The Editing Podcast

Fiction lingo: 5 character roles and their purpose


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Find out about 5 core character roles within a novel, and how the purpose they serve ensures the story stays focused.

Listen to find out more about:

  • 5 key character roles in fiction
  • The character role hierarchy
  • Why protagonists aren't always heroes
  • Why antagonists aren't always villains
  • Why even minor characters should have a function
  • How understanding the hierarchy helps authors and editors give appropriate head-space to the appropriate characters

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Denise and Louise
  • Denise Cowle: denisecowleeditorial.com
  • Louise Harnby: harnby.co/fiction-editing

Music credit

'Vivacity’ by Kevin MacLeod

  • Link: https://filmmusic.io/song/4593-vivacity
  • Licence: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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The Editing PodcastBy Louise Harnby (fiction editor) and Denise Cowle (non-fiction editor)

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