path of the storyteller / blog
bring your characters to life
When Geppetto made Pinocchio, he began by using an enchanted piece of wood. This gave him a significant head start on the task of making a wooden boy seem so real he actually came to life!
Luckily, we writers have some enchanted materials of our own to work with. There’s no building material more flexible yet durable than storytelling.
But the process of turning mere marks on a page into characters who live and breathe and feel as real — okay, realer — than the people we know in “real life” certainly feels like magic!
How do we do it? That's the subject of this week’s discussion. Some points covered:
- Why description is not what brings characters to life
- The difference between your main character and the supporting cast
- How character and story are inextricably linked
Many thanks to Path of the Storyteller follower Jaron for requesting this topic!
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FREE GUIDE TO STORY STRUCTURE!
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Maryrose Wood
I’m the author of fourteen published novels, including ALICE’S FARM, A RABBIT’S TALE (Macmillan, 2020) and the six-book Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series (Balzer + Bray / HarperCollins). I founded Path of the Storyteller in 2020 to offer serious writing craft training for writers who’re ready to take their work up to pro level. Here’s where I blog about writing craft, publishing, and the writing life in general. Learn more at pathofthestoryteller.com.
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