Ease Reading-Find Your Next Favorite Book

Hot Search

Elements of Fiction Writing

Characters & Viewpoint

orson scott card

... Show More
Vivid and memorable characters aren't born: they have to be made.

This book is a set of tools: literary crowbars, chisels, mallets, pliers and tongs. Use them to pry, chip, yank and sift good characters out of the place where they live in your memory, your imagination and your soul.

Award-winning author Orson Scott Card explains in depth the techniques of inventing, developing and presenting characters, plus handling viewpoint in novels and short stories. With specific examples, he spells out your narrative options–the choices you'll make in creating fictional people so "real" that readers will feel they know them like members of their own families.

You'll learn how to:
-Draw the characters from a variety of sources, including a story's basic idea, real life–even a character's social circumstances.
-Make characters show who they are by the things they do and say, and by their individual "style".
-Develop characters readers will love–or love to hate.
-Distinguish among major characters, minor characters and walk-ons, and develop each one appropriately.
-Choose the most effective viewpoint to reveal the characters and move the storytelling.
-Decide how deeply you should explore your characters' thoughts, emotions and attitudes.

182 pages, Paperback

First published January 1,1988
Series
Elements of Fiction Writing

This edition

Format
182 pages, Paperback
Published
March 15, 1999 by Writer's Digest Books
ISBN
9780898799279
ASIN
0898799279
Language
English

More editions

About the author

Profile Image for orson scott card

orson scott card

... Show More
Orson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is (as of 2023) the only person to have won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card co-produced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003).
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.

Readers also enjoyed

Community Reviews

Rating(3.9 / 5.0, 98 votes)
5 stars
27(28%)
4 stars
36(37%)
3 stars
35(36%)
2 stars
0(0%)
1 stars
0(0%)
98 reviews All reviews
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Iwasmarching
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
It's a pleasure observing OSC's mastery of writing in action. With other how-to-write books, whether they were relying on excerpts from well-know works or making up their own examples, I could sort of see what they meant, but it wasn't always convincing. OSC writes his own examples (often the same scene is rewritten in multiple ways to illustrate his point), and they show exactly what he's talking about. Learned a lot.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
annacarabuena
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
This book helped me understand so much about the characterization process - I will return to it many times for reference. Incredible resource for fiction writers.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
shiotanagisa1515
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
First and up front, I've never enjoyed an Orson Scott Card book. I could never get into them. They didn't interest me. When a reviewer favorably compared my n  The Augmented Mann to Card's Ender's Game, I scratched my head. Grateful, of course, and still confused.
However, Card's n  Characters & Viewpointn?
Another story (forgive the pun) entirely.
Although titled "Characters & Viewpoint", the subtitle is "How to invent, construct, and animate vivid, credible characters and choose the best eyes through which to view the events of your short story or novel." Tear that subtitle apart and you get (or, at least I got):

t Character
t  General story building elements
t  Story concept
t  Scenes
t  Story structure
t  POV
t  Narration
  
I so dog-eared this book my folded pages made it twice as thick as normal.
Card's book goes way beyond most teaching books I've read. He's not a lecturer such as I remember from college days. I believe he teaches workshops and I'll have to find one and suggest you do the same.
I've written more on my blog. Enjoy
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Daddy-Lucifer
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
I did not like the examples used, but I learnt something new or got a new perspective out of most chapters. Not bad at all.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
nakathemoth
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
2.5*

This book had some good ideas on characterization but overall it complicated topics far more than I'd prefer and I found myself skimming as a result.

It wasn't a waste of time but there are books that covers the same ground while also being A. More concise or b. Having more thought provoking content.

There are better books on fiction writing and for it's topics characters and viewpoints it didn't do much in the realm of expert ideas for me.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
Jety_Lefr
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
Solid book on writing--

While some information is pretty basic and somewhat outdated (I'd have to disagree with the author's contention that the present-tense first person doesn't work), this book offers a whole range of invaluable advice on characters. The book is divided into three parts, not all of which provide the same quality of advice and information.

The first part has only some useful tips and advice, covering basic grounds like where we should get ideas for characters and naming them. His advice to always treat real-life models as only STARTING POINTS and NEVER full characters in themselves I thought was a great piece of advice.

The second part is golden. It deals with specific traits that make us love or hate characters, ways to raise the emotional stakes and use flashbacks effectively, and the differences between comic characters and serious characters. If you are a storyteller, this is something you MUST know.

The third and final part deals with telling vs. showing, voice, and viewpoint. While some of the information is helpful (such as the specific strengths and weaknesses of different viewpoints), most of it is straightforward and commonsensical.

Overall, I thought this makes a great companion book to Donald Maass's books in that it complements it where Maass's books overlook or fail to cover in enough depth.

Recommended.
0 0 Reply
Profile Image for Kimberly .
explicit707
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 26,2025
... Show More
Characters and Viewpoint
By: Orson Scott Card
Writer’s Digest Books

Tools for Creating Vibrant Memorable Characters

In “Characters and Viewpoints” Orson Scott Card provides the writer with the tools for constructing colorful credible characters.

Card grabbed my attention as I scanned the table of contents. I immediately followed this by perusing the bold headings within the chapters.

The book is divided into three parts. Card begins with pointers on inventing characters, where they come from, potential audience, and choosing names.
He moves on to help the reader/writer construct characters, including the protagonist, supporting, and minor characters. I particularly needed help in the area of voice, presentation, and person. Card included illustrations from well-known authors to reinforce the writing principles presented throughout the book.

“The Elements of Fiction Writing - Characters and Viewpoint” is an important tool for new writers. The book is filled with definitive techniques for creating vibrant memorable characters.
0 0 Reply
Leave a Review
You must be logged in to rate and post a review. Register an account to get started.