| Many inexperienced fiction writers make the | | | | More importantly, there's no reason to keep your |
| mistake of stuffing their stories with stereotypical | | | | characters at this level. There are many aspects |
| characters. You know the type: the strong, silent | | | | of each personality in your stories that you can |
| protagonist; the damsel in distress; the | | | | play with, so varying them for color isn't all that |
| single-minded evil stepmother; and all the usual | | | | hard. |
| folks. | | | | Names. Your characters' names can be funny, |
| While those characters aren't terrible, they've | | | | descriptive, meaningful or weird. They don't need |
| been used numerous times over the years. In | | | | to be John and Mary. |
| fact, if you ask schoolchildren to write a story, | | | | Appearance. We can't get too caught up in our |
| there's a good chance they'll have those same | | | | character's appearances, since describing even a |
| characters making the rounds. Using them in your | | | | single person can take up a hefty amount of |
| own work can leave readers feeling like they've | | | | space. However, honing in on one aspect of their |
| seen and heard everything before, no matter | | | | appearance, such as a pink mohawk or hips that |
| how much help you get from your fiction writing | | | | shake like a belly dancer, can leave the readers |
| software. | | | | with something memorable. |