Creating Characters: How to Build Story People - Softcover

Swain, Dwight V.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0806139188 ISBN 13: 9780806139180

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press, 2008

Synopsis

A jargon-free manual on the basics of developing interesting fictional characters

Vibrant, believable characters help drive a fictional story. Along with a clever plot, well-drawn characters make us want to continue reading a novel or finish watching a movie. In Creating Characters, Dwight V. Swain shows how writers can invent interesting characters and improve them so that they move a story along.

“The core of character,” he says in chapter 1, “lies in each individual story person’s ability to care about something; to feel implicitly or explicitly, that something is important.” Building on that foundation—the capacity to care—Swain takes the would-be writer step-by-step through the fundamentals of finding and developing “characters who turn you on.” This basic but thought-provoking how-to is a valuable tool for both the novice and the seasoned writer.

About this title

About the Author:

Dwight V. Swain spent a lifetime writing newspaper and magazine articles, pulp fiction, and screenplays. For more than twenty years he taught in the Professional Writing Program at the University of Oklahoma. His popular books, Techniques of the Selling Writer and Creating Characters: How to Build Story People are published by the University of Oklahoma Press.

From School Library Journal:

YA-- Young people seriously interested in creative writing will find this manual for developing fictional characters a rich source of detailed information. Students can browse through the 17 chapters, each titled and annotated, without reading the book from cover to cover. Swain talks to his readers in a conversational tone, suggesting techniques, giving examples to illuminate his points, and offering activities for sharpening character development skills. This is a book for those already committed to writing fiction and who want to think about the craft of writing.

Joyce H. Jones, Mount Vernon High School, Alexandria, VA

Copyright 1991 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0806139188
• ISBN 13: 9780806139180
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 208