Elements of Writing Fiction - Characters & Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing)

Anyone who has read the fiction of Orson Scott Card knows that he is a master of the craft of characterization, and he proves in this book that he can also explain how it is done step-by-step. He provides a vast array of techniques that can be used to hew and hone your character to the shape desired. In fact, he gives the beginner so much choice that you may be amazed and daunted by the sheer complexity that you CAN put into a character. Fortunately he puts it into perspective by making it clear that you need not use ALL the techniques and that many of them you may never want or need to use. He emphasizes the importance of using the appropriate tool for the task and that, as a writer, it is your responsibility to match the tools used with the results desired.

If there is a negative side to this book at all it would have to be that Orson Scott Card is probably a little too nice, a little too egalitarian, in his presentation. I'm reminded of the TV artist who can create a breathtaking scene on canvas in half an hour while simultaneously making his audience comfortable with remarks about how a little dab here and a stroke there (as you watch him do it) can be turned into a work of art. Obviously HE can do it. And he makes it look so easy you feel that you could just pick up a brush and it would all happen almost by itself. Only in your dreams.

Card can't give you the talent or motivation to write well, but he certainly does a good job of presenting the tools you'll need to mold your characters into people others can care about... if you are willing to work to acquire the skill.


Brilliance and Simplicity   August 25, 2000
 19 out of 23 found this review helpful

Characters and Viewpoint (Elements of Fiction Writing), and How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy (Writer's Digest Genre Writing Series) are each invaluable, even if all you do is READ books! This is a master storyteller, divulging clear, concise strategies for creating literature - which is something he does as well as any writer alive (and most of the dead ones!).

Both books offer brilliant insight, whether you write Speculative Fiction (Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror) or not!

There should NOT be an English or Literature classroom without multiple copies of both! No exaggeration, these books are the genome of great writing.

Card writes in a way that engages, even in these nonfiction works. It will stretch your own Viewpoint, and possibly your Character as well - all without ever condescending, or transcending the reader's understanding.

I wish i weren't so notorious for exaggeration, because these books changed me as a writer, as a reader, and yes, along with his other works - as a human.

Writer's Digest is to be praised for the presentation of these books, and for bringing two essential masterpieces to the writer's tool belt. (I just love a maimed metaphor, don't you?)


Add this to imagination, and stop worrying about characters   May 1, 2002
 19 out of 21 found this review helpful

As an Orson Scott Card fan and about-to-be-published author, I naturally picked this book up. Expecting a helpful guide to crafting characters, I got all I wanted, and more.
This book carefully details the necessary questions to ask and excersises to try for creating characters that your readers will know "better than their own family."
But more than that, this little jewel shows how to come up with realistic, believable people to populate your stories - people with a history, people that could be real people, walking past you on the street every day. After following the advice in this book, you'll know a little more about human nature than before, and hopefully be more interested in reading and writing good literature.

Words cannot do this book justice (uh, sorry about the cliche Orson), and any writer owes himself this read.

I really can't give 'Characters and Viewpoint' any more praise without just embarassing myself, but trust me, if I had to take one book only to an uninhabited island where I could write in peace, this would be it. A definite A+, two thumbs up, 5 stars, and whatever else I can find. If you write, and are not yet published (and even if you are), this book is invaluable for creating good fiction.


Discover Card's secrets!   April 3, 2000
 17 out of 17 found this review helpful

I would read Orson Scott Card's shopping list if I could - I just devour his writing. However, reading this book is much more profitable, even if you have no writing aspirations. Written in 1988, when he'd only published a fraction of his incredible list of titles, you will see that he had the whole writing game sorted out, even then. Without credible, interesting characters, possessing an understandable viewpoint, a novel is just a whole bunch of words. I find that I have reviewed some of my favourite Card books (and others) since reading this, and gained a better insight into the characters, their actions, and their thoughts. Card certainly has proven he knows what he's talking about - led by Alvin and Ender, Card has been responsible for some of modern fiction's best loved characters. How fortunate are we to have the great man share his secrets!


Okay, but frustrating at times   June 27, 2006
 17 out of 20 found this review helpful

I did like it, but I was frustrated that so many of his examples for characters were from television and movies. It's easy to use those as examples - no one had to write the description or emotion - someone acted it! He did it a lot, from talking about tension and sorrow and jeopardy - all had movie examples rather than literary ones.
There has to be a better book out there on this subject.