ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at ways of discovering characters, and also how to portray them in fiction. A powerful way of identifying with a character is to start with the body. Conflict is at the heart of stories and comes from within characters and not just between them. All people have desires, traits and inclinations which are at war with each other. Writing can be a deeply compassionate act. In recent times, there has been an important discussion about who has the right to tell fictional stories about certain experiences. Small failures are part of the writing life. For both beginners and more experienced writers, it can be hard to give ourselves over to dialogue. Contemporary writers tend to avoid authorial interpretation, especially in short fiction, which is often told from the perspective of a character within the story.
