Dynamic Characters

by Nancy Kress

Overview

A truly unforgettable story is defined by its characters. Their motivations, their changes, their actions compel us to read on, anxiously trying to discern what will happen next.

In Dynamic Characters, award-winning author and Writer's Digest columnist Nancy Kress explores the fundamental relationship between characterization and plot, illustrating how vibrant, well-constructed characters act as the driving force behind an exceptional story.

Kress balances her writing instruction with hands-on checklists to help you build strong characters from the outside in. Blending physical, emotional and mental characterization, you'll learn to create characters that initiate exciting action, react to tense situations, make physical and emotional transformations, and power the plot from beginning to end.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781582976969
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/01/2004
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	469 KB

About the Author

Nancy Kress (1948) is an American science fiction author. She is known for writing hard science fiction often involving genetic engineering. Kress first gained attention after winning the Hugo and Nebula awards for the 1991 novella Beggars in Spain which was later expanded into a full length novel. She would go on to win Nebula Awards for Best Novella for Fountain of Age, After the Fall, and Yesterday’s Kin.

Table of Contents

	Introduction: Who Are These People, and Who Needs Them?	1
Part 1	Creating Strong and Believable Characters: The Externals	7
Chapter 1	Beauty and/or the Beast: Choosing Descriptive Details	8
Chapter 2	What's in a Name? Using Monikers to Convey Character	19
Chapter 3	Zip Code, Please: The Role of Setting in Creating Character	24
Chapter 4	What Did You Say You Do? Using the World of Work to Enhance Characterization	35
Chapter 5	Say What? Characterizing Through Dialogue	45
Chapter 6	The Artful Deception: Making Dialogue Read Naturally (Even Though It's Not Natural)	54
Chapter 7	When Less is More: Pruning Character Descriptors to a Manageable Number	66
Chapter 8	Don't I Know You? Basing Characters on Real People	74
Part 2	Creating Strong and Believable Characters: The Internals	82
Chapter 9	She's Got an Attitude: Using Personal Thoughts to Characterize	83
Chapter 10	Lost in Thought: Making Clear What, When and How Your Character Is Thinking	90
Chapter 11	The Pygmalion Trap: How to Not Let Your Assumptions Torpedo Characterization	99
Chapter 12	Airy Dreams and Solid News: How to Use Dreams and Newscasts to Enhance Characterization	107
Chapter 13	The Bad Guys: How to Make Your Villains As Readable As Your Heroes	122
Chapter 14	Do I Want to Know You? How to Create an Unsympathetic Protagonist Without Driving Your Readers Away	132
Chapter 15	The Intelligence Dossier: A Wrap-Up System for Investigating Your Character	139
Part 3	Character and Plot	157
Chapter 16	The Yellow Brick Road: How to Start Anywhere and Arrive at Plot	158
Chapter 17	Fight! Fight! Fight! When Conflict Leads to Violence	168
Chapter 18	Whose Story Is It, Anyway? How Point of View Begins With Character and Leads to Plot	175
Chapter 19	Also Featuring ... Secondary Characters and Plot Construction	182
Chapter 20	The Characters, They Are A-Changing: How to Make Character Change a Strong Element of Plot	197
Chapter 21	Seeing Is Believing: A Concrete Example of How Character, Change and Plot Intertwine	205
Chapter 22	"... But It Really Happened!" Basing Plots on Real-Life Events	219
Chapter 23	Archetypal Attractions: Using Rich Old Plots in Rich New Ways	225
Chapter 24	I See a Pattern Emerging: The Connections Among Characters, Plot and Theme	247
Chapter 25	The Characters and the Writer	254
	Index	263