My name is Jason Black, and I’m a freelance book editor. I’ll edit anything, or even help you write it, but I specialize in editing book-length fiction. That is, novels. There’s a particular excitement that comes from getting a sneak-peek at an unpublished manuscript, and a quiet joy that comes from helping the author turn that manuscript into something more likely to become a published novel.

You’ve probably heard that cynical old adage “those who can’t do, teach.” I’m not a believer in that, so I write novels, too. The best way to understand how fiction works, frankly, is to create some. My novels tend to be more character-driven than plot-driven. Someday I may try to write a Clancy-esque spy thriller, but for the most part I’m interested in creating characters the reader can root for.

In writing, I’ve come to learn that practically everything in a novel—nearly every single word—either contributes to or detracts from the portrayal of the characters in it. In editing, I’ve found that many if not most aspiring authors haven’t learned this lesson. They are writing from a perspective of plot, without stopping to consider how their choices affect the portrayal of their characters.

It can lead to some amazing blunders.

Now, there are roughly a zillion writing blogs out there already. Those other bloggers will help you with active vs. passive voice, or deciding on whether first-person or third-person is best for your story, or arguing over whether “said” is the only truly useful dialogue tag.

I’m not particularly interested in covering that same ground, which leads me to answering the question posed in the title of this post: what’s this blog about? What I have to contribute that you won’t find elsewhere is my perspective on character development. Read the other blogs for general advice on improving your writing. Read this blog for insight into creating and sustaining characters that people will want to read about in the first place.

Thus, I will be blogging about all things character. My goal is to write at least one article per week on the dos and the don’ts of portraying believable, multi-dimensional, sympathetic characters (and unsympathetic antagonists) in fiction. I will probably wander from time to time into the real-life world of what it’s like to work as a freelance editor, but the bulk of this blog should be about helping writers better “Show Some Character” in their writing.

I hope you’ll stay tuned!