Maybe more like 2.5 stars. I really didn’t get much out of this. I am not sure whether it’s primarily for writers who are more beginners than I am, or if it’s really just a little muddled and not that insightful. Some of Card’s observations don’t seem sufficiently actionable - I don’t come away from the book with ideas about how to improve my manuscript, the way I do with, say, Stein in Writing. And some are just plain wrong, such as when he attributes as a problem of first person POV certain writing flaws that are just as easily committed in third person. Analyses like that only muddy the waters worse for writers who are struggling with POV, and are an angry-making waste of time for writers who have mastered it. There may be a few useful insights in here, but they are largely lost in the noise.

One of the better books on writing I've read. practical advise in the last two chapters were also some of the best on first and third person narration. I find myself taking notes and this makes it clear why some of the stories I wrote didn't feel quite the way I wanted them to.

I didn't really care for this book much, as it didn't really help me personally, but that may have just been where I was at at the time in my writing journey. It's still worth a read, as I did glean some helpful little tidbits about character creation.

⭐️⭐️⭐️
For beginners or if you're a little stuck

A solid book on characters that gets your brain focused on the characterisation of your novel. There are parts that might go too far over the top for a newbie, like inventing characters, but if you're stuck on creating characters this part will help you get out of a block. The plus point was looking at stereotypes and exaggerations as we're not always aware of them as we write.

The part that I was interested in was "Constructing Characters" and it fell flat. Even when you take your genre into consideration and major vs minor characters I expected there to be a little more "how to do" in this part. The author presented solid guidelines and the common red flags but nothing that helped me further with self editing my draft.

Viewpoint and tense and narration are the focus of the last part and his explanation offered a refreshing way to look at a writer's choice in his/her work.

I would pair this with GMC: Goal, Motivation, Conflict by Debra Dixon to fill in for "Constructing Characters" part.

An easy to read book with helpful information on dealing with character view point. Basically, what the title of the book claims, that's what Card does.
So glad I found this book at B & N and took the time to read it.
Would completely recommend this book to anyone who writes especially if he/she struggles with which P.O.V. to use.

I've got mixed feelings about reading this book. I stopped reading Card when I noticed homophobia intruding into the Mither Mages books, and vowed to not read any more of his books. However, this book is highly regarded and frequently recommended among writers, so... I figured I'd read it and steal his secrets and use them for good.

¯_(ツ)_/¯

"But I'm not happy about it," I said to the librarian, apropos of nothing, as she handed me the book.

The book itself was quite a good writing book. It's got detailed, nuts-and-bolts techniques, which is not common among the writing books I've read, which describe things at a much higher level. He includes many sample excerpts to demonstrate the techniques he's talking about, but I found them to be largely unnecessary or overly long. I skimmed most of them. The explanations of the techniques were enough for me, but other readers may get more benefit from the samples.

This was one of the first books on writing I read, and it was incredibly helpful to understand how to create engaging characters, choose a viewpoint - and stick with it. I've been guilty of many authoring crimes, but Head Hopping was not among them!

While the book focuses on characters, it also provides a brief overview of all four aspects of writing (characters, plot, setting, and ideas), sometimes referred to as the MICE quotient. This helps contextualize the information. The material is very practical, offering hands on techniques in how to create a character, match them with a suitable story, or develop a story around the character, and how to use and change the character over the course of the story.

I recommend reading Ender’s Game and Speaker for the Dead first, as examples of strong characters. See if anyone you know has also read them or would like to, particularly someone who enjoys discussing stories. Or write an analysis/review of the story. Start with what you liked/didn’t like, and why. This is a good way to solidify your own ideas before comparing them to those of the author.

3.5/5

It’s a classic, so worth reading—other teachers refer to it.

Didn’t blow my mind with new information, I got several unique concepts out of it. Found his discussion of third person narration—how to use different levels of penetration—worth the price of admission. And I similarly enjoyed his less cliched discussion of showing versus telling.

This book offers a lot of tips for developing characters your readers will love and/or hate. There is also some great information about choosing the most appropriate point of view to make your story its most vibrant.

This was an EXCELLENT guide to character writing! I absolutely devoured it, and since I already had a cast of characters in the works, it was great to see how to apply these techniques to my own creations. I loved this book! Will definitely go back and read it again sometime. Very helpful.

Very informative on the topic and reflected on the things it promised and more. I enjoyed the way the author would provide in-depth explanations of the concept he was discussing and then use his characters Nora and Pete to show how it works in practice. One of the best books on writing I have read thus far!