P1100135 Creating believable secondary characters

Jess Nevins, Carol Berg and Julie Kenner on "Creating believable secondary characters" panel.

A tip: "character bibles" where you list your character's every trait might be counterproductive, Carol Berg pointed out. You don't need to decide in advance that your character has a dysfunctional sister, blue eyes, or likes cereal. The downside of such lists is that when you are trying to make your character do something, you have to run through the list of to see if his actions are consistent with his characteristics. Instead, Carol Berg uncovers background characteristics as she writes her character. Why is he so protective of children? Maybe because of something in his childhood.

Julie Kenner adds that characteristics are not the same as characterization.

My blog posts on ArmadilloCon 2010:

Writers' workshop, and sandwiches that cost their weight in gold.

Nancy Kress toastmaster speech: secret deal between Google and SFWA

What you should have read this year -- a list of recent science fiction and fantasy books recommended by our knowledgeable panelists..

Religion in worldbuilding -- why is it hard to add religion to your science fiction or fantasy novel without it looking like a caricature?

Time travel meanders

Ilona and Gordon Andrews' special guest interview -- when a non-native English speaker becomes a published author in the US, there has to be an interesting story in there.

Or see all my blog posts from ArmadilloCon 31 (2010) in one page.