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Build Better Characters: The psychology of backstory & how to use it in your writing to hook readers
Compelling characters are what keeps readers turning pages and buying books — from fantasies to mysteries to the great literary novel. But how to do you create characters that feel three dimensional and real on the page? Counsellor and author Eileen Cook shares common psychological techniques to help you build your characters and take your story to the next level.
Covering understanding your character's backstory and how it impacts their choices in your book by doing a structured counselling interview, personality structure (Myers Briggs and Emotional Intelligence) and how that may lead to conflict, and understand dissecting the Stages of Change to see how your character moves through them .
Filled with practical tips, examples and prompts this is a craft book you will return to over and over.
This is the second book in the Creative Academy Guides for Writers series. Be sure to check out the rest of the guides for writers in this series.
Scrappy Rough Draft by Donna Barker
Build Better Characters by Eileen Cook
Strategic Series Author by Crystal Hunt
Covering understanding your character's backstory and how it impacts their choices in your book by doing a structured counselling interview, personality structure (Myers Briggs and Emotional Intelligence) and how that may lead to conflict, and understand dissecting the Stages of Change to see how your character moves through them .
Filled with practical tips, examples and prompts this is a craft book you will return to over and over.
This is the second book in the Creative Academy Guides for Writers series. Be sure to check out the rest of the guides for writers in this series.
Scrappy Rough Draft by Donna Barker
Build Better Characters by Eileen Cook
Strategic Series Author by Crystal Hunt
220 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2019
261 people are currently reading
349 people want to read
About the author
Eileen Cook
40 books993 followersEileen Cook spent most of her teen years wishing she were someone else or somewhere else, which is great training for a writer.
You can read more about Eileen, her books, and the things that strike her as funny at www.eileencook.com. Eileen lives in Vancouver with her two dogs and no longer wishes to be anyone or anywhere else.
You can read more about Eileen, her books, and the things that strike her as funny at www.eileencook.com. Eileen lives in Vancouver with her two dogs and no longer wishes to be anyone or anywhere else.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
December 12, 2019
A great resource for understanding your characters!
This was a fascinating read with tons of great tips for creating multi-dimensional characters with believable faults and complications. Includes lots of excellent examples too. I can't wait to put what I learned to work!
This was a fascinating read with tons of great tips for creating multi-dimensional characters with believable faults and complications. Includes lots of excellent examples too. I can't wait to put what I learned to work!
October 2, 2019
"The important thing is not what happens to your character, it's what they tell themselves about what happened."
I've read a LOT of craft books. This book has a different approach than the many many other books on the craft of Character. It isn't about creating a laundry list of character traits, it's about getting inside your characters head and understanding how they see the world and how the plot will affect them.
My favorite section is the part on EQ. As someone without a background in psychology, this section provided me with some great tools on how to analyze my character.
I've read a LOT of craft books. This book has a different approach than the many many other books on the craft of Character. It isn't about creating a laundry list of character traits, it's about getting inside your characters head and understanding how they see the world and how the plot will affect them.
My favorite section is the part on EQ. As someone without a background in psychology, this section provided me with some great tools on how to analyze my character.
May 10, 2022
I loved this book!!!! So instructional and efficient.
As a writer myself, I found myself surprised I already was unconsciously following so many of the tips shared in this book. It was so interesting to see a wider list of questions to ask to our characters when building characters from scratch.
I feel this book could have not been written by anyone else but Eileen Cook, sharing her knowledge not just as a writer herself but also as a counsellor (I hope I got that right).
There's so many books out there on how to build characters, but I hadn't found one like this. Its richness comes from the scientific knowledge of what makes people be people, and how the differences in one another and how we deal with "things" makes us to be different than others. There's so many examples, introduction to psychological areas, explanations, tips and exercises that will certainly come handy to any author out there.
Not only it's split in easy chapters that talk on different psychological areas to have in mind when creating a character, but they all have a final summary list of exercises or things to practice on when you're building a character.
On a side note, the approach from the author to include some personal life experiences, likes or dislikes with a funny note was quite refreshing. And more often than not, they were very helpful to even get a real life example on a specific part of a chapter. My favourite one was her sharing the time when she told something quite emotional to her dad in regards his smoking habit that gave him the push needed to quit smoking... Ok, maybe this one wasn't a funny example. But when you read this book in full you'll understand what I mean.
Love the fact that at the end of the book, you can find a compilation of all exercises and questions to ask yourself. And not only that, you can also go to the Creative Academy for Writers to get them on a document for you to work on.
If I could, I would give this book a 4.5 stars, but GR won't allow us to do so. So 5 stars it is, as I know how much work there is behind writing a book.
Only reason why I wouldn't give it 5 starts is due to the fact, that I enjoyed very much the first half of the book, but towards the second part of the book, I didn't find the subjects very to my liking/interest. However, books will always be subjective depending on the person reading it. Someone else might find all subjects refreshing or interesting to read. So definitely I would consider this a MUST READ for all authors out there.
As a writer myself, I found myself surprised I already was unconsciously following so many of the tips shared in this book. It was so interesting to see a wider list of questions to ask to our characters when building characters from scratch.
I feel this book could have not been written by anyone else but Eileen Cook, sharing her knowledge not just as a writer herself but also as a counsellor (I hope I got that right).
There's so many books out there on how to build characters, but I hadn't found one like this. Its richness comes from the scientific knowledge of what makes people be people, and how the differences in one another and how we deal with "things" makes us to be different than others. There's so many examples, introduction to psychological areas, explanations, tips and exercises that will certainly come handy to any author out there.
Not only it's split in easy chapters that talk on different psychological areas to have in mind when creating a character, but they all have a final summary list of exercises or things to practice on when you're building a character.
On a side note, the approach from the author to include some personal life experiences, likes or dislikes with a funny note was quite refreshing. And more often than not, they were very helpful to even get a real life example on a specific part of a chapter. My favourite one was her sharing the time when she told something quite emotional to her dad in regards his smoking habit that gave him the push needed to quit smoking... Ok, maybe this one wasn't a funny example. But when you read this book in full you'll understand what I mean.
Love the fact that at the end of the book, you can find a compilation of all exercises and questions to ask yourself. And not only that, you can also go to the Creative Academy for Writers to get them on a document for you to work on.
If I could, I would give this book a 4.5 stars, but GR won't allow us to do so. So 5 stars it is, as I know how much work there is behind writing a book.
Only reason why I wouldn't give it 5 starts is due to the fact, that I enjoyed very much the first half of the book, but towards the second part of the book, I didn't find the subjects very to my liking/interest. However, books will always be subjective depending on the person reading it. Someone else might find all subjects refreshing or interesting to read. So definitely I would consider this a MUST READ for all authors out there.
May 27, 2020
When I read a book and learn one new thing I consider my money well spent. Build Better Characters taught me a half dozens new things that will be helpful in my writing journey, and I was very glad I was finally able to read it.
The book is a statement of the importance of a character's backstory, and why the choices we make in this regard can shape the destiny of our book. Eileen gives plenty of examples to explain why understanding the characters we authors create is not an easy task. But it's well worth the time spent. She also gives us the tools to craft believable characters that will pop out of the pages.
Eileen uses her extensive expertise as a counselor to give us insights into the human behavior and teaches us a few tricks worth keeping in mind when it comes to sit down and write the story.
It was a pleasure reading this book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in crafting more sympathetic, believable characters.
The book is a statement of the importance of a character's backstory, and why the choices we make in this regard can shape the destiny of our book. Eileen gives plenty of examples to explain why understanding the characters we authors create is not an easy task. But it's well worth the time spent. She also gives us the tools to craft believable characters that will pop out of the pages.
Eileen uses her extensive expertise as a counselor to give us insights into the human behavior and teaches us a few tricks worth keeping in mind when it comes to sit down and write the story.
It was a pleasure reading this book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in crafting more sympathetic, believable characters.
April 17, 2023
This book introduces psychological techniques to help build characters and their backstory. It delineates basic questions for backstory, indicators for emotional intelligence, Myers-Briggs personality indicators, and how people move through stages of change.
The chapters are short and concise, ending with a list of questions you can answer for your own characters. The questions are also handily listed at the end of the book. Because the chapters are so short, the book felt quite shallow at points. I would also have liked to read some examples from existing novels of how these techniques can be implemented.
The chapters are short and concise, ending with a list of questions you can answer for your own characters. The questions are also handily listed at the end of the book. Because the chapters are so short, the book felt quite shallow at points. I would also have liked to read some examples from existing novels of how these techniques can be implemented.
January 1, 2021
This book is like a master class, with new angles and approaches, based on Cook's years of experience as an author, and as a counsellor. She gives practical advice and exercises that appeal to plotters, pantsers and in-between alike. This book is a must read for anyone looking to create nuanced characters from scratch, or to build on an existing character during the revision phase.
Cook's thoughtful, insightful approach gives readers tips and tricks to not only improve the characters you write, but also to build a deeper conncetion between character and the story you're writing.
Cook's thoughtful, insightful approach gives readers tips and tricks to not only improve the characters you write, but also to build a deeper conncetion between character and the story you're writing.
April 22, 2023
A must for writers
This is hands down the best book I have read on the craft of writing great characters. The author explains everything in such a simple way, using great examples. I have read many books on character development but none have stuck with me the way this one has. I read this book and felt like I finally really understood how to write and consider my book characters personality and how they may react to things that happen to them in my story. This is a book I know I will refer back to time and time again.
This is hands down the best book I have read on the craft of writing great characters. The author explains everything in such a simple way, using great examples. I have read many books on character development but none have stuck with me the way this one has. I read this book and felt like I finally really understood how to write and consider my book characters personality and how they may react to things that happen to them in my story. This is a book I know I will refer back to time and time again.
November 2, 2021
This was a good craft book aimed at getting you to dive into your character. It had exercises at the end of every (short) chapter, and it was easily digestible.
I think if character is something you’re struggling with, this book will be an immense help—it approaches character from a psychological standpoint and even lets you break down your character’s Myers-Briggs personality!
Overall, well worth the read.
I think if character is something you’re struggling with, this book will be an immense help—it approaches character from a psychological standpoint and even lets you break down your character’s Myers-Briggs personality!
Overall, well worth the read.
December 8, 2022
The main idea of this book is that you need to build backgrounds and stories of your characters' pasts, in order to be able to write well about them in the present. It then goes through and gives you a lot of potential things to think about as you are developing your characters. Easy to read, easy to use as a reference. I wish it had more detail on the Myers-Briggs and other systems that it references. Still, it's a fast read and very worth reading.
November 12, 2022
Eileen Cook crushed it with this writing craft book. I have been struggling with getting my first novel finished for months! A lot of my struggle has been with characters and getting them out of my head and onto paper or into words. This has helped me so much!
Looking forward to checking out other stories in this series!
Looking forward to checking out other stories in this series!
February 16, 2025
I don't think anyone starts a craft book out of interest but out of needing help with their book, but build better character surprised me. I didn't expect it to be so useful, interesting and even fun!? I also really liked how organized it is and the sectors "your turn". This book helps to understand not only characters, but also people in general.
July 24, 2025
Useful
Easy to understand with lots of examples for applying the information given to characters in your book. The exercises are interesting and useful during all writing phases. I used them to work flesh out the main character in a project I working on as I read through the book.
I can see myself coming back and using the book to help during edits.
Easy to understand with lots of examples for applying the information given to characters in your book. The exercises are interesting and useful during all writing phases. I used them to work flesh out the main character in a project I working on as I read through the book.
I can see myself coming back and using the book to help during edits.
January 18, 2020
Eileen Cook is one of my favourite authors and workshop leaders. Her craft really shows through in this idea-packed book. It offers explanations and exercises that will help any writer, beginning or established. Highly recommended.
July 9, 2021
A little designed for neurotypical people and it makes use of the MBTI system, but it thankfully does not dilly-dally for long with either issue and stays on course. Good resource, and the exercises aren't designed to be futile (like they are in so many craft books).
May 22, 2022
Being one of those "professional" types, the book read like a standard diagnostic intake assessment.
Which is good.
You want to know your character, or especially the antagonist, then read the series of questions in this book.
Which is good.
You want to know your character, or especially the antagonist, then read the series of questions in this book.
April 7, 2023
Insightful and new perspective
I have read listen to a lot of books about writing characters, and this book stands out for covering topics like emotional intelligence and phases of charge from counsellors perspective. Very useful and interesting.
I have read listen to a lot of books about writing characters, and this book stands out for covering topics like emotional intelligence and phases of charge from counsellors perspective. Very useful and interesting.
October 23, 2024
An in-depth analysis of psychology as it relates to creating well-rounded characters, Build Better Characters is a treasure trove of the little bits that indeed go into creating characters readers will care about from Page One.
April 8, 2021
Solid book for writers
April 10, 2021
Very useful information
August 10, 2021
Very much a beginner’s guide on character building. I needed something a little more advanced.
February 20, 2022
Some good tips for writers
December 16, 2019
So much food for thought when creating characters! Loving the series!
March 2, 2021
Helpful read about how to build better characters. Would recommend to those starting out or who have written some early drafts and want to improve their characters
November 24, 2019
Do you want to know your character better than you know yourself? Do you want to make them jump off the page and hook your readers? Then this is the book for you!
Eileen Cook's brilliant book gives you the insight of a therapist trained to understand and coach your characters through their most difficult life circumstances. And she'll help you too.
This will quickly become one of the staple books in your writer's library!
Eileen Cook's brilliant book gives you the insight of a therapist trained to understand and coach your characters through their most difficult life circumstances. And she'll help you too.
This will quickly become one of the staple books in your writer's library!
October 2, 2019
Do you want to know your character better than you know yourself? Do you want to make them jump off the page and hook your readers? Then this is the book for you!
Eileen Cook's brilliant book gives you the insight of a therapist trained to understand and coach y our characters through their most difficult life circumstances. And she'll help you too.
This will quickly become one of the staple books in your writer's library!
Eileen Cook's brilliant book gives you the insight of a therapist trained to understand and coach y our characters through their most difficult life circumstances. And she'll help you too.
This will quickly become one of the staple books in your writer's library!
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews