The Story Works Guide to Writing Character: How to create memorable characters your readers can't help but love--or love to hate.

by Alida Winternheimer

At over 200 pages, this book is a real value. If you buy the paperback, you'll get the ebook for FREE! How do you create a memorable character? One as compelling as Katniss Everdeen, Harry Potter, Anne Shirley, or Sherlock Holmes? Breakout novels share a key a stand-out character. So why do so many authors struggle to lift their characters off the page and etch them in readers’ memories? Because they haven't paid attention to all the essential elements that go into making a great character. Luckily for us, author, writing coach, and renowned editor, Alida Winternheimer, has created the definitive step-by-step guide in The Story Works Guide to Writing Character. Packed with practical examples and exercises, this superb resource ensures we not only know what to pay attention to, but exactly how to implement these powerful strategies for creating memorable characters. I thought I had a good grasp of the critical ingredients of a strong character, but thanks to Alida Winternheimer’s outstanding resource for fiction writers, I discovered many areas I could improve. Not only that, I am now equipped with the precise tools to go about it. This book is a must-have secret weapon for all writers eager to stand out from the pack! —Robert Scanlon Author of the Blood Empire Series and the Dreamer Chronicles

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction

254 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 6, 2016

Reviews

[Aaron Hubble · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really excellent. I've been looking for a good book on character development and this one fit the bill.

[Matt Jr. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent craft book with lots of insight, explanation, and exercises to do. I will be referring to this book often.

[Carolyn Bowen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome book about the craft of writing about characters! I slowed down my normal reading pace to make notes. After scribbling pages that'll be difficult to read later, I decided the heck with it I'm just gonna buy a paperback copy as a resource tool. It was wonderful to focus and get an overview of the main points and play around with the examples. Winternheimer provides over-the-top guidelines to create the characters that'll make your book a must-read. You'll want to read this one!

[Sherry Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Guide to Writing Character gives practical ways to created interesting characters. It aptly points out that successful stories have character-driven plots. Exercises are given to help aspiring writers create characters with depth, understand their motivations, flaws, and growth throughout a story. There's also a chapter devoted to supporting characters and their function in the story. Each chapter ends with a bullet-point summary to ensure that the main points are understood.

This is a helpful book for those wishing to improve their writing craft.

[شريف لطفي · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simply outstanding. A brilliant guide that takes you by the hand and shows you in a very simple and practical way how to build a novel. It shows you the construct, how to use the different tools and how to create the climax a reader expects.

An essential book for novice and experienced novelists

[Mary Ellen Woods · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best writing advice I've read so far.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book.

This book explained character creation, arcs, and subplots in a way that was much easier to understand than the other craft books I've read.

[Eustacia Tan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was so excited to hear about Alida's series on writing craft. I managed to scrounge up enough cash to have her edit The Nutcracker King, and while I wish I could hire her for every book I write, I'm still a poor student and that is not possible. So with the Story Works Guide for Writing Character, I have a book that I can use as a reference when writing/revising my stories.

The Story Works Guide for Writing Characters is, as the title says, focused on characters. But since Alida considers characters, setting and plot to be three strands of one story braid, she does talk about the other two elements as and when they're related to character (for example, character arcs and plot are quite closely related).

Each chapter comes with an exercise (there are 12 in total), ranging from "finding the flaw in your plot" to "the agency tree" (I really, really like the agency tree). Alida also uses excerpts from her own books and the books of authors she has edited to illustrate her points, which make things easy to understand.

Bottom line: if you're looking to improve your craft (and if you don't have enough money to hire a developmental editor) this book is perfect for you. It's not going to beat talking to an expert, but it will help you correct many of the common mistakes that people make when writing.

Disclaimer: I received a free book from Alida in exchange for a free and honest review.

This review was first posted at Inside the mind of a Bibliophile

[S.L. Perrin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book on writing character. I love the examples and exercises.

[Lyss Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

Useful and thorough

I've worked through some of the earlier exercises and have found them very useful in helping me craft characters before I start writing. The author explains things clearly and provides ample examples for those who prefer those. I found the section on unlikeable characters a little thin because she never said just HOW to make a character likeable, even in the section for how to fix problems. Still, this is probably the best craft book on characterization that I've read (and I read a LOT of craft books). I'll definitely be checking out Ms. Winternheimer's other craft books as she releases them.