Viviana Enchantress of Books: Blog Tour Guest Post: Persistence of Vision by Liesel Hill

I'm happy to be hosting author Liesel Hill!

Welcome!

4 Tips for Writing Great Characters

My debut novel, Persistence of Vision, has not just one or two but an ensemble of characters. Not all of them are fully fleshed out in book 1, but they will be before the end of the series.

So, what’s the secret to writing great characters? In truth, I don’t think there is one. There are some things I think all great characters need, but it is usually a happy accident of combinations that result in great characters. Some are simple, some complex. Some downright unforgettable. But at least if you include enough things to make the character well-rounded, he or she won’t come off as flat.

1) Any character you want your readers to care about may be passionate about something. Whatever their object of desire in the story is, make sure they’re passionate about obtaining it. The more passionate they are, the more your readers will connect with them.

2) A character should be biased about something. I would even say deeply biased. That bias will cause passionate emotions, as well as making them flawed, both of which your readers will latch onto.

3) A character you want your readers to love should be basically good. A character that’s totally evil or annoying will turn readers off. And I know, I know. What about anti-heroes? Even a great anti-hero should be less evil than your villain. There should be something compelling about him your readers can latch onto.

4) So what about the actual writing? How do you show great characters? How do you flesh them out and differentiate them from one another? I’ve found one of the best ways is to define reactions for them. How do they show fear? How do they show excitement or happiness? Figure out how they show any given emotion and stick to it. Readers will come to expect it and they’ll feel like they “know” the character.

That’s how characters come alive on the page, and soon seem like old friends. It’s those characters that are deeply loved and unforgettable.

Persistence of Vision

(Interchron Series, Bk #1)

By Liesel K. Hill

Synopsis:

In a world where collective hives are enslaving the population and individuals have been hunted to the verge of extinction, Maggie Harper, and independent 21st Century woman, must find the strength to preserve the freedom of the future, but without the aid of her memories.

After experiencing a traumatic time loss, Maggie is plagued by a barrage of images she can't explain. When she's attacked by a creep with a spider's web tattoo, she is saved by Marcus, a man she's never met, but somehow remembers. He tells her that both he and her creepy attacker are from a future in which individuals are being murdered by collectives, and Marcus is part of the rebellion. The collectives have acquired time travel and they plan to enslave the human race throughout all of history. The flashes Maggie has been seeing are echoes of lost memories, and the information buried deep within them is instrumental in defeating the collective hives.

In order to preserve the individuality of mankind, Maggie must try to re-discover stolen memories, re-kindle friendships she has no recollection of, and wade through her feelings for the mysterious Marcus, all while dodging the tattooed assassins the collectives keep sending her way.

If Maggie can't fill the holes in her memory and find the answers to stop the collectives, the world both in her time and in all ages past and future will be doomed to enslavement in the grey, mediocre collectives. As the danger swirls around her and the collectives close in, Maggie realizes she must make a choice: stand out or fade away...

*New Adult futuristic dystopian fantasy

About the Author

Liesel K. Hill graduated from Weber State University with a degree in Creative Writing. She writes across three genres: scifi/fantasy, historical fiction, and crime drama. She comes from a close-knit family of fourteen and has very traditional views and values. She loves story-telling in all its forms, playing with her nieces and nephews, talking movies with her siblings, and any recipe with ‘dark’ and ‘chocolate’ in the title.