Growing Great Characters From the Ground Up: A Thorough Primer for the Writers of Fiction and Nonfiction
Nonfiction, Reference & Language, Language Arts, Writing & Publishing, Publishing
| Author: | Martha Engber | ISBN: | 9781370883042 |
| Publisher: | Martha Engber | Publication: | September 14, 2016 |
| Imprint: | Smashwords Edition | Language: | English |
| Author: | Martha Engber |
| ISBN: | 9781370883042 |
| Publisher: | Martha Engber |
| Publication: | September 14, 2016 |
| Imprint: | Smashwords Edition |
| Language: | English |
As Martha Engber states in the introduction of Growing Great Characters From the Ground Up: A Thorough Primer for the Writers of Fiction and Nonfiction, character development is the most important facet of any character-based book, because “readers won’t follow for long if they find the people you're writing about dull, one-dimensional or unbelievable.”
Then Ms. Engber explains to aspiring writers of both fiction and nonfiction how the process of growing not just good, but great, characters can be — and should be —as natural and organic as growing a plant from seed to maturation.
After listing the three attributes of a great character, Ms. Engber goes on to teach writers the step-by-step process of how to develop characters from start to finish. The book lists 70 examples from past and present literature covering a wide variety of genres to illustrate key concepts. Each chapter ends with exercises, which if followed, are designed to help readers grow their own characters. The book ends with a glossary, sample query letter and list of questions that can be used during the editing process.
A journalist by training and freelance writer and editor by profession, Ms. Engber is the author of The Wind Thief, a novel. Besides hundreds of articles published by the Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Inside Karate Magazine and other national magazines, she's had a play produced in Hollywood as well as short stories, essays and poetry published in Watchword, Anthology, Bookpress, the Berkeley Fiction Review and other literary journals and anthologies.
As Martha Engber states in the introduction of Growing Great Characters From the Ground Up: A Thorough Primer for the Writers of Fiction and Nonfiction, character development is the most important facet of any character-based book, because “readers won’t follow for long if they find the people you're writing about dull, one-dimensional or unbelievable.”
Then Ms. Engber explains to aspiring writers of both fiction and nonfiction how the process of growing not just good, but great, characters can be — and should be —as natural and organic as growing a plant from seed to maturation.
After listing the three attributes of a great character, Ms. Engber goes on to teach writers the step-by-step process of how to develop characters from start to finish. The book lists 70 examples from past and present literature covering a wide variety of genres to illustrate key concepts. Each chapter ends with exercises, which if followed, are designed to help readers grow their own characters. The book ends with a glossary, sample query letter and list of questions that can be used during the editing process.
A journalist by training and freelance writer and editor by profession, Ms. Engber is the author of The Wind Thief, a novel. Besides hundreds of articles published by the Chicago Tribune, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and Inside Karate Magazine and other national magazines, she's had a play produced in Hollywood as well as short stories, essays and poetry published in Watchword, Anthology, Bookpress, the Berkeley Fiction Review and other literary journals and anthologies.
