Customer Reviews

Fiction Is Folks: How to Create Unforgettable Characters

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Although this book is out of print, I stumbled upon it at a local library and stole it! $30 in fines later I decided to do the right thing and return the book, only after finding it online and buying it!

What I love about this book is Peck's writing style. This is certainly not a book to fall asleep to, neither is it the BORING CUT AND DRY book that gives you long worksheets to fill in about your character - it entertains and dazzles you while giving you practical advise that I have not seen in many of the other books that I stole from the library.

Just to tantalize you, I will give you a few points he touches upon in the book. One is giving your hero a tool. This tool defines the character, it is something they carry with them, something they care about. This is something they use professionally as well. Think of it as the accessory that would go with your character if he was an clam-shelled action figure. Peck shows us how to write the character as he is using his tool to show the reader his personality.

Peck also devotes chapters to types of characters and how they can stir up your story soup. You have the show-off, the teacher, the ghost and the nobody kid. These are common character types used in some of the most successful fiction out there.

Stop reading right now, buy the book and feel both enlightened and entertained. I told you to stop reading . . . why do you persist on reading? Hurry and buy this book!

Whether you ever turn out a bestseller or not, you'll love this book by Peck. He uses humor to teach you all you need to know about bringing your characters to life. In between his thoughts on "What if Socrates had played football?" and his imagined affair with his leggy secretary Illicita, you'll begin too see just how much fun it can be to make your people pop.

In short chapters Peck sets out examples of character types that have proven popular during the years in which Peck was most productive. The focus is on types such as vigilantes, mavericks, illiterates who have a wealth of natural knowledge, et. al.

The book will not show you how to construct such characters but rather will show you what these characters may look like after they are built.

Robert Peck has written an excellent book of the craft of fiction writing. True, it is far from being comprehensive, but it addresses the key aspect of writing fiction. The characters count! Peck argues that if you create your characters and do a complete job of it, they will practically write your book for you. What I have found very helpful is a list of questions that I can use to help me create a character. The list requires me to think about my character, define him or her in multiple ways. For the beginning writer, this book will help you to find the right combination of characters who will tell the story and carry the plot. Robert Peck offers no short cuts, only a guide. That is as it should be. If you want formula, copy Louis Lamore or Barbara Cartland.

In an easy, conversational style and tone, Peck teaches valuable lessons on characterizations. I've owned three copies of this book and I've given I don't know how many copies to writers as gifts. It belongs on every writer's bookshelf.

Fiction is Folks is a must-have for writers. Robert Newton Peck has taken the hit or miss aspect out of character creation, but it's the wit and humor that will make you reread again and again as you learn how to create unforgettable characters.