Character Counts: Creating Memorable Figures for Short Stories

'No one should leave my short story book without its stories' characters lingering in their minds.' was one of my thoughts when I wrote 'A Pebble Unlistened'. I never struggled for the plots of those stories; they were all well framed and ready to be penned. But a story is not just the plot. The characters of the stories and their expressions play an important role in the unfolding of the story.

To that end, the stories all had a protagonist, supported by another character, so that the stories weave as interactions between those two characters. There were no social dramas involving multiple characters at the same time, well, not directly! It gave me the energy and momentum to press forward with the interactions and got the storytelling moving and stay focused on the story line.

When I focused on one or two characters, it became easy for me to make them as memorable characters, since I could focus on the attributes, behavior, and actions of those characters. There were some stories which were emotionally charged, like the story about arranged marriage, and then there were stories that were a bit action-packed, like the one on corporate politics and crime. In all of those, I had the pleasure to describe those characters well. I am sure you would enjoy reading about those characters too!

'A Pebble Unlistened' is available in Amazon, and it's in Kindle Unlimited too. I would be delighted if you read the book and leave a review in Amazon!

Warm Regards,

Author Venkat Ramakrishnan.