"A character is what he does, yes - but even more, a character is what he ~means~ to do."

This is a great book to learn about basic techniques of storytelling – how to create characters, how to show their motives on the page and how to choose the best type of narrator for your story.
The book is very well constructed and supplies tons of examples to help with the concepts.
However, I realized that I already knew most of the elements from different sources and my own practice, so I think this makes for a great entry-level book. It is clear enough for beginners, but will also make for a great reference book when revising something that just feels wrong in my own writing.

An entertaining and helpful look at how to bring life to the characters in a story. Using many examples to illustrate the use of viewpoint and different narrators to tell the story without getting in the way. I found the ideas very useful.

Al haber leído el otro libro de Scott Card, "Cómo escribir Ciencia Ficción y fantasía" antes que éste, ya me apuntó varias de sus ideas, aunque sólo por encima.

De este libro es interesante especialmente el tercer capítulo, que habla de los puntos de vista y los diferentes tipos de narradores, aunque si tienes problemas para construir personajes, los dos primeros también te servirán.

De todas formas, no hay nada diferente que no hayas podido estudiar en clase de lengua o en algún otro libro sobre escritura. Interesante sobre todo si es tu primer libro sobre el tema.

Have you ever read a book about the craft of writing that had a chapter on creating and writing effective characters, and wished that there was a whole book on the subject? This is that book.

The book is divided into three parts, Invention—the sources from which an author develops characters, Construction—how to create characters to serve the purposes of the narative, and Performance—how to execute the characterization on the page. In this third section of the book, Card discusses point-of-view, and the benefits and perils of each approach to point-of-view.

Throughout the book, Card lays out a portfolio of tools and techniques. He provides examples of their usage. He discusses which techniques are appropriate for novice writers, and which techniques can be very effective, but which require skill and experience to use effectively.

I found this book illuminating, and recommend it to anyone who is attempting to master the craft of writing.

Helpful For Writers of All Skill Levels

An easy-to-read book full of tips and examples. It explains how important it is to know your characters well as you write them, and what viewpoint options are used in popular fiction. The examples of those viewpoints and hints about how to master them are very helpful. Recommended for writers looking to learn new skills or to brush up on their existing ones.

This book is one of THE BEST books I have read about viewpoint and developing characters in writing. Orson Scott Card gave me so much to think about; most likely I will have to read it again!

Towards the end of the book he gets into explaining several different types of viewpoint with illustrations showing the writer looking at his characters through a camera. It is very interesting and really blew my mind.

A definite good read for any writer, especially beginners.

This book concentrates on inventing and writing memorable characters and telling their stories from different viewpoints. It is part of Writer's Digest Elements of Fiction Writing series. Because of its limited scope, it delves further into its subject matter than many writing books. It provides lots of hints, ideas, and techniques for bringing characters into existence, how to develop their profiles, and how each viewpoint can be used to tell their stories in different ways. The subject matter is provided with a little humour, which helps lighten it. But there are none of the exercises you might see in other writing books. I give this book 4 stars.

I've read many 'how to' writing books, but this one by Card is excellent. He goes beyond telling you how to construct characters by showing you very explicit examples. His emphasis on emotion in and among characters is especially helpful. One can tell why he is an excellent teacher and author. Although he writes science fiction, you can't tell that by the book. His advice works for any genre.

Characters and Viewpoint, much like the name indicates, is a book about how to effectively write characters and integrate different perspectives into fiction writing. I think this is a great book for aspiring writers. Characters and Viewpoint is easy to understand and doesn’t need much context or experience in writing to understand, making it great for beginners. I feel that it does a great job explaining how to write effective characters. In particular I like the use of examples, instead of just explaining concepts examples are effectively used to illustrate the points. I really enjoyed reading Characters and Viewpoint, I feel like I've learned a lot and would definitely recommend reading it.

took me a while to get through but that's admittedly my own problem I think!

It provided a lot of good information on both of its titular topics and I learned a lot of things I hadn't considered before! I'd definitely recommend it, its a good overview.

A very clear but vanilla look at writing fictional characters. Slices the process in a number of different ways and drills down into each aspect. Card traditional point of view creates some obvious limitations in how he thinks through characters (men are manly, women are womanly, that sort of thing), but his writing is so clear that I think it is fairly easy to see when these limitations come into play letting you think through how you might do things differently.

Orson Scott Card wonderfully breaks down what is it to write a character in fiction with examples from not only his own works but various other novels and movies. The combination of which, along with his own well versed career in the field of writing fiction builds to be a book that teaches writing as well as expands the appreciation I feel towards the books I've read and will read.
I'm excited to read the other books in the Elements of Writing collection and hope they hold up to what I've enjoyed and learned from this one.