Wednesday links: Diverse casts and multiple characters

I love regularly reading tips and advice articles in certain subjects — particularly writing and publishing. I don’t always need the information right then, but I know that it’ll eventually come in handy. Or at least, I hope it will.

I know there are a lot of other people out there who feel the same way I do, but sometimes it can be difficult to find every useful advice article that’s out there. So I thought I’d bring you a few. Here are the tips and advice articles that jumped out at me the most this week.

Five tips for diversifying your cast, from Laurel’s Leaves: I think I’ve mentioned this before, but a diverse cast of characters is something that I make an effort to think about when I’m writing. That’s why I find posts like this one so interesting. Excerpt: “And you don’t have to look far in our world to see the problems created when various groups misunderstand and mistrust one another. Literature can be a bridge for building cross-cultural understanding and empathy.”
The Math and Music of Multiple Characters, from Writer Unboxed: Some of my favourite characters–in both movies and books–have been secondary or supporting characters. Generally, these are the secondary characters that are developed enough to pique my interest, but not so developed that there’s nothing left to learn about them. This article could help you develop your characters in much the same way, drawing your readers further into your story. Excerpt: “But most stories have more than two characters, which means you’ve also got these other people with their own motives and desires circling around your main characters. How you handle these other characters – how much independence and individuality you give them – can change how much your fictional world feels like real life.”