Creating Characters: A Writer's Reference to the Personality Traits That Bring Fictional People to Life

by Howard Lauther

Overview

A frequent problem area for fiction writers is characterization. If writers jump headlong into a story with only a fuzzy notion about the people who are in it, the result is a collection of characters who are cliched, stereotypical and not very interesting. Creating Characters is an easy to use reference work that looks at character development from many different angles. The book does not tell writers how to write. Instead, it generates a thought process by asking crucial questions about characters' internal and external traits, wants, needs, likes, dislikes, fears, beliefs, strengths, weaknesses, habits and backgrounds. Following these questions, the writer will find an ever deeper and wider array of options. Thus, Creating Characters helps writers delve as deeply into a character's psychology as they want. All characters, and the stories they people, can be made richer and more compelling.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786486564
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	01/14/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	761,626
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Author Howard Lauther of Cincinnati, Ohio, accumulated the notes and insights for this project over many years of writing.
Author Howard Lauther of Cincinnati, Ohio, accumulated the notes and insights for this project over many years of writing.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Introduction    

1 What Are the Character’s Internal Traits?   
2 What Are the Character’s External Traits?   
3 What Does the Character Want, Not Want, or Need?   
4 What Does the Character Like or Dislike?   
5 What Does the Character Fear?   
6 What Does the Character Believe?   
7 What Are the Character’s Strengths, Weaknesses, and Habits?   
8 What Is the Character’s Background?   
9 What Is the Character’s Self-Assessment?   
10 What Is the Character’s “Type”?   
11 Does the Character Have a Nickname?   
12 What Is the Character’s Job?   
13 Will the Character Face a Nonhuman Adversary?   
14 What Plot Drivers Will Affect the Character?   

Index