#characterization — Public Fediverse posts

Stuck: Further thoughts on Pride and Prejudice

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a character must grow over the course of a novel.  Dramatic conflict, by definition, means your main character faces and overcomes challenges.  When those challenges are internal as well as external – when they have to face their flaws – you leave your readers feeling they’ve gone on a meaningful journey with a character they sympathize with.
https://writerunboxed.com/2026/03/17/stuck-further-thoughts-on-pride-and-prejudice/

#CRAFT #Editing #characterization #growth #JaneAusten

There's a difference between writing a good character and a realistic character (also note that when I say good, I mean interesting or complex, and not like, evaluating the character's morality). These things can overlap, but good characters are not necessarily realistic and realistic characters are not necessarily good. If I complain about a character, that doesn't mean I think a real person couldn't or wouldn't have done those things. I just don't think a person doing those things makes for an engaging character. Likewise, just because I enjoy a character doesn't mean I think they behave very realistically. Not all concrete truths make for worthwhile narrative truths, and not all narrative truths transfer literally to concrete truths. Deciphering the difference is one of the challenges of writing.

Consider Your Characters’ Age

Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash
Recently I was telling a friend how excited I was about the new coffee grinder I’d just bought: the unexpected quietness of its motor, the precision of its grind, how streamlined and pretty its design.
“I’ll take Things That Get Old People Excited for $500, Alex,” she joked as I waxed on.
https://writerunboxed.com/2025/03/25/consider-your-characters-age/

#CRAFT #characterization #creatingcharacter
@indieauthors

#Presentation 😉

I am a #LabTech at Interdisciplinary Centre for Electron Microscopy (#CIME) of #EPFL.
I specialize in sample preparation for #ElectronMicroscopy. 🔬
I also handle training on these techniques and the management of sample preparation labs.

In the past, I’ve worked in a variety of fields, including R&D, #photovoltaics, product and material #Characterization and #Reliability. 🌱

#EnvironmentalTesting #Spectroscopy #SEM #TEM #MaterialsScience #OpenScience #Ecology #Mining

#Presentation 😉

I am a #LabTech at Interdisciplinary Centre for Electron Microscopy (#CIME) of #EPFL.
I specialize in sample preparation for #ElectronMicroscopy. 🔬
I also handle training on these techniques and the management of sample preparation labs.

In the past, I’ve worked in a variety of fields, including R&D, #photovoltaics, product and material #Characterization and #Reliability. 🌱

#EnvironmentalTesting #Spectroscopy #SEM #TEM #MaterialsScience #OpenScience #Ecology #Mining

#Presentation 😉

I am a #LabTech at Interdisciplinary Centre for Electron Microscopy (#CIME) of #EPFL.
I specialize in sample preparation for #ElectronMicroscopy. 🔬
I also handle training on these techniques and the management of sample preparation labs.

In the past, I’ve worked in a variety of fields, including R&D, #photovoltaics, product and material #Characterization and #Reliability. 🌱

#EnvironmentalTesting #Spectroscopy #SEM #TEM #MaterialsScience #OpenScience #Ecology #Mining

#Presentation 😉

I am a #LabTech at Interdisciplinary Centre for Electron Microscopy (#CIME) of #EPFL.
I specialize in sample preparation for #ElectronMicroscopy. 🔬
I also handle training on these techniques and the management of sample preparation labs.

In the past, I’ve worked in a variety of fields, including R&D, #photovoltaics, product and material #Characterization and #Reliability. 🌱

#EnvironmentalTesting #Spectroscopy #SEM #TEM #MaterialsScience #OpenScience #Ecology #Mining

#Presentation 😉

I am a #LabTech at Interdisciplinary Centre for Electron Microscopy (#CIME) of #EPFL.
I specialize in sample preparation for #ElectronMicroscopy. 🔬
I also handle training on these techniques and the management of sample preparation labs.

In the past, I’ve worked in a variety of fields, including R&D, #photovoltaics, product and material #Characterization and #Reliability. 🌱

#EnvironmentalTesting #Spectroscopy #SEM #TEM #MaterialsScience #OpenScience #Ecology #Mining

Biomineralization in #health and #disease: Bridging across length scales

Topical Collection; Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine

https://link.springer.com/journal/10856/updates/26478252

#nature #biomineralization #characterization #biological #pathological #calcification #bone #tooth #mineral #atherosclerosis #osteoarthritis #molecular #cellular #biology #chemistry #medicine #science

Biomineralization in #health and #disease: Bridging across length scales

Topical Collection; Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine

https://link.springer.com/journal/10856/updates/26478252

#nature #biomineralization #characterization #biological #pathological #calcification #bone #tooth #mineral #atherosclerosis #osteoarthritis #molecular #cellular #biology #chemistry #medicine #science

Biomineralization in #health and #disease: Bridging across length scales

Topical Collection; Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine

https://link.springer.com/journal/10856/updates/26478252

#nature #biomineralization #characterization #biological #pathological #calcification #bone #tooth #mineral #atherosclerosis #osteoarthritis #molecular #cellular #biology #chemistry #medicine #science

Biomineralization in #health and #disease: Bridging across length scales

Topical Collection; Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine

https://link.springer.com/journal/10856/updates/26478252

#nature #biomineralization #characterization #biological #pathological #calcification #bone #tooth #mineral #atherosclerosis #osteoarthritis #molecular #cellular #biology #chemistry #medicine #science

Biomineralization in #health and #disease: Bridging across length scales

Topical Collection; Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine

https://link.springer.com/journal/10856/updates/26478252

#nature #biomineralization #characterization #biological #pathological #calcification #bone #tooth #mineral #atherosclerosis #osteoarthritis #molecular #cellular #biology #chemistry #medicine #science

#Molecular #characterization and #evolutionary #dynamics of #influenza A(#H1N1) strains isolated from 2015 to 2017 in North #India, Iran J Microbiol.: https://publish.kne-publishing.com/index.php/IJM/article/view/15358

Conclusion: The genogroup 6B continues to be the dominant circulating strain in Indian subcontinent region however the presence of pathogenic #mutations in the 2017 strains from north India underlines the importance of continued molecular #surveillance.

Food for thought for both #readers and #writers
#bookstodon #Characterization #CarlJung #JungianStudies #writing #storytelling

From Lead to Gold: The Alchemy of Character Arc With Carl Jung https://www.helpingwritersbecomeauthors.com/alchemy-of-character-arc/

What does it mean to create an anime story that really sells itself?

https://animevania.com/how-to-create-an-anime-story/

#Adaptations #Animation #AnimationLayout #Anime #Balance #CharacterCreation #CharacterDesign #Characterization #Consistency #Dialogue #Editing #Enjoyment #Fillers #Finalization #Finetuning #FolkStories #Genre #Illustration #LightNovels #Lore #Manga #Mythos #Plot #RoughOutline #Script #Setting #Storyboard #Storytelling #Substance #Timeline #Visualization #WorldBuilding #Writing #WritingProcess

What does it mean to create an anime story that really sells itself?

https://animevania.com/how-to-create-an-anime-story/

#Adaptations #Animation #AnimationLayout #Anime #Balance #CharacterCreation #CharacterDesign #Characterization #Consistency #Dialogue #Editing #Enjoyment #Fillers #Finalization #Finetuning #FolkStories #Genre #Illustration #LightNovels #Lore #Manga #Mythos #Plot #RoughOutline #Script #Setting #Storyboard #Storytelling #Substance #Timeline #Visualization #WorldBuilding #Writing #WritingProcess

What does it mean to create an anime story that really sells itself?

https://animevania.com/how-to-create-an-anime-story/

#Adaptations #Animation #AnimationLayout #Anime #Balance #CharacterCreation #CharacterDesign #Characterization #Consistency #Dialogue #Editing #Enjoyment #Fillers #Finalization #Finetuning #FolkStories #Genre #Illustration #LightNovels #Lore #Manga #Mythos #Plot #RoughOutline #Script #Setting #Storyboard #Storytelling #Substance #Timeline #Visualization #WorldBuilding #Writing #WritingProcess

What does it mean to create an anime story that really sells itself?

https://animevania.com/how-to-create-an-anime-story/

#Adaptations #Animation #AnimationLayout #Anime #Balance #CharacterCreation #CharacterDesign #Characterization #Consistency #Dialogue #Editing #Enjoyment #Fillers #Finalization #Finetuning #FolkStories #Genre #Illustration #LightNovels #Lore #Manga #Mythos #Plot #RoughOutline #Script #Setting #Storyboard #Storytelling #Substance #Timeline #Visualization #WorldBuilding #Writing #WritingProcess

What makes a character feel most alive for other folks?

So often people say they need to know more about characters--they want to know EVERYTHING--but for me, that's really not it. After all, I often don't know that much about people in my real life! But I need to know _enough_ and it's fun to think about what can be enough.

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Characterization #Writing

And then, you know, I love flat characters too! (I adore fairy tales.). I think they can feel just as alive as the sort that we call "round" or "complex."

Some of that happens through implied or intuitive depth. (A favorite theory of mine!)

I haven't thought as much about this, but I think it probably happens through character change, as well. Which might part of why folks conflate dynamic and complex.

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Characterization #Writing

So we talked about how learning about a character's past deepens our understanding of her--that's one way to make a complex character. But Ali also gestured to what's next for her & if she might change--that's the creation of a dynamic character.

I think dynamic and complex (deep, round) are often conflated but are useful to separate. A character can be one or the other or neither or both.

Which kind do you like to write?

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Characterization #Writing

I got to interview Farah Ali about her beautiful debut novel, The River, The Town. We talked about building complex characters who make unexpected choices, writing about climate catastrophe, and the importance of hope.

https://bit.ly/HFFarahAli

#WritingCommunity #Bookstodon #TheRiverTheTown #FarahAli #WritingConversations #ClimateCrisis #Characterization #Writing

Point of curiosity --

If I describe a character (male, middle-aged, ex-service with ptsd) as being a "venn-like presence" -- what does that evoke in your mind, in terms of his personality?

#writing #characterization

#Characterization of a #human #H3N8 #influenza virus https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38408394/?utm_source=Feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=None&utm_content=1fgJURi2yzLesFml6et0Bb6krzs_FrNIYgPYVFN50JPwVNFg9s&fc=None&ff=20240226201417&v=2.18.0.post9+e462414

-- INTERPRETATION: Our data demonstrate that reverse genetics-generated A/Henan/2022 virus is a low pathogenic influenza virus (of #avian influenza virus descent) with some #antigenic resemblance to older human #H3N2 viruses and limited respiratory #droplet #transmissibility in #ferrets.

#Characterization of a #human #H3N8 #influenza virus https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38408394/?utm_source=Feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=None&utm_content=1fgJURi2yzLesFml6et0Bb6krzs_FrNIYgPYVFN50JPwVNFg9s&fc=None&ff=20240226201417&v=2.18.0.post9+e462414

-- INTERPRETATION: Our data demonstrate that reverse genetics-generated A/Henan/2022 virus is a low pathogenic influenza virus (of #avian influenza virus descent) with some #antigenic resemblance to older human #H3N2 viruses and limited respiratory #droplet #transmissibility in #ferrets.

I wrote about the mysterious way flat characters come alive in fairy tales--and how to use that strategy in other sorts of stories.

It involves unexpected action and even keeping secrets.

What do you think? Can you handle characters you don't completely understand? Any other tricks for bringing life to non-POV or peripheral characters?

https://bit.ly/DiffDepth

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #Characterization #FairyTales #Uncanny #IntuitiveDepth #Flatness #Writing

I wrote about the mysterious way flat characters come alive in fairy tales--and how to use that strategy in other sorts of stories.

It involves unexpected action and even keeping secrets.

What do you think? Can you handle characters you don't completely understand? Any other tricks for bringing life to non-POV or peripheral characters?

https://bit.ly/DiffDepth

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #Characterization #FairyTales #Uncanny #IntuitiveDepth #Flatness #Writing

I wrote about the mysterious way flat characters come alive in fairy tales--and how to use that strategy in other sorts of stories.

It involves unexpected action and even keeping secrets.

What do you think? Can you handle characters you don't completely understand? Any other tricks for bringing life to non-POV or peripheral characters?

https://bit.ly/DiffDepth

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #Characterization #FairyTales #Uncanny #IntuitiveDepth #Flatness #Writing

I wrote about the mysterious way flat characters come alive in fairy tales--and how to use that strategy in other sorts of stories.

It involves unexpected action and even keeping secrets.

What do you think? Can you handle characters you don't completely understand? Any other tricks for bringing life to non-POV or peripheral characters?

https://bit.ly/DiffDepth

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #Characterization #FairyTales #Uncanny #IntuitiveDepth #Flatness #Writing

I wrote about the mysterious way flat characters come alive in fairy tales--and how to use that strategy in other sorts of stories.

It involves unexpected action and even keeping secrets.

What do you think? Can you handle characters you don't completely understand? Any other tricks for bringing life to non-POV or peripheral characters?

https://bit.ly/DiffDepth

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #Characterization #FairyTales #Uncanny #IntuitiveDepth #Flatness #Writing

#Isolation and genetic #characterization of #MERS-CoV from dromedary #camels in the #UAE, Front Vet Sci.: https://doi.org/10.3389/fvets.2023.1182165 #research #enzootic #zoonoses #betacoronavirus #merbecovirus

I wrote about Addie Tsai's UNWIELDY CREATURES and vulnerability--how it can make us invest in characters even more than boring old likability.

What else makes you care about a character, especially if they're difficult for some reason or other? And what traits do you give your prickly characters to make readers want to stick with them?

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Writing #Vulnerability #Likeability #Characterization #Frankenstein #UnwieldyCreatures

https://bit.ly/unwieldyvuln

I wrote about Addie Tsai's UNWIELDY CREATURES and vulnerability--how it can make us invest in characters even more than boring old likability.

What else makes you care about a character, especially if they're difficult for some reason or other? And what traits do you give your prickly characters to make readers want to stick with them?

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Writing #Vulnerability #Likeability #Characterization #Frankenstein #UnwieldyCreatures

https://bit.ly/unwieldyvuln

I wrote about Addie Tsai's UNWIELDY CREATURES and vulnerability--how it can make us invest in characters even more than boring old likability.

What else makes you care about a character, especially if they're difficult for some reason or other? And what traits do you give your prickly characters to make readers want to stick with them?

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Writing #Vulnerability #Likeability #Characterization #Frankenstein #UnwieldyCreatures

https://bit.ly/unwieldyvuln

I wrote about Addie Tsai's UNWIELDY CREATURES and vulnerability--how it can make us invest in characters even more than boring old likability.

What else makes you care about a character, especially if they're difficult for some reason or other? And what traits do you give your prickly characters to make readers want to stick with them?

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Writing #Vulnerability #Likeability #Characterization #Frankenstein #UnwieldyCreatures

https://bit.ly/unwieldyvuln

I wrote about Addie Tsai's UNWIELDY CREATURES and vulnerability--how it can make us invest in characters even more than boring old likability.

What else makes you care about a character, especially if they're difficult for some reason or other? And what traits do you give your prickly characters to make readers want to stick with them?

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Writing #Vulnerability #Likeability #Characterization #Frankenstein #UnwieldyCreatures

https://bit.ly/unwieldyvuln

I'm thinking about all the ways characters put up a sort of armor to hide their true self & how that armor only makes us feel more intensely that there is vulnerability behind it. It can be so compelling.

Their armor can be toughness or defensiveness or cruelty or politeness or cheerfulness or naïveté or busy-ness or obsession with something that seems unrelated or just a general refusal to hear what is said. What else?

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Characterization #Subtext #Armor

I wrote about a story from Farah Ali's The People Want to Live and the way a simple description can come to life through the layering of seeming contradiction.

#Books #Bookstodon #ReadingLikeAWriter #WritingCommunity #AmWriting #Writing #WritingCraft #FarahAli #ThePeopleWantToLive #Description #Layering #Contradiction #Characterization #TheLoft

https://bit.ly/PeopleLiveAlive

‘Not Related to a Digital Currency’ — US Central Bank Addresses Concerns Over Fednow Payment Network - The U.S. Central Bank has issued an update regarding the Federal Reserve’s Fednow ... - https://news.bitcoin.com/not-related-to-a-digital-currency-us-central-bank-addresses-concerns-over-fednow-payment-network/ #massachusettsinstituteoftechnology #federalreservebankofnewyork #federalreservebankofboston #financialtransactions #financialservices #characterization #digitalcurrency

‘Not Related to a Digital Currency’ — US Central Bank Addresses Concerns Over Fednow Payment Network - The U.S. Central Bank has issued an update regarding the Federal Reserve’s Fednow ... - https://news.bitcoin.com/not-related-to-a-digital-currency-us-central-bank-addresses-concerns-over-fednow-payment-network/ #massachusettsinstituteoftechnology #federalreservebankofnewyork #federalreservebankofboston #financialtransactions #financialservices #characterization #digitalcurrency

‘Not Related to a Digital Currency’ — US Central Bank Addresses Concerns Over Fednow Payment Network - The U.S. Central Bank has issued an update regarding the Federal Reserve’s Fednow ... - https://news.bitcoin.com/not-related-to-a-digital-currency-us-central-bank-addresses-concerns-over-fednow-payment-network/ #massachusettsinstituteoftechnology #federalreservebankofnewyork #federalreservebankofboston #financialtransactions #financialservices #characterization #digitalcurrency

‘Not Related to a Digital Currency’ — US Central Bank Addresses Concerns Over Fednow Payment Network - The U.S. Central Bank has issued an update regarding the Federal Reserve’s Fednow ... - https://news.bitcoin.com/not-related-to-a-digital-currency-us-central-bank-addresses-concerns-over-fednow-payment-network/ #massachusettsinstituteoftechnology #federalreservebankofnewyork #federalreservebankofboston #financialtransactions #financialservices #characterization #digitalcurrency

Jeez. And thinking about competing loyalties. How a character might commit a horrible act but it's done to save someone else.

And I think it's interesting to think about how we sort of rate such things on the scale of evil. Whether harming someone you love is worse than harming a stranger. Whether it's about the body count or the relationships involved or the intentions or a whole variety of considerations.

#WritingCommunity #WritingClass #writing #Characterization #WritingCraft #AmWriting

And you know, when characters are not V-illains, but just regular people who make harmful choices, it's really interesting to think about what sort of value system they have and how/whether they messed up according to that system, especially if it's not the same value system as another character--or the reader. Sometimes moral frameworks clash in ways that are very generative for stories.

#WritingCommunity #WritingClass #writing #Characterization #WritingCraft #AmWriting

And then for purposes of generating a lot of fun writing, I use a REALLY broad definition of evil. It turns into just "does bad things" or "makes bad choices" but that's just not as _catchy_ when I'm trying to get folks to sign up.

#WritingCommunity #WritingClass #writing #Characterization #WritingCraft #AmWriting

One of thing the things we get into in this class (and where it started in my brain) is the concept of empathizing with evil. I like to think about whether we should do that! Why it makes for a fun story, but also what the implications might be.

My working theory is that it's not so much about relating or forgiving, but that we're trying to learn how to keep ourselves from becoming evil.

What do you think?

#WritingCommunity #WritingClass #writing #Characterization #WritingCraft #AmWriting

We're talking about sensibility in my class today--the particular way a character observes the world & how that creates a sense of personality. How looking out is a reflection of the inner workings of a brain.

And I'm thinking about how it's often so iterative for me. I notice my character's sensibility and then I develop it and then I notice new things and develop them.

Do you think about sensibility? Do you build it or notice it?

#WritingCommunity #Sensibility #Characterization #AmWriting

I wrote this blog post about #characterization and the intersection between the #realworld and #fictionalworlds. I’d be glad to hear your thoughts. #bookstodon #fiction #reality #42 #Middlemarch #Tolkien #Deuce #InannaPublications

Characters Are (Not) People by Vivian Zenari - Inanna Publications https://www.inanna.ca/2023/02/15/characters-are-not-people-by-vivian-zenari/

I wrote this blog post about #characterization and the intersection between the #realworld and #fictionalworlds. I’d be glad to hear your thoughts. #bookstodon #fiction #reality #42 #Middlemarch #Tolkien #Deuce #InannaPublications

Characters Are (Not) People by Vivian Zenari - Inanna Publications https://www.inanna.ca/2023/02/15/characters-are-not-people-by-vivian-zenari/