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Character Details to Hide from Your Readers

Hiding information from your readers on purpose will help you create tension in your novel. I know this doesn’t work for every novel, but if you’re writing something with elements of suspense and mystery, hiding details and revealing them later will improve your story. This also helps add dimensions to your characters and explore their motivations on a deeper level.

Here are a few things to hide about your characters to create tension:

Whether or not your protagonist is lying

Even good characters lie, especially if they feel like it will protect other people in the long run. There are ways to hint that your character is hiding the truth without actually revealing what the truth is. If your protagonist gets nervous or changes the subject when they’re asked about a specific detail, this will help show your readers that something isn’t quite right. If your character’s deception is hidden and then revealed at the right time, you’ll be able to add exciting tension and shock value to your story.

Who the real villain is

Some of the best tension is created when we’re uncertain about who the real villain is. In mystery/crime novels, for example, there’s often evidence that points to one person who ends up not really being the one we need to worry about. If you hide this information from your readers, you keep them guessing throughout the course of your novel and this will aid in creating suspense.

The truth about their past

When you hide your character’s past from your readers, you have the ability to use it as an explanation for something important later on. For example, if you character has these mysterious powers they can’t explain, you can use their parents and back story in order to reveal later on why it’s happening. Revealing past details slowly over the course of your novel helps build the mystery.

What their secondary goals are

Sometimes characters will have goals no one else knows about but them OR they will have a false goal that their using to cover up their real goal. For example, a character might say they’re rescuing another character because they want to help, but it really might be all about finding some hidden treasure along the way. There are many reasons why a character might want to hide their goals. Explore character motivations on a deeper level and you’ll be able to realistically include this type of deception in your story.

-Kris Noel 

Slbp Wallpapers (fanmade)

Thank you for all the support guys!!

Three Great Unifiers

Please reblog only. Enjoy!

Brave Heart

Fandom: Samurai Love Ballad: PARTY

Pairing: Hideyoshi/MC, Kojuro/MC (broken relationship)

Summary: Hideyoshi is curious about his newest retainer’s wife. The one who traveled alone across lands to be with him. He realizes, over time, that his curiosity might be turning into something else, something familiar.

Words: 2198

Tags: broken marriage, angst (?)

A/N: This is something I started after having finished Kojuro’s Act 2 and hence, has spoilers for his Act 2. Originally planned as a smut/angst fic, it now lies incomplete and rots within my WIPs.

Putting this out here because of Mitsunari’s Act 2 now. I wanted to write something for Hideyoshi, dark cape Lord of my heart. Someday, I’ll finish this… I think.

Might take it down later when I’ve stopped sobbing over Mitsunari’s Act 2.

Unedited as well, so please excuse the errors.

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Hideyoshi had no other word for her except that she was a hindrance. An anomaly he hadn’t predicted; couldn’t have predicted. She was a mere chink within his Kojuro’s perfect armour, albeit a small one but a defect nonetheless.

Kojuro’s frosty denial of a relationship between them had been enough to confirm his suspicions. She was important to him, perhaps in the very capacity she had so confidently declared when she had first met him; the conjugal bond between them, however, swiftly betrayed as soon as the news had reached her said husband’s ears.

Hideyoshi couldn’t exactly pinpoint what exactly it was about her that had caught his gaze - more than anything had in a long while.

It hadn’t been blatant interest but rather, a flickering curiosity that had taken him, as he had looked down upon her kneeling form, her quivering lips pressed into a firm line as she had lifted her head to meet his eyes.

It had been a look lacking of any remorse or fear that had taken her features as she had gazed at him. It was not the way enemies looked upon him with defiance in every line of their bodies, but with a quiet sort of strength that refused to be moulded, pierced through him as he stared into her quivering eyes.

She hadn’t shed a single tear as might have been expected of another samurai’s noble wife; back straight with no hesitance in her, even as he had requested of her – no, she had known it was a command, even delivered with his usual easy smile – to serve him as his page.

It had been a split second decision on his part, and that was an unusual thing for Hideyoshi, to not tread carefully wherever was possible.

He would later convince himself into believing he had acted as such in order to prevent Kojuro and his wife from being together, lest she take away more of him with her.

Keep reading

Your Character: A Masterlist of CC Guides

Character creation and development:

Character creation questionnaire

Character foils

Core values

Core values 2

Creating a character from scratch

How eating an orange reveals character

Fears, weaknesses, and pet peeves

Flaws

Flaws and Vices (list)

Inventory

Nicknames

Outline for a distinct character

Personal effects

7 Key Traits of Enduring Characters

What does your character know?

Your character as a paradox

Your character’s closet

Dealing with large character casts

Types of Character:

Creating a likable villain

Strong Female Characters

Supporting characters

Throwaway characters

Mary Sue / Gary Stu

Loner Characters

Character Arc:

Building a character arc

Series Characters

Steps of change

Swoons and wounds

Character dialogue:

How your character asks for help

Character-specific dialogue

Cursing

Speech patterns

What we say vs. what we mean

Who has control

Relationships:

Power imbalances

Pacing your romance

How to avoid unintentional romantic subtext

On the page:

Creating a strong first impression

An exaggerated first impression

Characterization through appearance

Description

Showing emotion

Staging

Thank God I have (insert character here)

Torturing your Character (and reader)

~♥~~♥~

i found this amazing artist on pixiv and i thought i might share because they make incredible SLBP fanart!

I have never seen any of their work on tumblr, i’m not gonna post any in case they didn’t give permission, but go take a look it’s really worth it !!

Reblog because I must

Could you please give me something like a list of things that need to be determined about a character, more than just age, height, gender and things like that, please i need like a list of as many as possible 💕💕💕 your blog is a miracle

I will try my best. This is a list I usually try to conform to (but I have it stored in my head, rather than as a physical list, so apologies if it doesn’t make much sense…!):

Character motivation. What are they doing? Why are they doing it?

Backstory. What happened before their debut in the story?

Greatest fear. Speaks for itself; what do they fear most?

Relationships with other characters. Who do they like? Who do they not like? Who opposes them? Who helps them? Who are they related to (by blood, or circumstance)?

Main personality traits. Positive ones, and negative ones.

Moral limits. What will they absolutely not do? What would they consider doing to meet their goal?

Attitudes/Opinions. What are the main issues in your story’s world, and what is this character’s opinion on it? How do they behave towards other characters, based on their opinions of them? Who or what do they consider to be below them? What behaviours do they choose to do or not do, which gives them a sense of importance/self-esteem (i.e. being tee-total, going to church every Sunday w/o fail, always adopting pets, rather than buying them, etc)?

Abilities. Either magical, or non-magical depending on your setting. What are they best at? What are they not so good at?

Speaking skills/conventions. How do they sound when they speak? What is their vocabulary like? How do they manage/behave in everyday conversations?

Education. According to your world’s standards, how educated is the character?

Family. How were they brought up? What was their family situation like?

Friendships. Which friendships do they value the most? How many friends do they have? How easily can they make friends?

Sexual/romantic relationships. How many relationships has the character committed to? Can they commit to relationships? How do they behave when in a relationship? How do they feel about other people’s relationships?

Work. What do they think about work? What kind of work would they like to do? What kind of work are they doing? If the character is a student, then consider their work ethic, their favourite subjects, etc.

Sense of self. What is your character’s self-image like? How do they feel about themselves? What do they think about themselves in relation to other people (i.e. how do they compare themselves to somebody else?).

Health. Speaks for itself; what is this character’s health like? In the past, in the present, and in the future?

Housekeeping. How do they live, in an everyday setting? Are they tidy, or messy? What things do they consider to be necessary to a daily routine, and what things do they consistently forget about/deem to be unimportant?

Politics. How they view society, and what should be done in a ‘civil’ society. What they think of their world’s politics. How they might ‘class’ themselves.

Religion. Their views on life, death, and creation. Their understanding of their ‘purpose’, or their beliefs in how everything came to be.

Tastes. In fashion, food, and anything else you might think of.

I hope this helps, Anon! Maybe some of our followers might reblog this and add extra things, or you might think of extra things you can add yourself. Feel free to do so, if this is the case!

- enlee

This, when Mitsunari joins the fray...

“Don’t poke my cheeks. The seeds will spill.”

Giant Lord Squeak Ieyasu is not amused 😆

(tried manga style)

"...FRAME THEM FOR MURDER..." thats good.

Anyway I made an otome love interest generator. 

If you like it, reblog with your results in the tags! I got: