As a Canadian writer, I often find myself in a unique position. As a child in a commonwealth nation, I grew up learning the British spellings of words, the metric system, and with the Queen on my coins. But with the USA as a bordering neighbour (neighbor), and most TV and film media coming from the States, their influence on Canada is undeniable.
The characters we create don’t come into being on the first page of the manuscript, they need backstories full of brokenness, just like us. The emotional events in a character’s past will determine the decisions she makes, how she acts, and the lies she tells herself.
Every story can benefit from some type of humour. Humour engages your readers, makes characters relatable, and imitates real life.
In fiction, capturing internal conflict is key to creating vibrant and believable characters.
If you belong to a writer’s group or know other writers, odds are that they will ask you to give feedback.
