Write Better Characters
“How do I improve characterization? What does that mean?” I hear new writers asking this almost daily.
Many beginner writers struggle with how to improve characterization. In fact, new writers often don’t quite understand exactly what that means or how exactly to write great characters. How does an author write great characters that come alive and feel real for readers? A great character has weaknesses, strengths, and desires. But how do you show that in story?
In this video, I share 5 ways to write better characters and improve your characterization.
? Find all my books, social media, and get new episodes sent to your inbox at https://linktr.ee/AutumnBardot
#writegreatcharacters #characterization #beginnerwriter
Violence in Novels | Literary Violence
Violence! We love it! In many genres, it’s 100% necessary. It can also be symbolic. Or not.
Violence may be:
- thematic
- biblical
- Shakespearean
- allegorical
- transcendent
- metaphoric
- a plot device: ( Most action-adventure movies.)
- symbolic
- gratuitous
In this episode, I discuss violence in novels, how to use it, and the different kinds of literary violence. Because a punch in the nose may be just a punch in the nose…or a whole lot more.
✅ Find The Magic of Symbolism: Enrich Your Story with Hidden Meaning at http://www.autumnbardot.com/books/ ? Find all my books, social media, and get new episodes sent to your inbox at https://linktr.ee/AutumnBardot
#writeaviolentscene #symbolicviolence #violencinnovels
Mountains, Rivers, Deserts, & Cliffs | Literary Symbolism
A steep hill, a raging river, a putrid swamp– topography can reveal character, plot, emotion, conflict, and theme. Discover the power of topography.
Symbols matter. Topography can be more than just the physical setting or location of your novel. It can reveal theme, be a plot device, provide characterization, foreshadow, create conflict, act as an antagonist, and more.
Settings may indicate or foreshadow a character’s:
- moral growth or decay
- emotion
- problems or dilemmas
Geography and topography can also serve as moral, emotional, intellectual, or spiritual indicators. Discover how to amplify characterization, emotions, conflict, plot, foreshadowing, and themes in your novel .
✅ Find The Magic of Symbolism: Enrich Your Story with Hidden Meaning at http://www.autumnbardot.com/books/ ? Find all my books, social media, and get new episodes sent to your inbox at https://linktr.ee/AutumnBardot
#mountainsymbolism #physicalsettingsymbolism #symbolicsettings
9 Tips to Handle a Novel Critique
A novel critique is scary! Really scary! But getting one is important, especially for beginner writers. A good critique can take your novel or book to the next level.
A good critique will explain what you need to improve to make your novel better. There are all sorts of novel critique groups and online critique services. Some writers find trusted, critique partners they use for years. Professional authors can offer valuable advice, tips, and tricks to make your book better.
However, some writing critiques will do you no good because the writer isn’t knowledgable enough or or have a lot of writing and publishing experience.
Writers can get 5 or 10 page critiques at writing conferences by editors and agents. I highly recommend that. Too scary? Don’t be afraid of a novel critique.
In this episode I share why you don’t need to be afraid of a novel or book critique and 9 tips for dealing with the critique process.
? Find all my books, social media, and get new episodes sent to your inbox at https://linktr.ee/AutumnBardot what I’ve learned over the years about critiques.
#critiquegroup #writingcritique #critiquemynovel
Symbolic Architecture | Literary Symbolism
Symbolism in architecture. The ancients understood its symbolic importance. Modern architects will agree. The roof overhead, the window gazed through, the threshold walked across, all these structural features are designed to create an emotion and feeling. Which means architecture and all of its architectural elements can be used symbolically in novels and stories as well.
Architecture can amplify theme, foreshadow, plot, conflict, and characterization beyond the superficial.
Remember, symbolism is never ‘this means that.’ Symbols and their layered meanings act as a diving board into a deep pool of emotional, psychological, spiritual, cultural, and intellectual dynamics that YOU decide how to mold and manipulate. It’s just one more tool for your writing toolbox. Words are magic. Powerful magic. They’re imbued with symbolic meaning, nuance, subtext, connotation, and feelings found deep within our collective consciousness. Discover ways to wave YOUR writing wand.
✅ Find The Magic of Symbolism: Enrich Your Story with Hidden Meaning at https://www.autumnbardot.com/books/
? Find all my books, social media, and get new episodes sent to your inbox at https://linktr.ee/AutumnBardot
#symbolicarchitecture #architectureinliterature #writeagreatnovel
Symbolism Magic ~ Setting
Maximize psychological undertones and overtones in your writing to make a more powerful story!
Words are magic. Powerful magic. Often imbued with symbolic meaning—overtones, undertones, nuance, subtext, connotation, and feelings—deep within our collective consciousness. Meanings we respond to on a visceral level.
If an author writes, “the blood-red velvet drapes concealed the dirt-encrusted window,” the words blood, velvet, concealed, and dirt-encrusted convey more than just descriptive detail.
- Blood has a myriad of connotations.
- Velvet suggests luxury, and/or wealth.
- The word conceal implies something all together different than if the word covered had been used.
- Dirt-encrusted may imply a multiple meanings; slovenliness, or how the author or characters view the world.
The short description is a clue, one providing thematic, foreshadowing, context, plot, and characterization beyond the superficial.
Does this mean you have to write that way? Of course not!
Does that mean you have to read that way? Aw, heck no.
TIP: Never get hung up the “this means that” school of thought. The magic of writing is the way the writer creates an image or feeling.
So first up! The magic of setting!
It’s more than location.
Setting is a powerful tool for creating themes, mood, tone, conflict, and social commentary. Setting may influence, shape, and emphasize a character’s actions and ideas.
Setting can be:
- political ~ actually a lot of writing contains politics, especially those with themes of injustice, prejudice, and war
- time frame ( minutes, hours, days, years, centuries )
- historical ~ my pet peeve is an author who disregards the historical mores of the time
- socio-economic ~ wealthy, poor, middle class. ( Billion romance is BIG right now.)
- cultural ~ agents/editors are always on the lookout for works by under-represented authors telling stories about marginalized peoples
- religious
- dystopian/utopian
- magical
- mythical
- surreal
- constructed/ alternate /parallel/imaginary
- dream ( think Inception)
- virtual ( think Tron )
- psychological
- attitudinal
- industrial
- seasonal
Setting may refer to:
- a physical place
- temperature
- weather
- geography
- landscape/topography
Can all these different types of settings be symbolic? They can, if you want them to be. Or need them to be.
How many settings does your novel have? How important is it to your story, its conflicts, and your characters’s needs?
Dragon Lady has political, socio-economic, historical, cultural, physical, and geographical settings. Her greatest enemies and conflicts stem from the political milieu, poverty, cultural expectations, and the weather. These settings are as important as the characters and are integral to the story of her triumph.
Next week on Symbolism Magic ~ North, East, South, and West
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Note: I’ve taught literary analysis for over 15 years. And nobody died of boredom….yet. I’ve also read and written my fair share of analytical papers about stuff that would bore the pants off anyone who wasn’t a literary professor.
18 Modern Wisdoms Learned From Rewriting Myths
Myths speak to us.
They explain mankind’s struggles, fears, culture, and the natural world–be it the rhythm of the waves or Earth’s rumblings or the phases of the moon. Myths comfort, guide, and inspire. They also advise and caution.
So it was with this understanding of their purpose that I explored the world’s most provocative myths in preparation for writing an erotic retelling.
Writing Legends of Lust was a lot of fun! Reimagining the already sexually charged G-rated myths to Adults Only versions made for some inspired writing and interesting Google searches (but that’s another blog topic). But what I didn’t expect was how the point—the ‘moral’ of the story—of the basic myth itself still emerged loud and clear despite my eroticizing. No amount of sex, smut, or lust could shake its essential wisdoms.
The second unexpected result, however, didn’t really hit me until after writing all the stories.
Anyone can read a myth and understand what the story is trying to teach. But rewriting a myth drives the lesson home in ways I had not anticipated. Compare it to watching a chef cook something on YouTube versus making it yourself and then adding your own spicy seasonings.
In no particular order, the following wisdoms rang loud and clear and helped me rethink and solve my own problems, struggles, and biases.
1. Have patience. Use waiting to make you stronger, more determined, more ready to make your move when you do get a lucky break.
2. Practice perseverance. Get gritty. It builds character. It will make you one tough ( in a good way ) m*****f*****!
3. Hire the best person for the job. And if you can’t…
4. Have a backup plan.
5. Sometimes we love the wrong person at the wrong time but it can still work out…
6. Just maybe not forever.
7. Men—make that all people—are easily seduced by a pretty face and great sex—a no brainer, right? So maybe the better life lesson is, be wary of any person that seems too perfect.
8. Don’t jump to conclusions about a stranger based on appearances and a first meeting.
9. Taking short cuts may be a quick solution to a problem, but in the end may have consequences that require determination, creativity, and courage to resolve.
10. Friends. You need them. Real friends. The kind that will go the distance with you.
11. Listen to your grandma. She’s been around a lot longer than you and knows a thing or two about life.
12. Likewise, listen to your mom. The ‘old ways’ are old for a reason–they work.
13. Don’t chose a mate your mom hates.
14. The best things in life take time, patience, dedication, and a delicate touch to achieve.
15. Sometimes the world isn’t ready to accept the real you, but if you’re lucky one special someone will.
16. The better you are at your job the more likely you get assigned the most difficult projects…
17. Which often results in you learning something about yourself.
And of course….
18. Don’t piss off the gods or Fates, or mess with karma, or whatever you believe.
Are these mind-blowing truths? Nah, you’ve heard them all before, but it’s always good to be reminded.
I just retell and reimagine them in a romantic, naughty, and provocative way.
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Take an erotic romp through mythology with these romantic and naughty tales of love and lust. Available everywhere.
Autumn Bardot writes smart, sexy erotica and historical fiction about sassy women, spicy sex, and daring romances!
When Autumn’s not writing or working, you’ll find her hanging out with her very large family, spoiled husband, and pampered rescue malti poo.
Her favorite things include salty French fries, a good foamy cup of coffee, chocolate, and the beach. And a great book, of course!
Hot & Cold
Maximize the power of temperature to craft a more powerful story.
Turn the temperature up for fiery anger or sizzling passion. Turn it down for icy moods, frosty dialog, or chilling foreshadowing.
Temperature can:
- reveal mood
- reveal a character’s emotion
- be a plot device
- reveal a character’s personality
- be thematic
- be a setting
Not convinced?
The Great Gatsby is loaded with heat. Tom is a hot head ( personality trait). Gatsby is hot for Daisy ( desire/intent). Tom is hot for Myrtle (personality trait) and hot with anger (emotion) when he discovers Daisy’s infidelity. Myrtle is hot ( desire/intent) to be wealthy. Gatsby made all his money on hot goods (plot). Myrtle’s husband is hot ( emotion) to murder his wife’s killer. It’s a hot summer day (setting). The rising temperature mirrors the rising anger and lust of the characters. The heat is an excuse for the characters to leave East Egg ( plot ) and go into the city where conflict blazes! (mood)
Hot Synonyms
Warm, summery, tropical, broiling, boiling, searing, blistering, sweltering, torrid, sultry, humid, muggy, roasting, baking, scorching, scalding, searing, heated, red-hot, steamy
Heat can refer to:
- anger
- sexuality/lust/passion
- personality ( a warm personality)
- problems/difficulties
- law/police
- eagerness/fervor
Cold may refer to
- personality
- lack of emotion
- remoteness
- probability–It will be a cold day in hell when I forgive you.
- austerity
Cold Synonyms
chilly, chill, cool, freezing, icy, nippy, wintry, frosty, frigid, bitter, biting raw, bone-chilling, arctic, frozen, numb, shivery
Where can you add heat/cold to turn up/down your story’s emotional temperature?
I love questions! Leave a comment here, tweet me at @AutumnBardot ( where you’ll get the quickest response), or hit me up on Goodreads! I’ve been teaching college-level literary analysis for 14 years, and enjoy helping new writers understand and incorporate all the tricks and techniques of the trade.
Color symbolism
You’ve all seen the meme that slams English teachers and literary analysis.
Student: The green drapes symbolize….blah blah blah.
Writer: I just wanted green drapes.
Not every descriptor an author uses is symbolic. Often color only provides imagery—giving color to the scene, if you will.
But sometimes color is important and relevant. Color can convey emotion, characterization, and cultural/religious/political significance that provides nuance, subtest, and emotions that we respond to on an instinctive and visceral level.
Color is linked to a spectrum of emotions, and is fraught with ambiguity and duality, making it a vibrant way to:
1. foreshadow
2. reveal character
3. provide contextual depth
4. provide irony
Warm colors like yellow, red, and orange are considered stimulating.
Cool colors like blue, indigo, violet are soothing and peaceful.
Remember, Western and Eastern color symbolism is different.
Red suggests
- passion and lust
- anger and aggression
- war and revolution
- fire and flame
Yellow is
- sun
- gold (the metal )
- enlightenment and wisdom
- flowers and warmth
- cowardliness
- envy and treachery
Orange is
- luxury and splendor
- a renunciation of earthly pleasures—think Buddhist monks garb
Blue is
- sky and infinity
- the divine—the Egyptian god Amun and Hindu gods, Rama, Shive, and Krishna are blue
- tranquility and reflection
- intellect
- depression
- sexual proclivities. Example, blue movies
- socio-economic status—from blue-collar to blue blood
- In ancient Egypt, blue was the color of truth.
- The Virgin Mary’s blue robe signifies her purity
- Indigo is the color of the Third Eye of spiritual knowing and intuition
Green is
- spring and new life
- fertility and nature
- youth and inexperience
- hope and joy
- envy and jealousy and decay
- recently connected with safeguarding our planet’s resources promoted by the Green Movement
Purple/Violet is
- royalty and wealth
- luxury
- power—ancient Roman senators were identified by the purple stripe on their togas
- religion—Catholic clergy don purple vestments during Advent and Lent
Pink
- femininity
- baby girls
- gay pride
Black
- evil
- darkness
- despair and death and mourning
- mortality
- secrecy
- ill-fortune
- disease
Gray
- gloom
- anonymity or inconspicuousness or namelessness
- old age
- uncertainty and unreliability and risk
White
- purity and innocence
- goodness
- holiness
- In China, Japan, and India, white is associated with death and mourning.
- surrender and peace
How can you use color to strengthen plot, characterization, and conflict?
Does your character wear a red dress? What shade of red? Red—beyond the western symbolism of lust, power, and anger—doesn’t really tell a reader all that much—which is fine if that’s your intent.
But if you do want to add a symbolic punch here’s a few examples.
- A rose-colored dress conveys ladylikeness or love
- A cherry-red dress is suggestive of sexual prowess or desire, or…ahem…a woman wishing to be deflowered
- An apple-red dress suggests something forbidden or idyllic
- A blood-red dress…well, when you mix two symbolic words that can be a punch in the symbolic face!
- A woman with ruby lips is sultry and/or high maintenance
- A woman with candy-apple lips sounds like a damn good fun time
Consider how a fabric described as bone evokes a much different emotion than one described as snow.
Consider the following before using color symbolism
- Genre: Sweet romance novels might use more romantic colors. For example, caramel—sweet and gooey, like love—instead of light brown. Historical fiction authors need to be mindful of using colors that didn’t exist. A lipstick-red dress won’t work if there was no lipstick back then. You’re better off using a descriptor like ruby, pomegranate, beet—colors aligned with the historical setting.
- Revealing character: Is your character a murderer? They might see their world in shades of viscera. A gardener or florist may see their world in the colors of blooms and flora. A chef or a woman on a diet might describe the world in shades of food.
- Jewel tones convey preciousness, worth, royalty, or rarity.
- There are city colors, desert colors, forest, and harvest colors. There are youthful and ‘old’ colors, fun colors, mysterious colors, clean colors, and dirty colors, evil and good colors.
So before writing the green drapes pause to consider why YOU wrote that color.
I love questions! Leave a comment here, tweet me at @AutumnBardot ( where you’ll get the quickest response), or hit me up on Goodreads! I’ve been teaching college-level literary analysis for 14 years, and enjoy helping new writers understand and incorporate all the tricks and techniques of the trade.
Symbolic Architecture
The roof overhead.
The window your main character gazes through.
The threshold walked across.
The door opened. Or slammed shut.
Structural features may be used symbolically to (1) foreshadow, (2) reveal character, (3) provide conflict, (4) a amplify conflict, and ( 5) propel plot.
Many of architectural elements mentioned below are universal symbols.
Window
- lets in the light of knowledge/understanding….or not ( which would be irony )
- allows character to view the outside world–which may or may not be a good thing.
Some things to consider.
- Are the windows dirty or clean? Does the character have a clear view of the outside world or is theirs a distorted ‘grimy’ view of the world and its people?
- Are the windows covered with drapes so the characters don’t have to look out?Are the blinds closed against the outside world or open to all the world’s good and bad?
- Are the windows made of stained glass? If they contain religious iconography the characters might see the world through the dogma of their religion.
- Is the window stuck open? That might suggest the outside world can enter the character’s space at will? Or is the window stuck closed suggesting elements ( people, culture, etc) are shutting out the character?
Door
- divide between good and evil
- transition from one stage of life to another
- divide between one world and another
- Locked doors suggest secrets and forbidden places/worlds/experience
Consider the door itself. Is it old,carved, made of gold, glass, steel, iron-barred, painted red, padlocked, chained, burned, narrow, tall, wide, heavy, hollow, odd-shaped, revolving? What does the door knob or the knocker look like?
Archway
- often a divine or religious entrance into another state of being/consciousness/awareness/self-actualization/spirituality
- rebirth
- metaphysical time-space threshold
Once again, consider the construction of the doorway? Is it ancient or new? Do flowers twine around it? Is it alien technology? Ancient alien technology? is it unstable, ready to collapse ( suggesting once you go through you cannot come back) ?
Wall
- strength
- division or barrier
- privacy
Yep, you know it… is the wall flimsy, strong? Made of rock? Have a hole in it? Or a peep hole? Have a window? Covered in wallpaper? Hiding a dead body inside?
Floor
- earthy realm
- being grounded in reality
- flooring type may be symbolic. Is it marble ( wealth ) or rustic wood ( humility )?
Roof
- shelter
- keeps evil out
- shape of the roof may be suggestive
- Domed roofs are emblematic of heaven
- Low roofs suggest restriction or being hemmed in by societal conventions or religious/political/cultural etc dogmas
- Vaulting roofs may be metaphor for high-mindedness or lofty ideals
Hallway
- transitional space
- location before deciding which symbolic door you will enter
Don’t neglect to describe the hallway. Is it bright, dark, smoke-filled, narrow, wide, opulent?
Stair
- steps toward or away from morality, enlightenment
- winding staircases suggest mystery–one can’t see straight ahead
Are the steps narrow, well-worn, slippery, broken, crumbled, threadbare, marble, or Persian rug-covered?
Kitchen
- traditional domain of women
- maternal care taking, be it with food, spiritual, or motherly nourishment
- best place to get your hands on a knife
You guessed, if it’s relevant to the story describe the kitchen. Modern, grandma-esque, never-been-cooked-in? Spanking clean or crumb-covered?
Living room/Drawing room
- room where proper social behavior was expected
- location of one’s public persona
You get it now! If it’s relevant to the plot or helps in characterization, don’t forget to describe the living room. Modern? Lots of antiques? Messy, neat? Tons of knickknacks? Minimalistic? Dark or light? Dusty, flowery?
Bedroom
- love
- lust
- private room where one’s true self appears
Yowza! This might be a deep characterization goldmine.
Library
- synonymous with learning, knowledge, and education
- place of ancient wisdom or secrets
Attic
- repository of tucked away memories and secrets
- place of half-remembered or forgotten truths
- storage for relics of the family’s or ancestor’s past
Basement
- deepest darkest secrets
- underworld or lower realms
- creepy or base desires
I love questions! Leave a comment here, tweet me at @AutumnBardot ( where you’ll get the quickest response), or hit me up on Goodreads! I’ve been teaching college-level literary analysis for 14 years, and enjoy helping new writers understand and incorporate all the tricks and techniques of the trade.