How to Write Great Characters: The Key to Your Hero's Growth and Transformation

by David Wisehart

You can learn to write great characters! Are you a screenwriter or novelist who wants to achieve your greatest possible success? Do you want to gain a better understanding of human nature? Would you like to have a set of tools that you can use to create compelling characters? Then this is the book for you. You will learn the ancient secrets of human the nine fundamental fears that motivate human behaviorthe nine core character typesthe nine stages of character changeand so much moreComplete beginners and seasoned veterans will benefit greatly from this material. You don’t even have to be a writer. The only requirement is that you come open-minded and ready to learn. About story. About character. And about yourself. Scroll up and get your copy now. What readers are saying… "Highly recommended to the writer wanting an effective tool to help develop believable characters." ~ Amazon Andy "Full of useful ideas." ~ Untamed Pen "Great book—must have for creating characters and developing plot around them!" ~ Susan Mi "Great jumping off point for characters and arcs." ~ Gail Clifford "I heartily recommend this book as a great tool for all writers." ~ Harry Rankin "A wonderful book." ~ Candace Segar "Gave me that AHA! moment of epiphany. I would recommend this book." ~ Dcortez "A great piece for new and veteran writers suffering from character block." ~ Cullen "They don't get better than this. It will fix your story and possibly your life." ~Amazon Customer Scroll up and grab your copy today. Scroll up and get your copy now.

Genres: Writing, Nonfiction

80 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 15, 2015

About the author

David Wisehart directed the upcoming feature film The Bride from Outer Space. He wrote, directed, and produced the short film Bang, Virginia City: the musical, Endgame: a play in one act, the one-act opera The Other Wise Man, and Valentino: a play in verse. He produced James Cameron's Titanic Explorer, The Simpsons Wrestling, and other video games for Fox Interactive. For Philips Media he wrote four documentaries: The French Impressionists, The Art of the Czars: St. Petersburg and the Treasures of the Hermitage, Dutch Masters of the 17th Century, and Flight: The Universal Dream. He was a research assistant for The Aerospace Corporation. He received his B.A. in Film and Television from UCLA, and was the Review Editor for the UCLA Daily Bruin. During high school he programmed computers for NASA.

Reviews

[Glenn Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too Brief

This book is written in a very staccato fashion. This emphasizes the near outline nature of the information. There are entire books on applying anagrams to writing. This booklet is like a Cliff Notes approach. Fine as far as an introduction goes, but you'll need more to avoid cliched character arcs.

[Lester Glavey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Muy bueno el contenido pero solo toca la superficie.

[Mykl Gormley · Rating 4 out of 5]

As an avid reader but novice writer, this was a fantastic introduction to writing great characters. This book is short — like read-in-one-sitting short. It is also potent. I imagine it will be a handy reference guide as I begin to write and refine my stories. Wisehart does a fine job of identifying a common shortcoming in stories (lack of a believable/clear character arc), proposing a remedial tool (the enneagram of personality), and dissecting a story that has implemented it (Maleficent).

[Isaac Butterworth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wisdom for the Heart

This is a book I wish were longer. (Good books often have that effect on us, don’t they?) Despite its brevity, however, David Wisehart’s book, How to Write Great Characters, is a gem., especially if you want to write credible fiction. Wisehart begins by introducing us, his readers, to the Enneagram, an ancient system used to map personality dynamics and change (for the good or for the bad). He then shows us how to use this tool to create believable character arcs in writing (either for the page or for the screen). He even takes us through the storyline of the Hollywood feature film, Maleficent, to demonstrate the process. There were a few points here and there in the book where I could have used more detail, but as I continued reading, I came in each instance to understand Wisehart’s point. The book is much like an appetizer. It’s not going to satisfy your hunger, but it will tide you over until you can learn more about the Enneagram as a tool for developing the essential changes in your major characters. And Wisehart even gives you a way to get to the table for the main course. He has a free newsletter to which you may subscribe to deepen your learning. Even if you don’t write, this book will help you understand why people do the things they do and how they cope under stress. I probably should resist the temptation to make much of the author’s name, but I can say without hesitation that this book contains wisdom for the heart.

[Gisele Thomson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent ideas on creating rich characters with fulsome story arcs

The author starts with Enneagram personality types. What was new and different is the presentation of a pattern of character reactions guiding the evolution of the character. The hypothetical example helped. An analysis of an existing movie that illustrates the point reinforces the lesson. I’m very impressed with the idea and will definitely integrate into my approach.

[AJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eh

It started out well.

But, I feel like there's a whole lot that it didn't cover and it seemed rather confusing.

I want know:

- how to give a voice to characters

-how to give them great backstories

-how to give them depth

-how to write characters for a series (not just a movie)

But, this book didn't do that.

It just gave you 9 character types and a linear and vague way of one character arc.

Considering the price, I guess it's not too much of a loss.

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting and useful advice

This was a short but valuable read. If you’re trying to understand who your characters are, this book will give you a straightforward method to do just that, including their fears and a reaction pattern based on their personality type. I’m excited to try it out for my characters.

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Insightful

I found this book helpful to understand how the enneagram plays a role in character arc. I am looking forward to implementing this in my writing. I will probably read through it a few times.

[SilverStar Review · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this

Thank you for making this so easy to follow.
I am already implementing these tension and relaxation points into my story.
Great help as I was feeling stuck and my MC storytelling lacking on a sequel book 2.

[J K Hoffman · Rating 1 out of 5]

A book so short, but with so little information in it, that it would barely make a good blog post. Don't bother. Try the blog post here https://www.helpingwritersbecomeautho... instead

[D.S. Bhat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good tips for those struggling with character development.

[Aeryn Blackstar · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too confusing

The material is convoluted and can be confusing this doesn't seem like a good fit for beginners, ended up skipping through most of it, wouldn't recommend.

[Elruin Elmsroot · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just the basics....

[Jessaca Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contrary to the other reviews I read on this book, I actually found it to be quite helpful! This was a great introductory to help writers think about character development. It by no means should be a stand alone- I mean, it's only like 80 pages after all. But for someone who is struggling with figuring out what's missing from their characters' lives, I found this book very helpful. It gave me a new perspective to think about and it was written in a very easy-to-follow way.

[Diane Patterson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very short read. Not the best introduction to the Enneagram -- if I didn't already know the Enneagram, I might have been lost. His plan for how to develop a story by moving your character around the Enneagram chart...well, I wish he would gave applied that to an actual movie instead of coming up with a story that sounded like "one damn thing after another."

Enh.

[Pat Stanford · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very basic and very short

For a newbie who has lived under a rock and has not ever read anything before on archetypes, this could be of help.

Anyone else will find this a review at best and as a previous reviewer stated, it reads more like a term paper than a book simply because if it's "structure" which is almost bullet points.

[terry cavanaugh Cavanaugh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Out standing

This book was a little gym . It helped me to understand character development and how her character arc actually works. I would recommend this book to any writer .

[Warren Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great information - I learned a lot!