Getting into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors [Paperback]

Brandilyn Collins (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471058947 | ISBN-13: 978-0471058946 | Publication Date: March 1, 2002 | Edition: 1

Proven techniques for creating vivid, believable characters

Want to bring characters to life on the page as vividly as fine actors do on the stage or screen? Getting into Character will give you a whole new way of thinking about your writing. Drawing on the Method acting theory that theater professionals have used for decades, this in-depth guide explains seven characterization techniques and adapts them for the novelist's use.

In this unique and practical book, you'll discover concepts that will help you understand and communicate the behavior, motivation, and psychology of every fictional character you create. Examples from classic and contemporary novels show you how these techniques have been used to dazzling effect by Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Steve Martini, Anne Rivers Siddons, and others. These simple yet highly effective techniques will help you:
* Create characters whose distinctive traits become plot components
* Determine each character's specific objectives and motivations
* Write natural-sounding dialogue rich in meaning
* Endow your characters with three-dimensional emotional lives
* Use character to bring action sequences to exuberant life
* Write convincingly about any character facing any circumstance

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

Proven techniques for creating vivid, believable characters

Want to bring characters to life on the page as vividly as fine actors do on the stage or screen? Getting into Character will give you a whole new way of thinking about your writing. Drawing on the Method acting theory that theater professionals have used for decades, this in-depth guide explains seven characterization techniques and adapts them for the novelist’s use.

In this unique and practical book, you’ll discover concepts that will help you understand and communicate the behavior, motivation, and psychology of every fictional character you create. Examples from classic and contemporary novels show you how these techniques have been used to dazzling effect by Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Steve Martini, Anne Rivers Siddons, and others. These simple yet highly effective techniques will help you:

• Create characters whose distinctive traits become plot components
• Determine each character’s specific objectives and motivations
• Write natural-sounding dialogue rich in meaning
• Endow your characters with three-dimensional emotional lives
• Use character to bring action sequences to exuberant life
• Write convincingly about any character facing any circumstance

About the Author

Bestselling author BRANDILYN COLLINS writes novels in both the women's fiction and suspense genres. She is also the author of the well-received true crime title A Question of Innocence. Before turning to writing, she was a longtime student of drama, including Stanislavsky's writings on Method acting. Visit her Web site at: www.brandilyncollins.com.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471058947
• ISBN-13: 978-0471058946
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #84,676 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brandilyn Collins is an award-winning and best-selling novelist, writing her trademarked Seatbelt Suspense®--fast-paced, character-driven suspense with myriad twists and an interwoven thread of faith. She also has written the distinctive book on fiction-writing techniques, Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn From Actors (John Wiley & Sons).

You can read excerpts from all her books at her Web site: www.brandilyncollins.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Combination of Lajos Egri + John Cleaver on Character, May 28, 2005

By 

John C. Dunbar (Sugar Land, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Getting into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors (Paperback)

This book seemed to be one-half Lajos Egri (The Art of Creative Writing) and one-half John Cleaver (Immediate Fiction). Like both of these authors, Brandilyn Collins explains how to create well-developed, compelling characters that you can let loose in your stories.

All of the author's techniques tie back to Stansislavsky's "Method Acting." Each chapter starts with an analysis of one of techniques of Method Acting. Then that technique is summarized in terms of ficiton writing. The remaining chapter fills in the details and gives examples.

In addition to the techniques of character development, the author presents several narrative frameworks for the overall plotting of the story. She also discusses crafting each scene using character objectives that flow from the character's Inner Values.

The chapter on dialog was interesting. Here, the author shows you how to link the hidden-message of dialog (sub-texting) back to the richly-developed psychological profile, or inner values, of the character.

I liked the book very much - particularly her conceptualization of Method Acting back to narrative writing and her well-explained examples. This book is different than many others describing character development. The author also includes exercises that the reader can pursue.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX

34 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The start of a new era in character development, October 2, 2002

By 

RIVCA66 Reader "RIVCA66 Reader" (Riverside, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Getting into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors (Paperback)

If you want to get a headstart into what is to come in the next wave of character development then get this book. In my opinion, the future of character development and the secrets in creating a real person on paper lies in the studies done by professional acting coaches.

How did I get this opinion? Well, I was so enlightened by the information in this writing manual that I read the books by the acting coaches Collins refers to and discovered that Collins has scraped the surfaced on a whole science. These acting coaches studied human behavior not only from a scientific point of view but from a sensory point of view. At the time these "Acting Scientists" wrote these books, human behavior sciences like psychology, psychiatry and hypnotherapy were making great strides and right along with them, "Acting Scientists" were adding these priniciples to their acting methods creating a science that changed acting forever. And today, thanks to Collins, Novelists who want to create a real person can benifit handsomely.

There is a thin line between a great novelist and a great actor and I hope to see more acting techniques being translated for the novelist who wants to be great.

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What more can I say?, February 28, 2003

By 

Michael Snyder (Spring Hill, TN USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Getting into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors (Paperback)

The other reveiwers have it right. After studying more than 30 titles on the craft of writing, I can say that this is by far the most useful work on developing believable and well-rounded characters that I have seen to date. The information is timely, practical, and accessible. The examples are well-organized and perfectly suited to the material. The writer can take what he learns and put into practice immediately. Excellent work!