Sympathetic vs Likable Characters

In my reviews, I talk a lot about characters and whether or not they're sympathetic. Many writers want their characters to be likable, especially their main character. After all, the reader has to spend an entire book with the main character, and why would they devote that much time with a character they didn't like? It can sometimes get tricky to keep a character likable, especially when characters begin doing unethical things in the name of the greater good. At what point does a character stop being likable? At what point do they stop being sympathetic? Though the two are related, they are definitely two different concepts that many writers get mixed up. Writers can sometimes become so obsessed with making their character likable that they forget to make their character sympathetic.

But what is the difference? 

When your character is likable, they are someone your reader enjoys reading about. This relies more heavily on personal preference and so it's sometimes impossible to create a universally liked character, though many writers lose sleep trying to create one. A character can be two dimensional, crude, rude, erratic in their actions, and completely unsympathetic, but they may still be likable if there is something about the character the reader connects with and enjoys. A character can be likable because they are sympathetic, but they don't have to be sympathetic to be likable. 

When your character is sympathetic, they are doing something or expressing ideas that the reader can approve of. They are working to save their world, rescue their parents, save their love interest, etc. Even if as a person, they are incredibly unlikable, your character can still be sympathetic by doing the right thing. 

For example, in my review of The Outliers, I talk about how much I disliked the main character, Wylie. This was mostly due to personal preference, as Wylie did things and said things that I thought were rude and uncalled for. However, her overall motivation throughout the story-- saving her best friend-- was something I could sympathize with, and therefore I could continue reading. It's like the idea of people working together in a crisis-- I can deal with not liking a character based on who they are, so long as their actions or ideas are sympathetic. 

But where do you draw the line? How do you know if you're writing a likable character, or a sympathetic one? Or neither? Or both? 

As I said, creating a likable character can be frustrating and nearly impossible, mostly because it generally comes down to personal preference. There are people who love Voldemort, despite the fact that JK Rowling made no attempt to make him likable. You cannot control how people will respond to your characters, just as you can't control how people respond to your personality. So don't even try. Don't focus on making people like your character, make your character consistent with who they are. If you want a stubborn character, don't tone down that trait to make them more likable. Embrace the stubborn part of your character, make it consistent through their actions and reactions, and readers will like your character for being true to themselves. 

On the other hand, creating a sympathetic character is something a writer does have control over, and should pay attention to. Generally, it's not hard to make your character a sympathetic one. Plot motivators tend to make for sympathetic situations-- needing to rescue a loved one, stop a catastrophe, free people from suffering, etc. But you don't need those external motivators to create sympathetic characters, as their beliefs and ideas have a big impact on how the reader views them. For example, your character may be a high class thief only out for personal gain, but their decision not to hurt people while on the job instantly makes him a sympathetic one. 

External elements to create sympathy are the easiest to do. Internal motivators to create sympathy have a much stronger impact. Your character can have both external and internal motivators to create sympathy, or only one or the other. Toeing the lines can create interesting character dynamics and is something authors tend to do frequently. 

In the Second Sons Trilogy by Jennifer Fallon, the main character, Dirk, has external motivators to make him sympathetic, but no internal motivators. He is working to save the kingdom by toppling a corrupt system, not necessarily for the betterment of his fellow people, but more because the structure of the royal court puts him in danger. He is all around unlikable-- arrogant, snobby, and really doesn't do a single nice thing throughout the whole series unless it serves him, despite the fact that he is doing the "right" thing. Jennifer Fallon admitted that she intended to do this with Dirk-- she wanted to see how bad a main character could be while still keeping the reader on his side. And it certainly worked! By the end of the series I thought Dirk was pretty much the scummiest guy you could meet, but he somehow still managed to remain the hero of the story. 

On the other side of the coin, in Vicious by VE Schwab, the main character Victor has internal motivators without much in the way of external motivators. He chases down his best friend who has become a serial killer, and though his expressed motivation is based on revenge (which doesn't make him overly sympathetic), he does acknowledge that he thinks what Eli is doing is wrong. So even though his external motivation is a choice of him getting revenge, his internal motivation makes him sympathetic as it shows he cares about others. 

Characters can be a hard balance. I speak from experience, as they've always been something I've struggled with. But managing that balance, once you have it, makes your book so much stronger overall. 

So, since I threw a lot at once, to sum up: 

Likable Characters are those who are liked by the reader, for one reason or another. All characters are likable in some way. Likable characters are based on reader preference. Generally, good deeds = people like your character, but the reasons a character is likable are as varied as types of literature. 

Sympathetic Characters are those whose actions, motivations, or beliefs, whether its proclaimed from the rooftops or inserted subtly, create sympathy and approval for the reader. They approve of the hero's journey, or at least their reasons for the journey. 

External Motivators for Sympathy are external forces that put the character into a situation that garners sympathy. They can be as literal as people locked in a cage needing to escape, or pressures from other characters to do things they don't want to. 

Internal Motivators for Sympathy are more the beliefs and morals held within the character that propels them to take action and creates sympathy in the reader. They can be stated outright or implied. They still inspire sympathy and originate from the character's belief system. 

Hopefully this helps to shed some light on what I mean when I talk about sympathy vs likability. So writers out there, relax, take a deep breath. Stop pulling your hair out trying to make your characters liked by everyone, and just make your characters true to themselves. 

Book Review: The Outliers

Book Review: The Outliers by Kimberly McCreight

Goodreads Description: It all starts with a text: Please, Wylie, I need your help.

Wylie hasn’t heard from Cassie in over a week, not since their last fight. But that doesn’t matter. Cassie’s in trouble, so Wylie decides to do what she has done so many times before: save her best friend from herself.

This time it’s different, though. Instead of telling Wylie where she is, Cassie sends cryptic clues. And instead of having Wylie come by herself, Jasper shows up saying Cassie sent him to help. Trusting the guy who sent Cassie off the rails doesn’t feel right, but Wylie has no choice: she has to ignore her gut instinct and go with him.

But figuring out where Cassie is goes from difficult to dangerous, fast. As Wylie and Jasper head farther and farther north into the dense woods of Maine, Wylie struggles to control her growing sense that something is really wrong. What isn’t Cassie telling them? And could finding her be only the beginning?

My Review: I was given a copy of the Outliers by Goldberg McDuffie Communications in exchange for an honest review. 

The Outliers is a novel that sits somewhere between contemporary, mystery, and thriller, which makes it a unique beast. The story begins with Wylie, who in the wake of her mother’s death has been left deeply anxious and agoraphobic. She receives a text message from her estranged friend, Cassie, asking for help-- and not to tell her mother or police. The mystery mounts as Wylie makes her way out into the wilderness with Jasper, Cassie’s boyfriend, in the hopes to get Cassie out of whatever trouble she has landed herself in. But they have no idea what kind of danger they’re headed towards, and worse yet, Cassie's texts grow more frantic before going silent-- making Jasper and Wylie fear the worst. 

First off, holy pacing, Batman! It doesn’t lie when it says it kicks off right from the start and moves with a pretty rapid pace. The pacing worked fairly well mostly because it was spaced out with flashbacks to give more context to what was going on. Throughout the book, the flashbacks did add a vital piece, but I found the beginning the book was a little bogged down with these flashbacks and info-dumps. There’s a lot of info that the reader needs before they’re “up to speed” with Wylie and can continue with the plot, but I felt like it could have been handled a little better, as I was beginning to bore of the author spelling out Cassie and Wylie’s entire backstory before the action even began.

My main issue when it comes to the book has to do with Wylie, our main character. It was nice to see anxiety represented through her, and she does an excellent job of growing throughout the course of the book. That said, I can’t stand Wylie as a character. At the beginning of the book, she is completely negative. I couldn’t find a single thing that she looked positively on (except her mother, and the fact that she was dead didn’t shine a positive light on things). Even when it came to her friends, to Cassie and Jasper, she could only find negative things to say about them, even with her internal narration. I get that she’s supposed to have some mental health issues, but even the most mentally ill people have things that they like, people they like, places they feel more comfortable in. Because Wylie didn’t tell us a single thing she actually enjoys, it was nearly impossible to connect with her. 

Wylie’s demeanour improves throughout the action, as she says, she’s “better in a crisis,” which is completely believable. When in intense crisis situations, survival instincts take over, and even those who feel hopeless can find strength to push through. But it seemed like the author wanted Wylie’s growth to overshadow her negative attitude. And while her negatively lightened up by the end, she was still highly judgmental, pessimistic, and generally unlikeable. She snapped at Jasper I don’t know how many times throughout the book, never says a single nice thing to him, and yet at the end they’re holding hands. Yes, being together in a crisis will help them grow closer, but at the end of the day, when the crisis is over, Wylie is still a dick. And it makes no sense why Jasper puts up with it, other than he's a sucker for punishment. 

The one redeeming thing she does throughout the book-- her insistence to be a “good friend” and save Cassie-- doesn’t even feel genuine. It feels like she only goes along so she can judge Cassie for her poor choices. Cassie even mentions this-- that Wylie just came to judge her-- and yet Wylie doesn’t do a thing to convince her otherwise. It seems to me the only reason Wylie left the house in the first place was so she could dole out a bunch of “I told you so” and generally feel superior to Cassie. Other readers may not have a problem with Wylie’s character, and I generally consider myself pretty forgiving when it comes to flaws and unlikeable characters, but I literally could find nothing redeeming about the main character. Normally I’m complaining when a main character has too few flaws, but the reverse is true too-- there’s gotta be something likeable about a character if you’re spending a whole story with them. 

Despite my grievance with Wylie, I was really impressed with how the plot was handled and how things were revealed. It was a very strong mystery and kept me guessing as to what kind of trouble they would find themselves in. However, there was still a lot of things I could see coming, like the villain’s identity, but it was a very solid plot all together. The book read like a “Chosen One” fantasy tale without any of the fantasy. So if you’re longing for a good old YA archetypical Chosen One with a bit of a realistic spin, this would definitely be the book for you. There are a lot of “take backs” in that something will be established and then later on revealed to be untrue, which I can see some readers growing frustrated with. But all in all, the story fit together really nicely and I really enjoyed this quick-paced, intense ride that takes you by the hand and doesn’t let go. 

TL;DR: All in all, 3/5 stars. I’d probably punch Wylie if I ever met her in person, but the mystery and plot make this a solid read.

Falling in Love (With a Book)

You never expect to fall in love.

It always comes when you're not looking.

Or when you're not sure what you're looking for.

You're reaching blindly out into the dark, scratching at something, until a hand finally reaches back. All you intended for the day was a coffee, a bit of time out with the girls, when that striking someone catches your eye from across the room, jacket hugging them just right, all sleek and sharp. Attraction is undeniable, but you're not looking, just out for a good time.

Something tips your favor, and you decide to walk over, just to test the waters. An introduction isn't a commitment, after all. Something clicks, right from the start. It could be the entrancing art stamped on their jacket, or the swell of words and wisdom that spill forth once you get them to open up. Before you know it, an introduction becomes a fluttering of attraction and suddenly you can't walk away. Not that you can think of a single reason to anymore.

You spend hours together, pouring out words and sharing a connection you can't put a label to. There are ups and downs, tense moments, and times where you cry from sheer joy at knowing this someone was out there, just waiting for you. Inside the honeymoon phase with the two of you, it seems as though nothing could ever break up your happiness together.

Eventually, the firsts run out.

The last new words are spoken, and though you can replay the favorite stories again and again, you've grown comfortable in your knowledge of each other. So you bring your love to meet your friends, your family, and you know they will love them as much as you do. Your someone is perfection personified, and the people who know you best will recognize that.

Except they don't.

Because there are flaws in your special someone, in your perfect love. Some you don't want to admit to, some that don't bother you in the way they do others. And though you're disappointed-- how could people not see what you see?-- there's a small part of you that's relieved, because this is a love that is yours.

It's a love that makes you feel like the only one who matters in a crowded room.

A love that makes you the star of your own Hollywood happily ever after.

That piece of your heart clings to your words, to your love, because though they may not be perfect, something about them just syncs with you. All their jagged pieces fit your jagged pieces and you feel invincible. They press up against your back; a reassurance that you will never be alone. You can't describe why you're filled with such warmth, where this love for this flawed someone wrapped in an artist's jacket came from.

But you know it's magic. There's something otherworldly in the feeling.

You vibrate on the same frequency. Their words are your feelings.

They speak to something in you that you never knew could be communicated with words before.

You never expect to fall in love.

You never know when you'll find the book that seems like your soul personified on paper.

But when you do, you'll wonder how you ever did without it.

Book Review: Dreamers Often Lie

Book Review: Dreamers Often Lie by Jacqueline West 

Goodreads Description: Jaye wakes up from a skiing accident with a fractured skull, a blinding headache, and her grip on reality sliding into delusion. Determined to get back to her starring role in the school production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Jaye lies to her sister, her mom, her doctors. She's fine, she says. She's fine. If anyone knew the truth - that hallucinations of Shakespeare and his characters have followed her from her hospital bed to the high school halls - it would all be over. She’s almost managing to pull off the act when Romeo shows up in her anatomy class. And it turns out that he's 100% real. Suddenly Jaye has to choose between lying to everyone else and lying to herself.

Troubled by the magnetic new kid, a long-lost friend turned recent love interest, and the darkest parts of her family's past, Jaye’s life tangles with Shakespeare's most famous plays until she can't tell where truth ends and pretending begins. Soon, secret meetings and dizzying first kisses give way to more dangerous things. How much is real, how much is in Jaye's head, and how much does it matter as she flies toward a fate over which she seems to have no control? 

My Review: Dreamers Often Lie is a delightfully tense mystery and a must-read for any fans of the Bard. After a skiing accident leaves her hallucinating Shakespeare characters, Jaye convinces everyone in her life she's fine in order to get back to her rehearsals for A Midsummer Night's Dream. Though the book is pitched as heavy on the Shakespeare hallucinations, the book's real story and strength laid in the mystery behind what happened to Faye’s family long before the book ever started. 

That’s not to say that the hallucinations and head injury don’t play an important part—they create an atmosphere where Faye doesn’t know if she can trust what she’s seeing to be real. Despite this, the story is actually light on the unreliable narrator aspect, in that the author doesn’t try to deliberately mislead the reader. In contrast to books like Liar by Justine Larbalestier, where the reader can’t trust the narrator, in Dreamers, the reader can trust Faye, but Faye doesn’t know if she can trust herself. Fans of the unreliable narrator may be disappointed, but for someone like me who finds unreliability just frustrating, I was very happy with the lighter touch. 

If you’ve read some of my other reviews, you’ll know I have a deep hatred for love triangles. Dreamers Often Lie is definitely the exception. It has a love triangle, and in some ways it goes the route of standard love triangles, right down to the two guys fighting over Faye. But it avoided the clichés and kept me engaged for several simple reasons: 1) the love triangle did not interfere with the story. In fantasy, the two guys fighting over the girl often takes away from the serious plot issues going on, which frustrates me. But the love triangle was the story here, so it didn’t distract from anything. 2) Each guy is their own person outside of Faye. Their reasons for wanting to be with her are not grandiose or out of character. 3) Both guys are shown to have a good time with Faye without romantic implications. So many books rush the romance that we don’t get to see WHY the characters like each other. 4) There is an evolution of attraction. Faye doesn’t immediately fall head over heels. There’s attraction, interest, and lust, and then once they get a chance to really talk, that attraction blooms into the fluttery in-love feeling. Those simple things made me fall in love with this romance in a way I haven’t in a long time. 

Aside from the romance, the handling of this book was very precise and deliberate. The prose was beautiful, complementing the Bard’s lines that were spliced throughout the book like sprinkles. They were used with purpose, often mirroring Jaye’s life and experiences with something or someone out of Shakespeare’s texts. It fit without feeling overbearing, doing the words and characters justice in their representation, which was absolutely essential to me, as someone who loves Shakespeare. 

Dreamers Often Lie wasn’t the dark, twisted thriller like the back cover pitches it to be. It was definitely a psychological thriller, though without any huge twists or turns. However, the lack of heart-pounding tension didn’t disappoint me, because the story behind the hallucination spin was solid on its own. The question of what’s real only added a delightful bit of flavour to an already excellent meal. 

TL;DR: 4/5 stars. A delightfully Shakespearean-flavoured tale. The power’s in the characters, not in the psych twist. 

Book Review: A Darker Shade of Magic

Book Review: A Darker Shade of Magic by VE Schwab

Goodreads Description: Kell is one of the last Antari, a rare magician who can travel between parallel worlds: hopping from Grey London — dirty, boring, lacking magic, and ruled by mad King George — to Red London — where life and magic are revered, and the Maresh Dynasty presides over a flourishing empire — to White London — ruled by whoever has murdered their way to the throne, where people fight to control magic, and the magic fights back — and back, but never Black London, because traveling to Black London is forbidden and no one speaks of it now.

Officially, Kell is the personal ambassador and adopted Prince of Red London, carrying the monthly correspondences between the royals of each London. Unofficially, Kell smuggles for those willing to pay for even a glimpse of a world they’ll never see, and it is this dangerous hobby that sets him up for accidental treason. Fleeing into Grey London, Kell runs afoul of Delilah Bard, a cut-purse with lofty aspirations. She robs him, saves him from a dangerous enemy, then forces him to take her with him for her proper adventure.

But perilous magic is afoot, and treachery lurks at every turn. To save both his London and the others, Kell and Lila will first need to stay alive — a feat trickier than they hoped.

My Review: Normally when I sit down to write a review, I have a list of criticisms that I have collected through reading. Even when I supremely enjoy a book, I still have things to say about the pacing and tension, characters and their development, plot, and so on. I almost have a mental checklist that I go through when reading any book.

Victoria Schwab's books blow all that out of the water, and A Darker Shade of Magic was no exception. In fact, it far exceeded some of her previous novels in the sense that every part of the story-- tension, character development, relationships, everything-- fit together like a perfect puzzle, so seamlessly that you can barely FIND the seams.

ADSOM is not my favorite of her books, which comes down simply to personal preference, but it is probably one of the best executed novels yet. It has rendered me pretty much speechless. I can't find words for this other than 'wow,' which almost irritates me. It means Victoria Schwab has taken that next step into crafting novels, truly mastering the art of storytelling, which makes my job as a reviewer a hell of a lot harder, but my experience as a reader so much richer. I could not help but get swept away by the story every time I opened the pages. The truly amazing part was what brought me back when I had to put it down wasn't the story's tension, but the story itself. Yes, there was the perfect amount of tension to accent what was going on, but what kept bringing me back was just a pure love of the story on its own. Kell and Lila could have been picking daisies and going grocery shopping and it would still have me desperate to have more.

If you love magic, if you love adventure, if you love a damn good story, you've got to read this. It's not even a book I feel I have to scream about from rooftops because the book does that all its own. This book envelops you as completely as the Black London stone does to Kell. It's rich, intoxicating, and something incredibly special-- luckily for us, this book isn't about to turn our veins black. Then again, knowing Schwab...

TL;DR: 5/5 stars. Just... speechless.

Book Review: The Masked Truth

Book Review: The Masked Truth by Kelley Armstrong

Goodreads Description: Riley Vasquez is haunted by the brutal murder of the couple she was babysitting for.

Max Cross is suffering under the shadow of a life-altering diagnosis he doesn’t dare reveal.

The last thing either of them wants is to spend a weekend away at a therapy camp alongside five other teens with “issues.” But that’s exactly where they are when three masked men burst in to take the group hostage.

The building has no windows. The exits are sealed shut. Their phones are gone. And their captors are on a killing spree.

Riley and Max know that if they can’t get out, they’ll be next—but they’re about to discover that even escape doesn’t equal freedom.


My Review: Kelley Armstrong’s The Masked Truth is a step away from her normal work in all the right ways. She steps into contemporary/thriller territory with the story of a therapy group held hostage by masked men. The ultimate strength of this book, and something that made me extremely happy, was the look at trauma, mental health, and mental illnesses. The main character, Riley, has undergone horrible trauma after losing her father and then being witness to the couple she baby sits for getting shot. Instead of sending her into a spiraling mess, the author does an excellent job in balancing Riley’s strength with her weaknesses. Yes, she is prone to panic attacks, flash backs, etc., but finds ways and reasons to stay strong and push through it. It’s such a delightful thing to see. Riley is a strong character, there’s no doubt about that, but you get to see she has to work for that strength. It creates a powerful message for any readers who may have undergone trauma themselves-- that strength is something you can cultivate through perseverance, and even when you feel you’re about to fall apart, those dark feelings can be overcome.

Through Max, the book’s secondary protagonist, we get to glimpse a little deeper down the rabbit hole. Max is diagnosed with Schizophrenia and takes medication for it. At times, he isn’t sure what’s real and what’s imagined, and it seriously affects his self-confidence. Near the beginning of the book, I felt that the author focused too much on the label of Schizophrenia. The beginning is very clinical in the way that it lists symptoms and goes through the checklist of what Max has and what he doesn’t, which distanced me from the disorder more than it made me understand it. Later on in the book, more through the middle and definitely at the end, the author goes into more detail about how Max’s diagnosis makes him feel, how that label interferes with his life, and the consequences of having to cope with this illness. I felt like the emotion behind it made a bigger impact than listing symptoms and throwing around the clinical side of it. The book could have had more power if the situation was reversed-- if we started with Max’s emotions and how he feels living with it, and then move more into the clinical side of explaining everything. That way, we would have experienced Max’s illness the same way that Riley had, which also would have built a stronger connection between Riley and the reader.

If you’re a sucker for tension, this book is a must read. It doesn’t take long at all to launch straight into the hostage situation, which instantly turns the tension up to the max. I couldn’t bring myself to peel away because even when I thought the author would slip into kidnapping/hostage tropes, the story turned in the opposite direction and threw me for a loop. A twist about mid-way through had me texting my friend with many swears and capital letters and general freaking out-ness. The plot and the way it was handled got me excited in true thriller fashion. As well, the romance between Max and Riley was developed in a believable and excellent way. It’s more than just being trapped together that pushes them together, it’s the strength and determination to survive that connects them. My biggest complaint with romance in YA is often the unbelievable relationships; sometimes love interests are drawn to the main character for literally no reason. But the author clearly shows the reasons that Riley falls in love with Max, which in turn makes me, as the reader, fall in love with him too.

As with many of Kelley Armstrong’s books, her writing style is thin on description. This allows for the action to move faster, but doesn’t give you a very real sense of setting. As Max and Riley spend a chunk of the book running through the warehouse their therapy group is in, the creepy factor could have been amped up by making the setting a character in its own right. As well, I had a problem with the focus on Riley. Within therapy before the tragedy starts, all the characters seem really fixated on Riley, how “brave” she was, the ethical implications of what happened (was she a coward or wasn’t she), and so on. Even after the horror starts, characters are still overly focused on Riley and her past trauma, and how she must be “holding up” through all this. I found this highly unrealistic. Most people only focus on themselves, and if these kids have big enough issues that they’re at an overnight therapy group, then they have more important things to focus on than a stranger’s problems. I could have excused this if more characters had the spotlight. Sure, we shine the therapy spotlight on a couple other characters for only a few moments, but it pales in comparison to the amount of time everyone else is discussing Riley, her well-being, how she should be one of the first ones out, etc. Made the whole narrative very MC-centered. If more time was spent discussing other character’s issues as well as Riley’s, it might have been more believable.

My final issue came with the ending. No spoilers, I promise. The plot itself wrapped up nicely, and I really enjoyed the ride. It was the note the author left off on that didn’t really sit right with me, as not only was it very heavily implied meta commentary, but it just didn’t fit with the rest of the book. The end leaves off with two characters discussing writing a story, where one talks about how he wants to end his story. He used Riley as a base for his protagonist and comments that the dark ending to stories just doesn’t do it for him, and he wants to make her happy. I understand the sweet note that the author attempted to leave off on, but I didn’t feel the writing analogy was properly presented throughout the story. It left the ending very out of place, and all I could see was the author commenting through her characters. It almost felt like a “moral of the story” ending. I wish that it had been something else, because the book was overall amazing, but that last chapter left me with a weird taste in my mouth that’s hard to shake.

TL;DR: All in all, 4/5 stars. An incredible plot and wicked tension plus awesome take on mental health equals a happy me.

Four Ways to Spark Inspiration

As writers, we are often bombarded by ideas for books. Sometimes we have so many shiny WIP ideas we can't get a handle on the book we're writing. And that's great. But sometimes there aren't that many ideas. Sometimes there are NO ideas.

Sometimes it's writer's block. Sometimes there are family or emotional issues that keep you from coming up with anything. And sometimes you're just stuck.

Unfortunately, we can't wait around for inspiration. This doesn't just apply to writing, this applies to coming up with ideas, plotting, creating characters, all that jazz. Sometimes we have the luxury to wait around for another idea, but if you're a professional writer, people may be waiting for your next book. You may be under contract. The world won't wait for you to come up with an idea.

Here's a short list on ways to inspire inspiration. Four easy ways to kick your butt in gear.

1) Compile a list of the things you want to write. Go through your favorite books and write a list of everything you've always WANTED to write. Have you toyed with the idea of a western romance? Have you had a character lingering in the back of your mind you wanted to try writing? Write it down. Once you have a list, try and match some together. Pair the sci-fi with Chinese culture and add an OCD main character whose petrified of space ships. How many aspects can you weave together? Can you create a story from that?

2) Write from prompts. Tried and true, but it works. You can find prompt generators online, or you can even just ask the people around you for objects, situations, and locations for story ideas. Go to three separate people, ask one for a location, as one for a profession, ask the last for an object. Taking those three ideas, can you weave a story out of that? For a different approach, you can take word prompts and write short blurbs to timed sessions. Let the words unravel without planning anything out. If the ideas come, run with it.

3) People Watch. This is my favorite and the easiest. It's best done in public with strangers. Pick someone from the crowd and watch them. Study their clothes, their behavior, the way they talk or stand or walk. Then create a story for them. Create a name, create their family, create a backstory. Figure out why they are there, and be creative. Your character profiles can be mundane, or fantastical. That woman may be a spy from a British Academy waiting on orders from the US division. That man could be meeting with his wife to tell her the results of the chemo treatments. Create them as characters in your mind and build your story from there.

4) Bounce ideas. This one's difficult for me, but every time I do it, I'm always amazed and delighted at the results. Talking to other people, especially writers or heavy readers, is a great way to generate ideas. Even if the other person doesn't give you ideas, sometimes they ask questions that can get you thinking, and lead you to your own epiphany. This is definitely my favorite method, as it works wonderfully. Whenever I'm stuck, just a few hours with my beta and there's nothing we can't solve.

Happy Writing,