Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint

Decent wrap of of the more technical aspects of writing: 'what it says on the tin' pretty much. Some good exercises at the end of the chapters (really, the only reason I go for "how to write" books. ( )

Great handbook for anyone who loves to write. I've read many how-to-write books and many of them seems quite basic, repeating the same concepts from different perspectives, but I found this one to deal with more complicate and subtle issues on how to make rounder characters (how to make contradictory emotions believable, etc.)

I've never read any of Nancy Kress's novels (I provably should), but this is the second handbook that I've read from her (the first being Beginnins, Middles and Ends), and she seems to have great advice to offer. ( )

This book was more textbook-like than most of the writing books I have, but I found it quite useful, even if it was slow reading (But not dry! The writing was entertaining.). The parts I found most useful were about using humor and emotion, and the differences between types of point of view. I often get confused between the various types of third person and omniscient, so it was nice to have it explained and see some examples. There are also writing exercises at the end of each section. I haven’t done any of them yet, but I like to know that they’re there in case I need some review in the future. ( )

The section on POVs was worth the price of admission alone. ( )

This was another one of those books I got back in February when I was convinced I knew nothing about character or writing in general, and I'm finally got around to reading it. And I was already super-impressed with Kress's Beginnings, Middles, & Ends, so being impressed with this book? Not so hard.

It's funny to compare this with OSC's Character & Viewpoint, simply because I've read so much since then that I have a hard time remembering what he says. But as much as I enjoyed his book, I enjoyed Kress's far more. Kress pretty much is up my alley in terms of the importance of character, no matter what genre you're writing: it's absolutely pivotal. And it's true, for my experience: character can effect everything from plot to setting, and strong characters will always grab me in books faster than lush settings or even complicated plots.

But I digress. What does this book have to offer, and why should you read this one over others?

First off, Kress is a master at explaining herself, and while she has biases, she admits them and will approach topics from all angles, even if those angles aren't her cup of tea. There's also a great section on genre characters, where she breaks down the kinds of characters you'll find in romances, westerns, fantasy, SF, mysteries, etc, and talks about what the standards are and the kinds of readers that expect those standards. Granted, if you write in a particular genre, you already know this for your genre, but I found it very helpful to read OTHER genre expectations, because I find myself gravitating towards books that blur genre lines more every day, and I know I'm not the only writer interested in a variety of genres: we like to mix and match, so it's good, from a character standpoint, to know what you can draw from.

Another great section is the one on love scenes, fighting scenes, and death scenes, and how character should effect all of it. This chapter ALONE is worth reading the book, because she gets into a lot of issues, including what's overdone and trite, and how you can make YOUR scenes more original (you guessed it, it boils down to character). I also think the exercises she lists at the end of each chapter are very useful. While I didn't do all of them (I'm still working on some), the various ones gave me food for thought and having them is great for a rainy, writer's block kind of day.

So whether you're a character-focused writer or not, you should read this book (more so if you aren't a character focused writer). As with all "how-to" books, you'll agree with some things while disagreeing with others, but like I said, Kress is great when it comes to approaching topics objectively, and your money is well spent with this one. ( )