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12th out of 319 books
—
506 voters
Characters and Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing)
Vivid and memorable characters aren't born: they have to be made.
This book is a set of tools: literary crowbars, chisels, mallets, pliers and tongs. Use them to pry, chip, yank and sift good characters out of the place where they live in your memory, your imagination and your soul.
Award-winning author Orson Scott Card explains in depth the techniques of inventing, developi...more
This book is a set of tools: literary crowbars, chisels, mallets, pliers and tongs. Use them to pry, chip, yank and sift good characters out of the place where they live in your memory, your imagination and your soul.
Award-winning author Orson Scott Card explains in depth the techniques of inventing, developi...more
Paperback, 182 pages
Published
March 15th 1999
by Writer's Digest Books
(first published 1988)
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Jul 12, 2012
Kathy Cowley
rated it
4 of 5 stars
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review of another edition
Shelves:
nonfiction,
on-writing
Overall, I loved this book on writing craft, which explores not just characters but also the way your character development intersects with plot, genre, and other factors that must be considered when writing.
My favorite sections were Part 1 (Inventing Characters) and Part 2 (Constructing Characters). It included great discussions of character's motive, habits, past, and networks. I liked the discussion of how characters' motives and attitudes translate into dialogue and action, what works and wh...more
My favorite sections were Part 1 (Inventing Characters) and Part 2 (Constructing Characters). It included great discussions of character's motive, habits, past, and networks. I liked the discussion of how characters' motives and attitudes translate into dialogue and action, what works and wh...more
Characters and Viewpoint
By: Orson Scott Card
Writer’s Digest Books
Tools for Creating Vibrant Memorable Characters
In “Characters and Viewpoints” Orson Scott Card provides the writer with the tools for constructing colorful credible characters.
Card grabbed my attention as I scanned the table of contents. I immediately followed this by perusing the bold headings within the chapters.
The book is divided into three parts. Card begins with pointers on inventing characters, where they come from, potenti...more
By: Orson Scott Card
Writer’s Digest Books
Tools for Creating Vibrant Memorable Characters
In “Characters and Viewpoints” Orson Scott Card provides the writer with the tools for constructing colorful credible characters.
Card grabbed my attention as I scanned the table of contents. I immediately followed this by perusing the bold headings within the chapters.
The book is divided into three parts. Card begins with pointers on inventing characters, where they come from, potenti...more
Orson Scott Card is the highly acclaimed author of Enders Game and many other great works. With the release of Characters & Viewpoints Mr. Card has generously opened his mind and let his knowledge spill forth unto the writing community.
Three parts separate Characters & Viewpoint: Inventing Characters, Constructing Characters and Performing Characters, and each part is comprised of various informative chapters. In part one: Inventing Characters, Orson Scott Card starts out with "What Is...more
Three parts separate Characters & Viewpoint: Inventing Characters, Constructing Characters and Performing Characters, and each part is comprised of various informative chapters. In part one: Inventing Characters, Orson Scott Card starts out with "What Is...more
I swore off all Orson Scott Card books but I already owned this one. It has been sitting on my bookshelf for at least a couple of years now, unopened, unread. Yet I knew deep down, that it would help my writing greatly.
Card proved with this book what a master he is at the craft of writing and how important understanding and observing human interaction is to good characterization. I walked away from this book with a deep DEEP knowledge of characterization, of approaches to character building. I s...more
Card proved with this book what a master he is at the craft of writing and how important understanding and observing human interaction is to good characterization. I walked away from this book with a deep DEEP knowledge of characterization, of approaches to character building. I s...more
view all 7 comments
Solid book on writing--
While some information is pretty basic and somewhat outdated (I'd have to disagree with the author's contention that the present-tense first person doesn't work), this book offers a whole range of invaluable advice on characters. The book is divided into three parts, not all of which provide the same quality of advice and information.
The first part has only some useful tips and advice, covering basic grounds like where we should get ideas for characters and naming them. Hi...more
While some information is pretty basic and somewhat outdated (I'd have to disagree with the author's contention that the present-tense first person doesn't work), this book offers a whole range of invaluable advice on characters. The book is divided into three parts, not all of which provide the same quality of advice and information.
The first part has only some useful tips and advice, covering basic grounds like where we should get ideas for characters and naming them. Hi...more
Orson Scott Card writes really great characters. I've read a couple of his Ender novels, and another stand-alone novel called Empire and his characters are really smart and are able to dive into the psychology of the people around them. They understand people and why they are who they are, and why they do what they do. It is most certainly a reflection of the author's own understanding of the inner workings of himself and the people around him. He is able to take his life experiences and create...more
Okay, so you know I'm an addict, I read a lot of books on writing, and I'm not done on reviewing them all yet. This was useful in helping me decide which viewpoint to write from and how best to do that. Also what mistakes to avoid making as well. Such as writing a whole novel in third person, when other things are occurring that the protagonist can't know about they cannot be mentioned. But there are clever ways certain things can be shown to the reader through the actions of other characters wh...more
I read this book at a point where I'd already read a couple dozen books, a hundred Writers Digest magazines, and a zillion web pages on writing. Upon reading this book, I was EMBARRASSED by how much I didn't know! Characters and Viewpoint is required reading for all fiction writers.
One thing I really like about Card is that he writes his own contemporary examples for his techniques. A lot of craft books rely on example texts from Victorian novels, which I find hard to wade through. While he has a lot of annoying invented terms which tend to detract rather than add to his insights (hello? "deep penetration?" Come on, Card. Gross.), for the most part I found the book very useful. It had a number of example texts that cleared up my confusion about certain techniques I hadn't...more
Not my cup of tea when it comes to writing advice. This WD book was very basic and most of the guidance on characterization is focused on creating characters before you start writing and not fleshing out those characters on the page. Toward the end of the book when Card does finally begin to address what happens to characters in the actual novel/manuscript he gets a bit preachy and theoretical and makes more than few statements that I do not believe are accurate around POV and tense.
Overall I f...more
Overall I f...more
3 likes · like · see review
One of the best Sci-Fi writers of our time (in my opinion) talks at length about how to develop characters, and in the process, talks about story structure and narrative styles.
There's really no reason to read this if you're not an amateur writer. It's not like there's another Ender story in here for you Orson fans... but if you're interested in learning the craft of writing, this is a great book explaining narrative viewpoint and methods for making deeper characters that come to life.
This advi...more
There's really no reason to read this if you're not an amateur writer. It's not like there's another Ender story in here for you Orson fans... but if you're interested in learning the craft of writing, this is a great book explaining narrative viewpoint and methods for making deeper characters that come to life.
This advi...more
OSC dropping knowledge on me once again. I bought this for the information on characterization thinking I would skip the perspective sections, but I got sucked into it, and I am glad I did. The man knows his business, and the nuanced information on varying perspective to control the reader's experience in your novel is genius stuff. As usual, OSC gets to the heart of the matter without any wasted words. Knowledge is taken from his words and inserted directly into my brain. Every time I read one...more
Other then two or three books, the elements of writing series weren't as hugely helpful as I thought. I guess it depends on each writer, but it had only a handful of useful tips, nothing I couldn't have gotten elsewhere.
This was decent, but after reading Nancy Kress' Dynamic Characters book I found it far more helpful than Orson Scott Card's characters and viewpoint. (Also, the explanation and differences about point of view's are all mixed within the books of the elements of fiction writing ser...more
This was decent, but after reading Nancy Kress' Dynamic Characters book I found it far more helpful than Orson Scott Card's characters and viewpoint. (Also, the explanation and differences about point of view's are all mixed within the books of the elements of fiction writing ser...more
Strong and believable characters are the essence of a good book! This book is the perfect guide on how to built this kind of characters. From the very simple things, like their personality to the more complex ones, like the reasons behind their acts, this book explains them all. It is well writen and easy to understand. It can help you create and develop the characters of your story.
I never thought that characters are the most important thing in a story, even if the storyline is not that strong...more
I never thought that characters are the most important thing in a story, even if the storyline is not that strong...more
Ho cercato di affrontare questo libro il più modestamente possibile, ma per buona parte ho arrancato. Dice ovvietà e ci si sofferma pure facendo molti esempi, alcuni generici scritti da lui, altri riferiti a film e libri che o ho già visto/letto, o devo ancora vedere/leggere (e in questo caso ho saltato per evitare spoiler), o così sconosciuti che neanche li ho mai sentiti nominare (e in questo caso ho letto ma non sempre sono sicuro di aver afferrato il senso).
Ad esempio, se mi dici che un pers...more
Ad esempio, se mi dici che un pers...more
Not as useful as I hoped it would be, and definitely not the divine inspiration I was hoping for to get me out of this rut. But a good read nonetheless, and some very helpful tips and insights. Though they tell you as a beginning writer that you just have to sit down and get writing, it's obviously a lot more than that. Which is frustrating, because the "just write"-adage is both simple and inspiring, but unfortunately untrue. But I hope this book, which digs a lot deeper, will help me to grow....more
I would urge any author who wants to learn about character creation and points of view to buy this book. I have read it three times and each time I learn something new -- I have the digital version and keep highlighting things I overlooked the first time (or second). Card is a master of getting his point across in just the right amount of words so that you understand completely without having to work at it. My writing has improved greatly due to reading this book. Don't just think about it -- go...more
In this book (part of the elements of writing series from Writer's Digest) Card looks in depth at characterization and viewpoint. It IS a wonderful handling of these issues. It is NOT a complete writer's manual and a few times I was a touch frustrated because Card's advice led him to touch briefly on other areas of writing that I wished he'd discuss and then he pulled back to stay on subject. Darn his self-discipline!
Card is a well known believer in planning before writing. If not outlining (cav...more
Card is a well known believer in planning before writing. If not outlining (cav...more
In Part I: Inventing Characters, Card talks about what makes a character and where ideas for characters come from. He also goes over the basic but always good advice to keep a "character bible" - or a document that includes all the little details such as "Joe has brown eyes and is wearing sneakers in chapter four."
Part II: Constructing Characters is the meat of the book. Card really goes in-depth on what makes characters likable (or not), believable, and interesting. Topics range from the diffe...more
Part II: Constructing Characters is the meat of the book. Card really goes in-depth on what makes characters likable (or not), believable, and interesting. Topics range from the diffe...more
Why I bought it? I attended Card's writing class in the summer, and lots of students there had the book and kept referring to it thinking it was great.
Synopsis: This is one in a series of books on writing by different authors put out by Writer's Digest. Card goes into his theories about what makes characters compelling and the positives and negatives of different types of viewpoints.
What I thought? It was an excellent review of the course I took--more in depth with more examples. The thing that...more
Synopsis: This is one in a series of books on writing by different authors put out by Writer's Digest. Card goes into his theories about what makes characters compelling and the positives and negatives of different types of viewpoints.
What I thought? It was an excellent review of the course I took--more in depth with more examples. The thing that...more
This book on how to write character is much less hands on than Elizabeth George's approach in "Write Away." Meaning: Card supplies no easy-to-follow strategies or processes to help you develop your characters or integrate them seamlessly into the story.
Despite this more hypothetical approach, those who simply need ideas will find a smorgasbord to help flesh out a character with odd quirks and details. But Card goes further than this, talking in some detail about the techniques involved in playin...more
Despite this more hypothetical approach, those who simply need ideas will find a smorgasbord to help flesh out a character with odd quirks and details. But Card goes further than this, talking in some detail about the techniques involved in playin...more
A solid introduction to characterization and POV. Much of the advice is basic, and I wish he'd gone deeper into characterization throughout the writing process, but it's still helpful and the examples are better than those in most writing books I've read. Speaking of going deeper, though... what's with the double entendres in the final chapters, OSC? Why are you telling us about your students who "stayed hot when the action wasn't intense enough to need deep penetration" when you're not talking...more
I've just remembered that I read the noted homophobe's writing guide back in my early teens. Even then, I could tell that a lot of his advice was bollocks - I especially remember the bit about how erudite types were inherently unsympathetic, and a smart hero would have to punch a couple of guys for every time he demonstrated his brains. Yep, as demonstrated by the lamentable obscurity in which characters like Poirot and Sherlock Holmes have long languished, right? Pillock.
Très bon livre sur l'écriture des personnages dans les romans. Que sont les personnages, comment les présenter, les définir, leur rôle, etc. Ainsi qu'une analyse de l'utilisation des différentes points de vue et de leur effet dans la narration. C'est écrit de manière très simple et toujours illustré par de nombreux exemples. Aussi bien à lire pour les apprentis écrivains que les curieux qui veulent avoir une idée de ce qu'il y a derrière les livres.
It has its moments, though they're few and far between. Most of this is pretty basic stuff, too, arguably common sense. This is especially evident in the middle section of the book, during which Card tries to explain the various types of characters (hero, villain, etc.) and what works and what doesn't work when creating them. He says things like, "If a character lies, the reader doesn't like him." No way!
Again, though, there are moments of brilliance. His comments on viewpoints are pretty insigh...more
Again, though, there are moments of brilliance. His comments on viewpoints are pretty insigh...more
Card is an excellent writer, and he himself creates characters that are nuanced and believable. I believe this book does a good job of describing how to accomplish this. The examples given are a little dated (the book is about 20 years old when I write this review), it is worth mentioning, though familiarity with them is not required for understanding the points he makes with them. A good read, and I will likely read it at least once more.
Excellent book! Card understands and explains how an author can make his characters believable, fascinating, likeable, or repellant. He has an amazing grasp of human nature, and even if you're not a writer, his book will give you a better understanding of fiction, and new insights into why we act the way we do.
(This is the second time I've read it - and I just finished reading it aloud to my teen sons who love to write fiction.)
(This is the second time I've read it - and I just finished reading it aloud to my teen sons who love to write fiction.)
Overall, this is a good book to start out with. It gives you plenty of things to consider, and OSC is good about giving examples so you can read the difference between style A and style B, which is incredibly helpful. This won't be the only character book I read though, but that said, I'm glad I have this one to refer to.[return][return]For a full review, just click here: http://calico-reaction.livejournal.co...
This book offered more insights than I was expecting when I first picked it up. While some of the sections are misleadingly titled (I'm looking at you Part 2), the thoughts that went into creating it all seem well developed and interesting. Perhaps best of all, he gives examples of fiction as well as examples from literature to illustrate his points, so you can really quickly see how the ideas he's presenting are brought into play.
This is one of those books that kind of states the obvious and afterwards you think, well duh -- why didn't I think of that. It's clear, it's great. Every writer should read this book. When I was younger and struggling with viewpoint, it helped enormously. It helped even more to dig deeper into my characters and go for the gold. I always end up recommending this book to writers still learning their craft--it's a keeper.
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Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger readers, and are increasingly used in schools.
Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series Th...more
More about Orson Scott Card...
Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series Th...more
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