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Elements of Fiction Writing - Characters and Viewpoint Proven Advice and Timeless Techniques for Creating Compelling Characters by an a Ward-Winning Author

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ISBN-10: 1599632128

ISBN-13: 9781599632124

Edition: 2nd 2011

Authors: Orson Scott Card

List price: $23.99
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Book details

List price: $23.99
Edition: 2nd
Copyright year: 2011
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date: 1/18/2011
Binding: Paperback
Pages: 240
Size: 9.13" wide x 8.98" long x 0.63" tall
Weight: 0.682
Language: English

Orson Scott Byron Walley Card, was born in 1951 and studied theater at Brigham Young University. He received his B.A. in 1975 and his M.A. in English in 1981. He wrote plays during that time, including Stone Tables (1973) and the musical, Father, Mother, Mother and Mom (1974). A Mormon, Scott served a two-year mission in Brazil before starting work as a journalist in Utah. He also designed games at Lucas Film Games, 1989-92. He is best known for his science fiction novels, including the popular Ender series. Well known titles include A Planet Called Treason (1979), Treasure Box (1996), and Heartfire (1998). He has also written the guide called How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy…    

Introduction
Inventing Characters
What is a Character?
A Character Is What He Does
Motive
The Past
Reputation
Stereotypes
Network
Habits and Patterns
Talents and Abilities
Tastes and Preferences
Body
What Makes a Good Fictional Character?
The Three Questions Readers Ask
You Are the First Audience
Interrogating the Character
From Character to Story, From Story to Character
Where Do Characters Come From?
Ideas From Life
Ideas From the Story
Servants of the Idea
Serendipity
Making Decisions
Names
Keeping a Bible
Constructing Characters
What Kind of Story Are You Telling?
The "Mice" Quotient
Milieu
Idea
Character
Event
The Contract With the Reader
The Hierarchy
Walk-Ons and Placeholders
Minor Characters
Major Characters
How to Raise the Emotional Stakes
Suffering
Sacrifice
Jeopardy
Sexual Tension
Signs and Portents
What Should We Feel About the Character?
First Impressions
Characters We Love
Characters We Hate
The Hero and the Common Man
The Comic Character: Controlled Disbelief
Doing a "Take"
Exaggeration
Downplaying
Oddness
The Serious Character: Make Us Believe
Elaboration of Motive
Attitude
The Remembered Past
The Implied Past
Justification
Transformations
Why People Change
Justifying Changes
Performing Characters
Voices
Person
Tense
Presentation Vs. Representation
Dramatic Vs. Narrative
First-Person Narrative
Which Person Is First?
No Fourth Wall
Unreliable Narrators
Distance in Time
Withholding Information
Lapses
Third Person
Omniscient Vs. Limited Point of View
Making Up Your Mind
Levels of Penetration
A Private Population Explosion
Index