Writing Characters Who'll Keep Readers Captivated: Nail Your Novel 2 - Nail Your Novel 2
Formats: E-Book, Audio, Paperback
How do you create characters who keep readers hooked? How do you write the opposite sex? Teenagers? Believable relationships? Historical characters? Enigmatic characters? Plausible antagonists and chilling villains? How do you understand a character whose life is totally unlike your own? How do you write characters for dystopias? How do you make dialogue sing? When can you let the reader intuit what the characters are feeling and when should you spell it out?
Roz Morris is a bestselling ghostwriter and book doctor, and a literary author in her own right. She teaches creative writing masterclasses for The Guardian newspaper in London. Her fiction for high-profile authors has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide. She has mined 20 years' worth of writing, editing and critiquing experience to create this book. It contains all the pitfalls and sticky points for writers, laid out as a set of discussions that are easy to dip into. And it wouldn't be a Nail Your Novel book without a good dose of games, exercises and questionnaires to help you populate a novel from scratch.
Whether you write a straightforward story-based genre or literary fiction, this book will show you how to create people who enthrall readers - and make you want to tell stories.
Reviews
'Really meaty advice. Am not usually a fan of character questionnaires but the questionnaires in this book ask the kind of searching questions that really help you get to know your character. Packed with interesting advice and suggestions.' M Louise Kelly 'Learning from masterworks such as Fahrenheit 451, Jane Eyre, Lolita, and the more recently celebrated Twilight and Hunger Games series, you'll be shown how to craft powerful protagonists, vivid villains and memorable minor characters. It covers all the essentials, such as viewpoint, narrative voice, catalyst characters (think James Bond, Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Who) and those trouble-makers: antagonists. Morris's colloquial style frees the writer from being tangled up in technicalities.' Trevor Veale 'Roz Morris follows up her bravura Nail Your Novel with this insightful guide into crafting memorable characters. She walks authors through the basics of protagonists, antagonists, and supporting characters. She touches on dialogue, showing vs. telling, motive and conflict, and character relationships. My favorite sections were those on the ever-popular "character interview/questionnaire" (in which Morris offers some unique suggestions for probing the character's mind) and the appendix (in which she addresses the "Top 10 Novice Mistakes With Characters). This is a great foundational tool for any writer wanting to deepen his presentation of character.' KM Weiland, tutor at Writer's Digest
