the writing workbench
"Writing fiction is a solitary art." - Orson Scott CardNovel Writing
A novel is loosely a long fiction prose involving character and action and telling a story. The novel is longer (at least 50,000 words) and more complex than either the short story or the novella.
Novel Ingredients
Character Building
The book covers the techniques of inventing, developing, and presenting characters, plus handling point of view.
Orson Scott Card
Orson Scott Card is an award-winning science fiction novelist whose credits include the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards. Besides authoring Characters & Viewpoint, he provides a wealth of information, encouragement, and feedback to writers of all stripes at his web-site,Hatrack River.
Character Controls Destiny
No fiction can have real interest if the central character is not an agent struggling for his or her own goals but a victim, subject to the will of others. (Failure to recognize that the central must act, not simply be acted upon, is the single most common mistake in the fiction of beginners.) We care how things turn out because the character cares. Our interest comes from empathy. And though we may know more than the character knows, anticipating dangers the character cannot see, we understand and to some degree sympathize with the character's desire, approving what the character approves (what the character values), even if we sense that the character's ideal is impractical or insufficient. - The Art of Fiction by John Gardner
Back Cover
From the back cover, of Characters & Viewpoint:
You'll learn how to...
