Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Dynamic Characters and Effective Viewpoints (Write Great Fiction)
by Nancy Kress
List Price:
Our Price: $9.26
You Save: $7.73 (45%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $6.00 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Nancy KressEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-03-15
ISBN: 1582973164
Number of pages: 240
Publisher: Writers Digest Books
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9781582973166
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Dynamic Characters and Effective Viewpoints (Write Great Fiction)
Book Review: Another Solid Entry in the "Write Great Fiction" Series.....But....
Summary: 3 Stars
This book is a good resource for looking at how characters, the emotions they portray and in what viewpoint (first person, third person omniscient, third person limited, etc) to use, and it certainly complements the other books quite nicely. I have read all of the "WGF" books save for the one on revision and see them all as a great investment.
For this particular book, Nancy Kress does do a good job of exploring each element in detail. Like the other books, it is largely an overview of each concept, and, like the other books, she does hit on some similar aspects that the other books cover more extensively (how could she not? All aspects work together to create a work of fiction.) That is to say, the other Write Great Fiction books all cover every aspect of a piece of fiction, but mainly discuss how they relate to the given topic they wrote their respective book about. So brief overviews are found in the other books and each aspect is covered extensively in the given work. So "Plot" focuses on plot while giving smaller and more general explanations of characters, description, dialogue, etc. while "Dialogue" does the same with plot, description, characters etc. while keeping the focus on dialogue and so on and so forth. I would recommend a would-be author grab all four of these books, as this would then allow them to see the whole picture.
My main problem with this particular book is that when she gets to the section where she delves deeply into first person, at one point at least she goes into a small rabbit trail about why some readers don't like and will never read first person. Apparently they're willing to read books but not willing to suspend their disbelief that the character narrating the work was an active participant. It makes absolutely no sense to me but I am not going to judge these people. My problem with this is that she goes a little bit longer talking about this than what the situation merits, spending at least a page or two on the subject, yet she says NOTHING of authors who write their books in the present tense, even though this style is easily as equally jarring and disengaging as first person, actually more so in my opinion. Why she ignores the pitfalls of writing in present tense yet shows the pitfalls of first person, second person, third person, first person plural, third person plural, multiple first person, multiple third person, hybrid, (and there's more but you get the point,) is beyond me.
All in all a good book and I would recommend it.
Edit on Saturday February 14th: I would also recommend "The Complete Writers Guide to Heroes and Heroines: Sixteen Master Archetypes" by Tami D. Cowden, Caro LaFever and Sue Viders.
More Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting Dynamic Characters and Effective Viewpoints (Write Great Fiction) reviews:
1 2 3 4 5 6
1 2 3 4 5 6
Literature & Fiction Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Literature & Fiction Books
Little Womenby Louisa May Alcott
Scribner; Published: 1986-06-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.49
Price in other shops:
The Killing Groundby JACK HIGGINS
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS LTD; Published: 2007; Hardcover; Book
Saving Fish from Drowningby Amy Tan
4th Estate; Published: 2005; Paperback; Book
Life Expectancyby Dean Koontz
Harpercollins Pb; Published: 2005-08-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.00
Constant Princessby Philippa Gregory
Touchstone/Simon & Schuster; Published: 2005; Hardcover; Book
Wolf of the Plains (Conqueror, Book 1)by Conn Iggulden
Harper; Published: 2007; Paperback; Book
Saharaby Clive Cussler
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2005-03-21; Paperback; Book
Perelandra (Cosmic Trilogy)by C. S. Lewis
Voyager; Published: 2005-11; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.92
Price in other shops:
The Lord Of The Rings: Part 2 The Two Towersby J. R. R. Tolkien
Harper Collins Publishers; Published: 2001; Paperback; Book
Red Marsby Kim Stanley Robinson
Trafalgar Square; Published: 2001-06; Paperback; Book
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers, Second Edition: How to Edit Yourself Into Printby Renni Browne, Dave King
William Morrow Paperbacks; Published: 2004-04-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.90
Price in other shops:
The Art of War for Writers: Fiction Writing Strategies, Tactics, and Exercisesby James Scott Bell
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2009-12-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.97
Price in other shops:
Word Painting: A Guide to Write More Descriptivelyby Rebecca McClanahan
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2000-08-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.42
Price in other shops:
The Plot Whisperer: Secrets of Story Structure Any Writer Can Masterby Martha Alderson
Adams Media; Published: 2011-10-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.10
Price in other shops:
Elements of Fiction Writing - Beginnings, Middles & Endsby Nancy Kress
Writers Digest Books; Published: 1999-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.23
Price in other shops:
Revision And Self-Editing (Write Great Fiction)by James Scott Bell
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2008-05-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.97
Price in other shops:
Description & Setting: Techniques and Exercises for Crafting a Believable World of People, Places, and Events (Write Great Fiction)by Ron Rozelle
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2005-03-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.72
Price in other shops:
Write Great Fiction - Dialogue (Write Great Fiction Series)by Gloria Kempton
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2004-10-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.49
Price in other shops:
Outlining Your Novel: Map Your Way to Successby K. M. Weiland
PenForASword; Published: 2011-07-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.93
Price in other shops:
Plot & Structure: (Techniques And Exercises For Crafting A Plot That Grips Readers From Start To Finish) (Write Great Fiction)by James Scott Bell
Writers Digest Books; Published: 2004-10-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.12
Price in other shops: