This week I will talk about setting. There is a lot to cover with setting so this will need to be covered over several weeks like characterization did. For now, I will go over the overall setting for a book, and another week I will go over establishing the setting from chapter to chapter. Setting is an incredibly important part of storytelling. Setting is more than just a place; setting is also a time. To establish setting you must include the following.

1. A time
2. A place
3. Tone
4. The history (somewhat optional)

The time where the story takes place is incredibly important. Does the story take place in the 1800’s or the 35^th century? Is it in a bustling city or a quiet forest? Is the tone serious or comical? These are the questions that you need to answer for the reader. Help create the world in their imagination. Is this story in a modern setting or a fantastical one? You need to think about the story you are trying to tell your audience before you can describe it to them. You don’t need to describe every little detail for the reader as their imagination does half the work, but a lack of description can lead to a massive amount of confusion for the reader. Now for something that isn’t always needed yet is also vital at the same time. The world you create needs to feel lived in. In order to achieve this, you need to come up with the history of the world, and the characters. You don’t need to explain it necessarily, but the history should be felt by how the characters act. This should be felt in the tone to establish what may have happened in the world outside of the main characters. It does not need to be outright sated. That’s all for this week, I hope you found this informative.

This post is part 2 of my characterization explanations. You do not need to read the first one before this, but I thought it would be important to explain this. This one is about hero characterization and part 1 is about villain characterization. With that done, I hope you find this informative.

A hero is only as good as the villain, but what does it take to make a good hero which stand out on their own? The answer to this differs from person to person, but I believe that there are some core features that make the character of a hero stand out as an exemplary person and an interesting character. The first point is also a point for the villains but is far more important for a hero. Do not make your hero a one-dimensional character. A one-dimensional villain can serve a purpose; however, a one-dimensional hero is a major flaw. The hero is most likely going to be the main character, and having the main character be one-dimensional is a death sentence. The hero/heroes are who the audience will spend most of their time with and as such need to be interesting characters. Never feel like you can’t give your heroes flaws. How a hero deals with their flaws can and will lead to interesting character moments. It is vital to avoid creating a Mary Sue. For those who do not know a marry sue is basically a character that always gets what they want, is perfect in every way, and never ever loses. Those characters are boring and cause the plot to have absolutely no stakes in it. A flawed hero could be one that puts others lives above their own, causing them to be harmed in many situations. Perhaps a hero that is only a hero for the frame and fortune and is forced into being the traditional hero, only for it to change who they are deep down. The heroes journey works for a reason. There is so much potential for making a hero that is both interesting and serves to spice up the plot. Just make sure to use your imagination! That’s all for this week. I hope you all enjoyed it!

If you ask me the most important feature to consider when creatively writing is characterization. Characters are a vital part to any story, and if you have bad characters that can ruin the story. Unlikable characters are something you must always try to avoid. This goes for protagonists and antagonists. I will give some tips about making good characters here. In this post I will focus on villains as the methods used for one aren’t usually usable for the other. The first tip is to avoid making a one-dimensional character. While it isn’t always bad and can serve a purpose. You can have a big bad villain as the obstacle the protagonists overcome, however readers can find it to be much more enjoyable for readers if the villain has depth to them. Understanding where a villain is coming from can make them sympathetic character, and lead to a possible redemption if that is what you want to do. At the same time, you do not want their reasons for their actions to be given in the first act. It would be wiser to wait until somewhere in the second act to reveal their past. Then you can act upon what the characters have learned in the second act in the third act. In order to redeem a villain is it must be believable. If someone slaughters an entire race for something, chances are they are not redeemable in the slightest. What they have done must be handled in a way that their change of heart is believable. On the opposite end of the spectrum, if a villain is not going to be redeemed their defeat must be natural and explainable. It is annoying when a plot device or deus ex machina is required to defeat the villain. It is far better to have their own character flaws lead to their undoing. That is all I have for this week. Tune in next week for the protagonist tip.

While you might want to get your ideas onto paper as soon as possible or publish a story as soon as possible that is not the smartest thing to do. While you might have a million ideas in your head it is up to you to decide which ones are worth pursuing. The only way to do that is to stop, take a step back, and look at what you are coming up with. In doing this you can ensure that you can minimize what you are adding as to not be forced to remove many things in the future. At the same time there are more benefits than just for your writing. By slowing down and taking your time you will have better mental health as well. This is because slowing down prevents you from forcing yourself to create more and more in a very short time span. Remember to take your time. Take breaks so you do not experience burn out. Take it from me, burn out is something you want to avoid. If you are curious what burnout is like, allow me to describe it. When you experience burn out it becomes extremely hard to think due to being mentally exhausted. You won’t want to do anything for the same reason of mental exhaustion. This will last for a few days at most, or a couple days at least. During that time, you will be nearly useless with anything that required more than only a little thinking. It should be very simple to see why you would want to avoid this. Being mentally useless is clearly less than ideal. This is the first of many stops that I will give. I hope this helps someone become a better writer and I will post another tip next week.

Be yourself; Everyone else is already taken.

— Oscar Wilde.

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so stay tuned for more. Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus you own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.