Monday, August 9, 2010

Three books every writer should own: Book 2

Having trouble with your characters personality, motivation, alter ego, or just plain stuck in a rut about which character is the hero and which is the mentor? Check out this next title:

45 Master Characters, by Victoria Lynn Schmidt.


This is just a laugh out loud book with both the villain and hero, female and male personality type and motivation listed. Why is it laugh out loud? Because you will say, this is just like so and so. Then after a good laugh you will have the resources available to sit down and craft the intricate character you’ve always imagined but couldn’t quite figure out how to describe and motivate on the page. But Schmidt doesn’t stop there; in this book you will find the profiles for all your miner characters too. No, not done yet, Schmidt will also explain their journey and how to plot that.

Now you may think if I have the first book why do I need the second book. Because while the first book will masterfully explain the journey your characters will take, and a lot about the characters, this book will give you a more in depth look into the reason your characters do what they do. It’s in the personality. We want three dimensional characters for the villain, the hero and those characters that are essential to their progress. Here you can learn how to intertwine various aspects of multiple personality types to get the unique character you want.

Do you have a favorite character book?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I do but gosh darn it I can't find the darn book. Aarrgghh! Its a really good one too. But regarding characters, a story happens to and because of someone, not some thing. Look at movies as an example. 2012 is about a family escaping the horrific end times type of events, not the events, although the special effects certainly thrust the events to the forefront of the movie at times. But the story is still about characters.

Stephen Tremp

N. R. Williams said...

Absolutely correct Stephen, without believable characters who do you route for? Thanks for stopping by.
Nancy

Mayra Calvani said...

I will definitely check out this book. I always want to make sure my characters' motivations are genuine... but this isn't always so easy to achieve. Thanks for the recommandation!

N. R. Williams said...

Your right Mayra, I'm glad you liked the suggestion. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
Nancy

Unknown said...

I just read through the posts on books one and two -- and noted their titles. Will look for them!

Thanks for the recs :))
Nicole

Patricia Stoltey said...

BTW, I forgot to mention your blog background is pretty cool. This site is looking real good.

Patricia

N. R. Williams said...

Thanks for stopping by Nicole, you'll enjoy the books.

Thanks for the compliment Patricia.

Nancy

Helen Ginger said...

I haven't heard of this book before. I think I'll try to find it online.

Helen

N. R. Williams said...

It's well worth it Helen. Thanks for stopping by and leaving a comment.
Nancy

N A Sharpe said...

Very interesting - sounds like I good resource book. I'll have to look for it!

N. R. Williams said...

You'll enjoy it N. A.
Nancy

QuadsMoon said...

You can find the book online at Amazon.com.
Thanks once again Nancy for the suggestion.

-Deb

Ron at CM said...

This is kind of silly, but one of my favorite character books is Sherrilyn Kenyon's "Character Naming Sourcebook." When I come up with a name like Hugo Spengler, Perseus Cade, or Elsbeth Bockweiler the name alone plants a whole row of seeds about who this character is. Thaddeus Emory Gideon is certainly going to destroy the world as we know it...