that we’re looking to write an engaging protagonist as opposed to just a likeable character. Trying to write a … Continue reading What makes for an engaging protagonist?
Category: Musings
How to Balance Main Characters with Side Characters
Characters are the core of almost every story. With this comes a sort of hierarchy of importance regarding the cast of characters. Most stories often take the person vs person conflict meaning the most important characters, the highest on the hierarchy, are the protagonist (assuming they’re the main character as well which is normally the … Continue reading How to Balance Main Characters with Side Characters
Author Update: Editing, Revisions and Progress
Hello everyone!I realize this update is two weeks late and I apologize for that. I’ve been rather busy this last month working on the revisions and suggestions my editor has sent me as well as various art projects. There’s a lot I hope to accomplish and I’m realizing that I need to be a lot … Continue reading Author Update: Editing, Revisions and Progress
How to Write Absentee Antagonists
One of the core things I’ve learned is that creating well written characters is hard. There’s a lot that goes into each of them regarding their backgrounds, personalities, relationships, motivations, strengths, weaknesses, etc. Naturally writers think of the protagonist first and how to fully develop them which makes sense. We want the reader to feel … Continue reading How to Write Absentee Antagonists
The Importance of Strong Side Characters
The protagonists are usually also the main characters of the story, the ones that the reader cares about most, but what about the supporting cast of characters? What role do the side characters play in the story? Often they’re a supplemental element of the story to the main character(s) as they help to give depth … Continue reading The Importance of Strong Side Characters
Author Update: Tentative Book Release Schedule and Plans for the Future
Hello Everyone! I want to try and have regular updates again on the book release schedule to both let you know what to expect but also to hold myself accountable to stay on track. 2023 was a lot more chaotic in terms of posting regularly and I’d rather avoid that again. Not just for the … Continue reading Author Update: Tentative Book Release Schedule and Plans for the Future
Writing Connected Stories within the Same World or Universe
Something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, especially with my own book series, is how it feels to have a set of stories connected together within a shared universe. The stories are different with new characters and a new conflict, but the worldbuilding persists from story to story. And while the main cast of … Continue reading Writing Connected Stories within the Same World or Universe
The Importance of Story Length and Series Structure
After reading the Harley Merlin series, I noticed that I had the same feeling that a lot of other people had as well. The series really didn’t have to be as long as it was. It was something I started to think about for my own book series after some thought. My book series is … Continue reading The Importance of Story Length and Series Structure
Start of 2024 and hopefully a better year
Happy New Year everyone! First week of 2024 has been pretty productive, mostly sorting out my plans for the year and how to make sure it’s better than 2023. Last year was certainly not the best, but there were some upsides. I did manage to finish writing book 3 which is in the editing phase … Continue reading Start of 2024 and hopefully a better year
My top characters of 2023
This is my favorite time of year where I get to explore the characters I loved most throughout 2023. There’s been quite a few stories I’ve gotten to read or watch and some of those characters really left a strong impression on me. Something I always try to do whenever I read or watch anything … Continue reading My top characters of 2023
Raph's Cozy Musings 