Write Great Fiction

by Kress, Nancy

• ISBN13: 9781582973166
• ISBN10: 1582973164
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-03-15
• Publisher: Writers Digest Books

Summary

How do you create a main character readers won't forget? How do you write a book in multiple-third-person point of view without confusing your readers (or yourself)? How do you plant essential information about a character's past into a story?

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION: What Do Readers Want?	1	(4)
CHAPTER ONE: Types of Characters-Assembling Your Cast	5	(14)
CHAPTER TWO: Introducing Characters-First Impressions Count	19	(16)
CHAPTER THREE: The Genuine Self-What Is She Really Like?	35	(16)
CHAPTER FOUR: The Motivationally Complicated Character-But I'm a Mess Inside!	51	(16)
CHAPTER FIVE: Showing Change in Your Characters-If I Knew Then What I Know Now	67	(11)
CHAPTER SIX: Protagonists in Genre Fiction-From Lovers to Starship Captains	78	(15)
CHAPTER SEVEN: The Humorous Character-All Bets Are Off	93	(11)
CHAPTER EIGHT: Talking About Emotion-Dialogue and Thoughts	104	(15)
CHAPTER NINE: Emotion Suggested-Using Metaphor, Symbol, and Sensory Details to Convey Feeling	119	(11)
CHAPTER TEN: Special Cases of Emotion-Loving, Fighting, and Dying	130	(17)
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Frustration-The Most Useful Emotion in Fiction	147	(11)
CHAPTER TWELVE: Point of View-Whose Emotions Are We Sharing?	158	(15)
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: First Person-I Saw It With My Own Eyes	173	(12)
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Third Person-See Dick Run	185	(20)
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Omniscient Point of View-Playing God	205	(8)
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Putting It All Together-The Fourth Persona	213	(10)
APPENDIX: Checklist-Critical Points	223	(4)
INDEX	227