How to Write GREAT Characters - 5 Books to Help YOU Write Characters
4How to Write GREAT Characters - 5 Books to Help YOU Write Characters
Great characters are essential to great stories. How can you write great characters into YOUR stories? 5 books (and 1 program) to help you write great characters.
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WRITING GREAT CHARACTERS AUDIENCE LOVE... OR LOVE TO HATE!
Want to be one of the FIRST writers to join Jay's program? His entrepreneurial approach to writing great characters--testing, learning, and re-writing until you get it right--is focused on writing characters audiences love... or love to hate! Using this process, Jay was able to hit Top Seller status with his time travel novel, TIMESLINGERS for several months in a row!
Send an email to: hi@reclamationsociety.org if you're interested in joining!
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RECOMMENDED WRITING RESOURCES:
- The Art of Dramatic Writing: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Art-Of-Dramatic-Writing-Its-Basis-in-the-Creative-Interpretation-of-Human-Motives-9780671213329/392490
- Screenplay: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Screenplay-eBook-9780307423269/788119045
- The Anatomy of a Story: https://www.walmart.com/ip/The-Anatomy-of-Story-22-Steps-to-Becoming-a-Master-Storyteller-9780865479937/9849470
- Writing for Emotional Impact: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Writing-for-Emotional-Impact-9781595940285/29267676
- Writing the Pilot: https://www.walmart.com/ip/Writing-the-Pilot-9780615533612/39393457
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FULL TRANSCRIPT:
The book that has had the biggest impact on my approach to designing characters: The Art of Dramatic Writing.
Since great characters are essential to great stories, let’s look at some resources you can use to design better characters for your stories.
What’s up, Storytellers...
I’m Jay Sherer, author of the supernatural steampunk western, DEATH OF A BOUNTY HUNTER, and co-writer and co-producer of STAR WARS: RIVALS, the fan film…
If you want more details about the process of writing, producing, and distributing your own works, subscribe to this channel and click the bell for notifications. And if this information is helpful to you, hit that like button.
Let’s dig deeper into the best resources to help YOU write amazing characters into your original stories.
THE ART OF DRAMATIC WRITING
The importance of WHY and SHOWCASING WHY things happen
Incremental, strategic character development…
A process that ensures the audience believes what’s happening…
I’ll talk more about my process in a future video.
SYD FIELD’S THE PARADIGM
Most people have been introduced to Syd Field’s Paradigm in the context of story structure…
BUT, I think it’s really valuable for thinking about your characters
Using the Paradigm, you can plot your character’s development on the Paradigm
HOW TO DESIGN GREAT CHARACTERS (MY PROGRAM)
Great characters are one of THE MOST important aspects of great stories.
I’ve developed a course, with everything I’ve learned from character creation and design.
If you’re a writer—especially a sci-fi or fantasy writer—check it out.
I’ll talk about character bios, how to create characters people love… or love to HATE.
And even how to design effective character arcs so your characters develop in compelling ways
Check out the link in the description below!
WRITING FOR EMOTIONAL IMPACT
Stories are about impacting the audience by engaging them
The audience’s emotions are essential to stories, which means the characters on-screen have to prompt an emotional response in the audience
WILL MARLOWE SUGGESTS: THE ANATOMY OF A STORY
Will says the book is critical because it showcases how secondary characters add to the primary characters to build on the theme the story explores.
Christopher Nolan does this perfectly, by the way…
It also gets into the essential elements that need to be present in your primary and secondary characters.
CALEB MONROE SUGGESTS: WRITING THE PILOT
Caleb recommends it because—similar to what Will talked about—this book covers secondary characters and how they can add to the central conflict in your main character.
Those are the resources I recommend, plus a few from writers I trust. If you’re interested in purchasing one of those, I’ve left links in the description down below.
If you’re interested in my character design and development program, I’ve got a link in the description for that, too!
Do you have any other helpful resources, tips or tricks, or even a question? Let me know by leaving a comment down below.
If you liked this video, click the like button for me. And don’t forget to subscribe for more videos to help YOU write, produce, and distribute your own original stories.
Keep writing, keep grinding, and I’ll see you on the video...