#authortools

When crafting characters, it’s essential to give them qualities that make them likeable, relatable, and believable. In this post, I’ll outline a variety of character traits to help you build well-rounded, engaging characters that will captivate your readers.

Character Qualities to Consider

- Confidence: Characters with confidence are likeable and flexible in their actions, giving you plenty of opportunities to explore different storylines.

- Conscientiousness: This quality drives characters to approach tasks thoroughly and live intentionally, adding depth and realism to their lives.

- Creativity: Creative characters can have diverse hobbies, unique jobs, or a mix of both, making them more intriguing and complex.

- Curiosity: A curious character feels relatable and allows for expanded character and plot development.

- Humility: Humble characters are easier to root for, offering opportunities for mentorship or role model dynamics in your story.

- Patience: Patience helps pace your story effectively, allowing for valuable lessons and more nuanced narratives.

- Affection: Affectionate characters feel more believable and foster strong emotional connections with others.

- Compassion: Compassionate characters are sympathetic and helpful, contributing to growth and development within your story.

- Discipline: A disciplined character adds complexity, especially in action-driven stories, where training and focus play significant roles.

- Gratitude: Characters who express gratitude tend to be likeable and can bring warmth to your narrative.

- Loyalty: Loyal characters strengthen relationships and create positive opportunities to advance the story.

- Openness to Change: This trait allows you to write impactful plot twists with believable character reactions.

- Optimism: Optimistic characters showcase hope and positivity, offering endless opportunities for uplifting storytelling.

- Respectfulness: Respectful characters fit seamlessly into your story while avoiding unnecessary negativity.

- Ambition: Ambitious characters bring determination and drive, making them engaging and easier to write.

- Courage: Courageous characters open doors to explore compelling narratives filled with challenges and triumphs.

- Cheerfulness: Cheerful characters can serve as a source of support and positivity for others in your story.

- Honesty: Honest characters inspire trust and give you creative freedom to explore integrity-based plots.

- Adaptability: Adaptable characters thrive in varied situations, offering flexibility in storytelling.

- Consistency: Consistent characters help maintain narrative focus while allowing audiences to connect with them more effectively.

- Empathy: Empathetic characters can understand and share emotions, balancing negative and positive interactions.

- Flexibility: Flexible characters bring versatility, making your story dynamic and engaging.

- Persistence: Persistent characters pursue their goals despite obstacles, creating space for challenges and twists that highlight their strengths.

- Adventurousness: Adventurous characters open the door to exciting, diverse stories that resonate with audiences.

- Trustworthiness: Trustworthy characters build meaningful relationships, simplifying character bonding and progression.

- Reliability: Reliable characters help create cohesive plotlines and believable team dynamics.

- Punctuality: Punctual characters can serve as a contrast to those who are not, offering opportunities for teachable moments.

- Integrity: Characters with integrity are multifaceted and adaptable, adding richness to your narrative.

- Courtesy: Polite characters bring warmth and the potential for heartfelt, meaningful stories.

- Accountability: Accountable characters allow for compelling plots centered on responsibility and consequences.

- Diligence: Hardworking characters help avoid plot holes and elevate believability in achieving goals.

- Perseverance: Characters with perseverance inspire through their determination and ability to overcome challenges.

- Generosity: Generous characters open opportunities for narratives about selflessness and helping others.

- Consideration: Considerate characters make strong leaders and reinforce the value of empathy and kindness.

- Kindness: Kind characters evoke emotion and create heartfelt stories with universal appeal.

- Fairness: Fair characters are ideal for roles such as judges, lawyers, or public officials, offering integrity in positions of influence.

- Self-Control: Self-control adds complexity by exploring how much a character can endure before reaching their limits.

Conclusion

By giving your characters well-rounded qualities, you’ll have endless opportunities to develop them into the perfect "actors" for your story. Use this list as a guide, but feel free to adapt these traits to suit your narrative. With thoughtful character development, your writing will become more engaging and impactful.

Crafting different types of characters can be challenging because each one brings unique complexities to your story. Today, I’ll be sharing tips on how to write demanding parents —a character type that can add tension and depth to your narrative.

Traits of Demanding Parents

- Expect Help: Demanding parents always expect their children to assist them, often without considering their children’s own priorities or needs.

- High Expectations: They have incredibly high standards for their children, expecting them to perform with precision and excellence in everything they do.

- Controlling Behavior: These characters try to control every aspect of their children’s lives—actions, thoughts, beliefs, and decisions—leaving little room for independence.

- Easily Disappointed: Demanding parents are quick to feel disappointed when they believe their children have failed to meet their lofty expectations.

- Living Through Their Children: These characters often try to live vicariously through their children, pushing them to achieve dreams or goals they couldn’t accomplish themselves.

- Things Done Their Way: For demanding parents, there’s only one way to do things: their way. No other approach is ever deemed acceptable.

- Immediate Gratification: They expect their children to drop everything to fulfill their demands. Any delay can lead to anger or frustration on their part.

- Hateful Tendencies: These parents can come across as hateful or overly critical, viewing themselves as superior and undermining their children regardless of age.

Conclusion

By incorporating these traits and building on them with your own creative ideas, you can create compelling and believable demanding characters. Their presence can add tension, conflict, and depth to your story.

As a writer, it can sometimes be overwhelming to share important information with others, especially when there’s so much to choose from. In this post, I’ll share helpful tips to make your voice stand out and ensure your advice has an impactful and lasting effect on your audience.

How to Share Advice Effectively

- Be Genuine: Authenticity is key when giving advice. Always aim to share information that is honest, helpful, and rooted in your personal experiences.

- Give Meaningful Advice: Offer advice you wish you had received yourself—it’s likely that others will benefit from it just as much. This creates a strong connection with your audience and makes your knowledge impactful.

- Share Lessons Learned: Share the lessons you’ve gained through trial and error. This not only helps others avoid making the same mistakes but also builds trust with your audience as they see your journey as relatable and real.

- Share Tools: Don’t hesitate to share the tools you use in your writing process. Whether it’s a favorite pen and notebook, an app, or software, sharing these resources can inspire others to experiment and discover what works best for them.

- Share Routine: Writing routines are personal, yet incredibly motivating to others. Sharing your routine gives your audience hope that they too can find a workflow that suits them.

- Share Inspirations: Share what inspires you to write. This insight can guide others toward recognizing their own sources of inspiration, opening the door to creativity they may not have tapped into yet.

- Share Morals: Sharing your morals helps to align your audience with your values. Establishing common ground fosters deeper connections and builds a loyal following.

- Share Your Beliefs: Explain how your beliefs influence your storytelling. This transparency adds depth to your writing and allows others to better understand your perspective.

- Share Goals: Communicating your aspirations gives your audience insight into your work and helps them determine if your message resonates with them. It also inspires them to reflect on their own goals and dreams.

- Explain Why Your Voice Matters: In writing, whether storytelling or professional advice, it’s essential to demonstrate the importance and impact of your perspective. Highlighting why your voice matters can help establish your authority and inspire others to trust your guidance.

Conclusion

Sharing advice, experiences, and perspectives is crucial for building connections, establishing your voice, and showcasing your unique approach to writing. To secure success, you must be willing to let others get to know you—your journey, your values, and your ambitions. When your audience cares about who you are and what you stand for, they’ll care about what you have to say.

One topic I haven’t covered yet is how I create my book covers. This part of publishing can be challenging, especially if you’re like me and don’t have the budget to hire a professional designer. Now, I’m not saying my book covers are perfect, but they get the job done. By sharing my process, I hope to help those of you who are figuring things out on your own.

My Book Cover Creation Methods

- AI-Generated Images: This can be a great tool for creating unique backgrounds, characters, or a combination of both. While I know there’s some debate about using AI for art, it works well for me. I make sure to use a free program, like mage.space, that allows commercial use of its images—this step is crucial to stay within legal boundaries.

- Unsplash: This website provides a variety of images that can be used for commercial purposes. Always double-check the license for the specific image you choose to ensure it’s free for commercial use and doesn’t violate copyright laws.

- Canva: Canva is my go-to tool for setting the right dimensions for book covers. It also allows me to layer different images to create a cohesive design.

- Cut-Out Images: I like to cut out certain elements from images and layer them onto backgrounds I’ve chosen. This gives me more control over the final look and helps me create covers that fit my vision.

- Make It Fit the Story: One rule I always follow is ensuring my book cover matches the story. A cover should give potential readers a sense of what the book is about before they even open it.

Conclusion

I hope sharing my methods for creating book covers helps you, whether you’re looking to create your own or just want to experiment with designs. Remember, there’s no right or wrong way to do it—as long as you’re happy with your creation and you stay within legal boundaries, that’s what matters.

And if you’re artistically inclined, you could even create your covers from scratch! Personally, I’m not that skilled at drawing, so I stick to these methods.

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