Dynamic Characters

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 272 pages
• Published by: Writers Digest Books June 15, 2004
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 1582973199
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-1582973197
• Book Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Weighs: 12 ounces

Product Description
In this guide, award-winning author Nancy Kress explores the crucial relationship between characterization and plot, illustrating how vibrant, well-constructed characters act as the driving force behind an exceptional story.

In teaching writers the basics of creating characters that will keep their readers spellbound, Kress utilizes:

* Dozens of excerpts from well-known fiction

* Enlightening exercises to help writers build strong characters starting from the outside-in

* Beginning chapters that focus on the physical elements that comprise a character, providing techniques for using external qualities to reflect personality

Building skill upon skill, writers blend these qualities with emotional and mental characterization, forming multidimensional characters that initiate exciting action, react to tense situations and power the plot from beginning to end.

About The Author
Nancy Kress is the author of a number of books of fiction, including Beggars in Spain, which won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards. She is also the author of Writer's Digest's Beginnings, Middles & Ends. Nancy lives in Silver Springs, Maryland.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Dynamic Characters: How to Create Personalities That Keep Readers Captivated (Hardcover) Nancy Kress is the author of over a dozen books of fiction, including Beggars in Spain, which won both the Hugo and Nebula awards. She is the fiction columnist for Writer's Digest (WD) magazine, and her short fiction frequently appears in Omni magazine. She also teaches fiction-writing classes for universities and writing conferences. I've been a fan of Kress's fiction column in WD for a long time now, and this book is an extended version of her clear, enlightening advice. The topics covered in Dynamic Characters include: (1) the definition and purpose of characters; (2) naming characters; (3) the influence of setting on characterization; (4) how dialogue reveals characters; (5) choosing telling details to describe characters; (6) basing characters on real people; (7) internal dialogue; (8) dreams; (9) villains; (10) unsympathetic protagonists; (11) how plot affects characterization; (12) secondary characters; (13) conflict leading to violence; (14) growth and transformation in characters; (15) basing plot on real-life events; (16) connections between characters, plot and theme; (17) biographical questionnaire for characters. All of these topics are thoroughly covered in a clear, helpful manner. My favorite section of the book is the 14-page character biography form Kress calls an "Intelligence Dossier." I transcribed its questions into my computer and use it regularly to help me flesh out my characters when I am in the backstory phase. I highly recommend this book not only to brand new fiction writers, but to experienced ones as well. Kress provides an abundance of insights useful to authors of every level of accomplishment.