side characters Archives - Sacha Black

https://books2read.com/sideworkbook

Preorder the workbook here:

Want to order signed copies of Side Characters or digital copies direct from me, then use this link:

JOIN ME FOR LIVE CELEBRATIONS

To help celebrate the launch of 8 Steps to Side Characters, I’m running a series of events.

The first is in my Facebook Group: Rebel Authors

I’ll be hosting a live Q&A on all things side characters, writing craft, marketing, business and publishing TONIGHT. Don’t have those questions? Then ask me about unicorns, book tropes, gin or my coffee habits! Join me for fun and games, a little drinky poos there will be prizes.

When 29th July

Time 8pm BST (5am AEST, 12pm PDT, 3pm EDT)

Got a question for me about side characters, writing, marketing or publishing? Drop me an email and I’ll be sure to answer it.

Those 8 Steps to Side Characters links one more time:

Preorder the textbook here:

https://books2read.com/sideworkbook

Preorder the workbook here:

Want to order signed copies of Side Characters or digital copies direct from me, then use this link:

The post 8 Steps to Side Characters is LIVE! appeared first on Sacha Black.

What You Need to Know About Side Character Arcs

Sacha Black — Wed, 28 Jul 2021 13:05:17 +0000

Welcome to the seventh and final post in my series of mini tips videos and blogs all about side characters. There is just one day left until the launch of 8 Steps to Side Characters. Tomorrow it will be in the hands of readers… mildly terrified! Today’s mini tip is all about the different types of side characters. Specifically, cameos, minor and major side characters. This structure will help you manage your minions going forward no matter how big your cast gets.

The final tip I’m sharing from 8 Steps to Side Characters is all about character arcs. Lots of writers get confused about who needs a character arc—spoiler alert, only your major side characters do. Second, how do you display character arcs when they don’t get as much page time as your protagonist? Easy. You create the illusion of an arc.

The basic requirements for any character arc are:

A character needing or wanting something
Not being able to get said thing
Changing or doing something in order to…
Get the thing!

With major side characters you can show them early on wanting “the thing”, then perhaps have a scene in the middle where they grapple with changing to get the thing, and then a final scene near the end where they either do or don’t get the thing they wanted. Or perhaps they realise they didn’t want it after all. That’s it. It’s enough to create the illusion of depth.

Bonus points go to writers that can make side character arcs interact with and connect to the protagonist’s arc.

If you would like to dive into more detail about side character arcs as well as how to create them effectively, then you can by pre-ordering 8 Steps to Side Characters.

Pre-order the textbook here:

Pre-order the workbook here:

Want to order signed copies of Side Characters, then use this link:

Submit your pre-order proof here to be in with a chance of winning a bundle of goodies and to get a sneak peek look at the first 25 pages: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSe1IYhFhlu9vBSwell2J2tSwtIdxXMEYp-MVF-cvzixeNu22Q/viewform?usp=sf_link

The post What You Need to Know About Side Character Arcs appeared first on Sacha Black.

The Three Types of Side Character

Sacha Black — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 13:05:23 +0000

Welcome to the sixth in my series of mini tips videos and blogs all about side characters. There are just two days left until the launch of 8 Steps to Side Characters. Today’s mini tip is all about the different types of side characters. Specifically, cameos, minor and major side characters. This structure will help you manage your minions going forward no matter how big your cast gets.

Did you know there are three types of side characters? Lots of people use archetypes to describe characters but I don’t think that’s as helpful as breaking down side characters into their impact and importance on the story. The three types are:

Major characters
Minor characters
Cameo characters

Cameo characters are fleeting and brief, they don’t need any depth, they open doors, stand guard etc. Think Stan Lee and his brief appearances in the Marvel movies. They usually have some standard label like “guard” or “girl with the teddy” and they don’t always have dialogue.

Minor characters appear more often, but they still don’t really have an impact on the story or protagonist save for transactional exchanges. Maybe they’re the barman in the pub the protagonist regularly frequents. Think Mr. Filch in the Harry Potter series, or Wheezy from Toy Story 2. They don’t have subplots and they don’t have character arcs.

Major side characters are the big guns of characters. They are likely to have subplots and character arcs, they have an impact on both the protagonist and the story and they probably have a chunk of backstory too. Think Morpheus in the Matrix or Gandalf from LoTR, Four from Divergent or Grandpa Joe in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

If you would like to dive into more detail about the three types of side characters as well as their impact on the story and what you need to do to make them as effective as possible, then you can by pre-ordering 8 Steps to Side Characters.

Pre-order the textbook here:

Pre-order the workbook here:

Want to order signed copies of Side Characters, then use this link:

Preorder 8 Steps to Side Characters TEXTBOOK

The post The Three Types of Side Character appeared first on Sacha Black.

It’s Time to Supercharge Your Side Characters

Sacha Black — Tue, 27 Jul 2021 09:00:09 +0000

This is it, 8 Steps to Side Characters textbook (and workbook) is launching in just 48 hours.

Do your characters fail to bring your story to life? Are they flat, boring or have no depth? Is your story lacking a little cohesion or sparkle?

8 Steps to Side Characters will help. In the book I answer questions like:

How to stop your side characters taking over
What side characters need character arcs and how to create them How to handle a big cast of characters
When and how you should kill a side character for maximum impact How to imbue your side characters with your book’s theme
How to create characters with the illusion of depth

If you haven’t got your copy, you can get one using the links below or order direct from me using the purple link.

Preorder 8 Steps to Side Characters WORKBOOK

Grab copies from Sacha directly

JOIN ME FOR LIVE CELEBRATIONS

To help celebrate the launch of 8 Steps to Side Characters, I’m running a series of events.

The first is in my Facebook Group: Rebel Authors

I’ll be hosting a live Q&A on all things side characters, writing craft, marketing, business and publishing. Don’t have those questions? Then ask me about unicorns, book tropes, gin or my coffee habits! Join me for fun and games, a little drinky poos there will be prizes.

When 29th July

Time 8pm GMT (5am AEST, 12pm PDT, 3pm EDT)

Got a question for me about side characters, writing, marketing or publishing? Drop me an email and I’ll be sure to answer it

***

Your Side Characters and YOU Instagram LIVES!

Starting on the 30th July, I’ll be running a set of instagram lives to help celebrate the launch of 8 Steps to Side Characters. Each night from 30th July at 8pm U.K. time, I’ll be talking to an indie author all about their side characters, how they write them and their tips and tricks to help you write better side characters too. So a huge thank you to all of the lovely authors joining me, including:

Mark Leslie Lefebvre
Dan Willcocks
Crys Cain
Katlyn Duncan
Kristina Stanley
Jeff Adams
Helen Scheuerer
Elaine Bateman
Miranda Bridges

Follow me on Instagram to make sure you don’t miss the lives.

The post It’s Time to Supercharge Your Side Characters appeared first on Sacha Black.

How to Use Humour with Your Side Characters

Sacha Black — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 13:05:54 +0000

Welcome to the fifth in my series of mini tips videos and blogs all about side characters. There are just three days left until the launch of 8 Steps to Side Characters. Today’s mini tip is all about killing your darling. Specifically, the biggest mistake most writers make when trying to kill your side character. Now, you’ll understand how to kill your side characters properly.

One of my favorite parts of writing regardless of whether it’s nonfiction craft books or fictional stories is sprinkling humour in. But lots of writers are afraid of writing humour. I think that’s often because writers look at humour as a whole rather than breaking it down. Everyone has a sense of humour, even Mr. Serious-I-Never-Laugh. Humour is just reflected in different shades. That’s the same for your side characters. One fast way of differentiating your characters from each other is to consider adding a flavor of one the many different types of humour:

Sarcasm
Dry
Pun/Dad jokes
Self-deprecation /empowerment
Toilet humour
Dark humour
Monty Python
Slapstick —although this is very visual and a little harder in fiction
Innuendos

If you’re still afraid even when you break it down into specifics, then try allowing your characters to be sharp rather than funny. Sharp wit, responses and comebacks make for a sprinkling of humour in any story.

If you’d like to learn about how to put humour into your side characters then you can by pre-ordering 8 Steps to Side Characters.

Pre-order the textbook here:

Pre-order the workbook here:

Want to order signed copies of Side Characters, then use this link:

The post How to Use Humour with Your Side Characters appeared first on Sacha Black.

How to Kill Your Side Characters the Right Way

Sacha Black — Sun, 25 Jul 2021 13:05:48 +0000

Welcome to the fourth in my series of mini tips videos and blogs all about side characters. There are just four days left until the launch of 8 Steps to Side Characters. Today’s mini tip is all about killing your darling. Specifically, the biggest mistake most writers make when trying to kill your side character. Now, you’ll understand how to kill your side characters properly.

Need to kill a darling? I often see a basic mistake with side character deaths—and that’s not having a consequence to the death.

The two main types of consequence are:

Emotional
Plot driven

It actually doesn’t matter which consequence you choose, so long as you do choose one. When you kill a side character, the result must do something in your story. Maybe everyone is sad, maybe it motivates characters, maybe it creates a problem because that character was the only one who knew where an important key was that unlocked the room which held the villain killing sword. Doesn’t matter. But a character death should be making something better, making it worse or complicating matters.

Note that the consequence needs to be proportional to the side character’s importance. If they’re a bit part or cameo, the consequence doesn’t need to be big. Perhaps just a one sentence reflection. If, however, they’re a major character then there should be a big reaction and consequence to that death.

If you’d like to learn about when you should and shouldn’t kill your characters, or perhaps the different types of character death, then you can by pre-ordering 8 Steps to Side Characters.

Pre-order the textbook here:

Pre-order the workbook here:

Want to order signed copies of Side Characters, then use this link:

The post How to Kill Your Side Characters the Right Way appeared first on Sacha Black.

How to Stop Your Side Characters from Taking Over Your Story

Sacha Black — Sat, 24 Jul 2021 13:05:03 +0000

Welcome to the third in my series of mini tips videos and blogs all about side characters. There are just five days left until the launch of 8 Steps to Side Characters. Today’s mini tip is all about the concept of “scene power” and how understanding it can help you stop your side characters from taking over your story.

Scene power is the concept of who (or what character) holds the most power in the scene. Think of it like a dinner party. When you walk into the dining room, we as humans know instinctively who holds the power. Usually, that’s the host. They’re the protagonist. Yes, dinner guests can have their moments, telling jokes and stories, providing anecdotes, advice, helping to serve pudding, even asking thought-provoking questions that makes the host reflect. But ultimately, it is the host that decides when to serve the main course, whether they serve ice cream or pie for pudding. The protagonist must always drive the action in every scene even when side characters are contributing. If they don’t, your scene power is wrong.

In 8 Steps to Side Characters, I re-wrote a scene modifying the scene power. As a result it’s a super clunky to read—but that’s the point. I then show you how to fix a scene when the scene power is off. It’s a fantastic exercise and example to demonstrate why scene power is so important and how to stop your side characters taking over.

If you want to learn more about side characters and the concept of scene power as well as how to use it effectively in your stories, then pre-order your copy of 8 Steps to Side Characters today. There’s only 6 days to go until launch…Pre-order today and if you submit your proof, you can get a sneak peek of the first 25 pages of the book before anyone else. AND you’ll also be in with a chance to win a bundle of paperback books and goodies.

Pre-order the textbook here:

Pre-order the workbook here:

Want to order signed copies of Side Characters, then use this link:

The post How to Stop Your Side Characters from Taking Over Your Story appeared first on Sacha Black.

Side Characters and Their “Three Whys”

Sacha Black — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 13:10:21 +0000

Welcome to the second in my series of mini tips videos and blogs all about side characters. There are just six days left until the launch of 8 Steps to Side Characters. Today’s mini tip is all about the “three whys” your side characters need to create characters with depth.

Side characters don’t get the same page time as protagonists to explore their personalities. So you need to create the illusion of character depth. One way to do that is to use the “three whys” method.

Why 1 – why do they exist in relation to the protagonist? In other words, are they pushing or pulling on the protagonist? Are they a help or hindrance?

Why 2 – their personal why. In other words, what is their purpose in life? What do they want outside the protagonist? Are they trying to win something? Maybe they need to come out to their loved ones. Maybe they want a new job. This forms the basis of their subplot which hopefully intersects the protagonist’s.

Why 3 – every scene they appear in there should be a reason for their grand entrance. Are they bringing information? Are they causing a problem? Are they helping to solve the problem? Whatever the reason, they do need to have one for being in the scene, if not, cut them out. They’re wasting your precious real estate.

If you want to learn more about side characters and what the “three whys” are as well as how to use them effectively in your stories, then pre-order your copy of 8 Steps to Side Characters today. There’s only 6 days to go until launch…Pre-order today and if you submit your proof, you can get a sneak peek of the first 25 pages of the book before anyone else. AND you’ll also be in with a chance to win a bundle of paperback books and goodies.

Pre-order the textbook here:

Pre-order the workbook here:

Want to order signed copies of Side Characters, then use this link: