Good novelists create characters who are complex. unique, and have relatable human needs and feelings. Joyce Carol Oates is one of our best contemporary novelists, and has created a host of memorable ...

What Are Character Traits? Character traits can be defined as the set of elements that come together to make a single character.

It’s as true of fiction as it is of life: everyone’s the hero of their own story. No one sees themselves as “minor.” ...

In the pulsating world of thriller fiction, pacing is the silent conductor, orchestrating a symphony of tension and release that keeps readers perched on the edge of their seats. It’s the art of ...

As I write this, it is essay-writing season in many colleges and universities. For my own courses, I just graded 52 research papers. This week, I will receive 25 additional essays to grade. It will ...

This article appears in the December 2022 print edition with the headline “Where My Characters Come From.” It is excerpted from Novelist as a Vocation, translated by Philip Gabriel and Ted ...