by VJ Miller, Sr.

Characterization.

You’re creating a short story of maybe 1 or 2k words and you probably won’t have to do more that jot down a few notes on characters, plot and locale; you should be able to knock out the story in a couple of hours. But, what if you have a dynamite idea for your first real novel of say, 80k words, or maybe you’re working on the second. How do you keep all the primary and secondary players straight and true to their characterization? And what of the incidental ones that you toss in for background; the throw away ones that will never be seen again? Then you realize near the end that a player could be useful again and you have to backtrack into your manuscript to remember  what that player was all about, time lost in research when you should be writing. The time spent creating the dossiers will reveal their benefits in the end. Continue reading Character’s Need for a Dossier →