Characters Make Your Story [Paperback]

Maren Elwood (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Writer, Inc. (December 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871160196
• ISBN-13: 978-0871160195
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,633,502 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Time Invariant, October 22, 2002

By 

John Powell (Santa Clarita, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Characters Make Your Story (Paperback)

I got more out of the first thirty pages of this book than I did from every current book that I have read on characters combined, and that includes at least scanning most of them.
It matters not that Characters Make Your Story was written over sixty years ago; the differences in fictional presentation between then and now do not affect the technique of characterization. Mrs. Elwood tells exactly what is required, how to attain the skills, and how to incorporate them into your own writing, and she does so in a direct and clear way, with no superflous or wordy paragraphs. No fill, no self-aggrandizement on her part. Her presentation is sharp and to the point.
Maren Elwood not only tells us in a straightforward way how to make characters come alive, how to make them intrigue and captivate the reader, to make him or her care about them, but she does so in a dynamic way that makes learning her methods stimulating if not exciting.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you can only get one book on fiction writing, get this one, February 24, 2007

By 

a bookworm - See all my reviews

This review is from: Characters Make Your Story (Paperback)

The five dollars I spent on the hardcover version at a used bookseller five years ago is the best $5 I ever spent on a fiction writing resource.

In an engaging, easy to understand manner, the author explains the importance of characterization and how to do it well, providing vivid illustrations of her points. The book focuses on Character, but covers the topic so thoroughly that it addresses other aspects of story writing, including plotting, conflict, dialog, short stories, novels, children's stories, radio, movies, etc. Tips from this book can rescue a manuscript that is falling flat and revive an author who is getting stuck at some point. Skip the forumulas, the 20 great plots and the writer's ego boosters. I have found in this book a challenge to write well, a resource to know how and flint to spark my imagination.

Read it through, then put it on your reference shelf, near at hand. Over 60 years later, this book is still readable and relevant for novice and experienced writer alike: Characters Make Your Story is an unparalleled classic.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Book on Characterization Ever Written!, March 25, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Characters Make Your Story (Paperback)

This book was given to me on my birthday over twenty-seven years ago. I glanced at it briefly, and since that time it sat on my bookshelf gathering dust. What a mistake. Just the other day I was having some trouble with a story character, and piled it up with some others covering the same subject for later use. What a gold mine of incisive instruction! I can't put it down. Although written in 1942 (ironically the year of my birth), absolutely everything Ms. Elwood presents today is right on target. Writtten with step-by-step perfection, she teaches "show not tell" better than any "live" instructor I've ever sat under. You must have this book!