All fiction writers want to write stories with great heroes and heroines--characters who leap off the page and capture the reader's imagination.
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 4.5 / 5.0
Not worth the money.:
This book has a forgotten place on my how-to shelves. I never use it. I thought it would provide guidance on how to write characters, but the information is on artificial aspects of characters. Stereotypical. A lure to writers who are hoping it may help them with the complex task of creating characters. I would rather bring unique characters to life than copy a pigeon-holed personality and wonder why my story is flat. Imagine one page devoted to "this personality" and hints at what might have happened... more info
A must read:
This is my favorite how to write book. Why? Each of the 16 character types has three virtues and three flaws to guide their decisions. I find a character without weakness is not very likable. It is fantastic for keeping my characters in line--mine sometimes get away from me, doing things that don't make sense. It also forces me to actually plot out what traits I want to this character to demonstrate. It gets rid of that blurry character feeling I sometimes have. The book also helps in the blending of types... more info
Fabulous Find!:
It is a comprehensive, cohesive way of explaining how character's can be formed from a writer's perspective. This guide is chalked full of interesting examples from extremely famous pop culture and classical literary references to help the reader fully understand the concep of each seperate archetype. Personally, I would say this is a must have guide for aspiring writers.
Flawed:
ADDED August 16, 2009: It has come to my attention that the Romance genre is probably well-served by this book. If you're writing Romances, you can probably ignore this review.
------------------ I can't share the unbridled enthusiasm for this book. It has two problems that together make for a crippling flaw. First, it only covers "the good guys". There is nothing in the book to help with creating credible antagonists. Well, okay, that's all that's promised by the title. The thing is... more info
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