Friendships in fiction should be multifaceted, just like they are in real life. They can be loyal yet complicated, nurturing yet competitive, comforting yet confrontational. And when they’re written well, these relationships elevate your characters, deepen your plot, and move your readers. Let’s talk about how to write friendships that feel real, raw, and unforgettable.

This week’s Tony Tips Tuesdays™ dives into the nuanced art of writing characters who protect others but not themselves—and why they leave such an indelible impact on readers.

This isn’t about romance alone (though it often is). It’s about belonging. About safety. About seeing and being seen. When a character finds that safe space in someone else, we as readers feel it. We crave it. And we remember it. Let’s explore how to write characters who find home—not in a house or city—but in another soul.

A strong female character is not strong because she’s emotionless or flawless or invincible. She’s strong because she’s real. Because she has agency. Because she struggles, grows, leads, fails, and fights to define herself in a world that often wants to do it for her.