Speaker 1: 1:01

The other thing I really love about it is there's a chapter on brainstorming the antagonist journey, and I love this because writers will often spend a lot of time developing their protagonist and completely neglect their antagonist's emotional wounds and trauma, and this is really such a great way to create an antagonist or a villain who has more depth than just being evil for the sake of evil. I mean, even if they do bad or evil deeds, they're probably someone whose past created some kind of twistic logic that drives their actions. Welcome to the Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast. My name is Savannah Gilbo and I'm here to help you write a story that works. I want to prove to you that writing a novel doesn't have to be overwhelming, so each week, I'll bring you a brand new episode with simple, actionable and step-by-step strategies that you can implement in your writing right away. So whether you're brand new to writing or more of a seasoned author looking to improve your craft, this podcast is for you. So pick up a pen and let's get started. In today's episode, I'm sharing my top five recommendations for books about character development, and while there are so many great character development resources out there, these are the five books that have made the biggest impact on me as a writer and on the writers I've worked with as well. Now a little spoiler I don't think you need to go out and buy all of these books to write great characters, although you certainly can if you're like me and you enjoy having a library full of books about writing. But I do recommend that if you're like me and you enjoy having a library full of books about writing. But I do recommend that if you're someone who struggles to create characters that feel real and compelling, you might want to pick one from this list, the one that speaks to you the most or that speaks to your particular pain point the most, and then work through some of the advice with your own story and your own characters. So, as I share each recommendation, I'm, of course, going to talk about why I love that particular book, but I'm also going to mention what kind of writer that book is best for or what particular pain point that book will help you solve.

Speaker 1: 3:07

Savannagilbocom forward slash character books. One word savannagilbocom forward slash character books. If you go there and you put in your name and email, I will literally send this list of books straight to your inbox. That way, you don't have to take notes or worry about making a mental note to remember to check out anything later. It'll all be right there in your inbox, all right.

Speaker 1: 3:21

So, with that being said, let's just dive right in, starting with my first recommendation and these are in no particular order, by the way. But my first recommendation is the Emotional Wound Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi, and I love this book so much because, as someone who coaches writers for a living, I know that many writers, when they first start learning about character development and they start developing their characters, they learn that their characters need to have a goal and they need to have a motivation. And yes, that's a great place to start, but it's very easy to stay stuck on the surface level of things. So what I mean by that is let's pretend a character wants to get a promotion and become the fashion editor at their magazine, and let's pretend they want to do that because they've been climbing the career ladder their whole life and that's the natural next step. Now, on the surface, that goal and motivation makes perfect sense, right? But if you stop there and you don't dig a layer deeper, then what's going to happen is you're probably going to run out of steam when you're drafting and your plot will probably fall apart. So this book helps writers go deeper and figure out why your character might have that specific goal and motivation or why they're showing up on page one with that specific goal and motivation.

Speaker 1: 4:32

And so how this book is structured is it's broken out by type of trauma, essentially so like crime and victimization is one bucket, failures and mistakes is another, injustice and hardship is another, and so on and so on. And then within those categories there are specific wounding events that you can browse through and choose from. So let's pretend that we're looking in the injustice and hardship bucket as an example. You can then drill down into things like maybe your character was being forced to keep a dark secret, or maybe they were the victim of a vicious rumor, or maybe they've lived through civil unrest. There are just so many options within each category, and what's really cool is that the authors don't just list traumatic events for the sake of creating this really big list. They actually show you exactly how each type of wound ripples through a person's entire life, through their entire worldview and through their behaviors. So, for example, someone who experienced abandonment as a child is going to approach relationships completely differently than someone who faced betrayal or neglect, right so to say.

Speaker 1: 5:35

This book will give you a ton of ideas for your character's backstory and, more importantly, so many ideas for how to use that backstory to inform your story. Present is an understatement. You will get so many ideas from this book. The other thing I really love about it is there's a chapter on brainstorming the antagonist journey, and I love this because writers will often spend a lot of time developing their protagonist and completely neglect their antagonist's emotional wounds and trauma, and this is really such a great way to create an antagonist or a villain who has more depth than just being evil for the sake of evil. I mean, even if they do bad or evil deeds, they're probably someone who's past created some kind of twistic logic that drives their actions. So, again, if you're having trouble getting to that deeper layer of why your characters do what they do or why they are who they are, you will absolutely love this book and, of course, I will put a link to this book and the rest of the books in the show notes for you. But this one was the Emotional Wound Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi.

Speaker 1: 6:33

Alright, next up on the list is a book called Creating Character Arcs the Masterful Author's Guide to Uniting Story Structure, plot and Character Development by KM Weiland. This book is perfect for anyone who wants to learn how to develop a character arc or who wants to learn how to marry character growth with story structure. So in this book the author breaks down the difference between a positive character arc, a negative character arc and a flat character arc, and then she shows you exactly how character change, no matter which kind of arc you choose, should align with story structure. So essentially, she's showing you where your character should be mentally and emotionally at each major plot point, which is pretty cool, and I believe she also touches on how to write character arcs across a book series as well. So lots of great stuff in there about crafting character arcs.

Speaker 1: 7:19

But probably my favorite part in the book is in the back part, where the author answers some FAQs about writing character arcs, and these are so fun because they're the exact same questions that I get from writers all the time. So things like how can I figure out what my character's arc should be, or can a character's arc be a subplot, or should all my minor characters have arcs, or what if my character doesn't have an arc, things like that. I love this part because they're FAQs. For a reason, right, people are frequently asking about these things and she addresses them in such a straightforward and clear way that I just really appreciate it. So I really love this book, and I will say it's probably more for writers who lean towards the plotter side of the plotter-panser spectrum, so those who identify as having more of an analytical brain, maybe, but that doesn't mean that pansers can't get a lot from this book as well. I just know sometimes pansers don't like the structure that plotters do, so just something to keep in mind. All right. So that is my second recommendation Creating Character Arcs, the Masterful Author's Guide to Uniting Story Structure, plot and Character Development by KM Weiland, and I will link to that one in the show notes as well.

Speaker 1: 8:27

Third up on the list is the Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines the 16 Master Archetypes by Tammy D Cowden, carla Fever and Sue Viders, and this book is perfect for you if you're someone who likes to have a blueprint to start anything new. What I mean by this is that the authors have come up with 16 archetypes and then sub-archetypes under those main 16 that include things like a description of that archetype, the qualities and virtues that that kind of person might possess, possible occupations and even ideas for their backstory. So, for example, one of the archetypes in the book is called the lost soul, and this type of character is described as someone who's tormented and filled with angst and passion. They drift through life with a heavy heart and wounded spirit. They're probably dramatic, intriguing and secretive and has never adapted to society. And then there's a whole lot more in the description. Then they list a few characters from popular books or movies who fit this archetype and then they go on to share that this type of character would probably be someone who's creative and complex, who's maybe a man of few words but is really appreciative of beauty and other things like that. And then, as far as flaws, they might be brooding, unforgiving, fatalistic and maybe even highly critical as well.

Speaker 1: 9:40

After that they go into probably my favorite part of each archetype and that's what each archetype's background was probably like. So, for the lost soul it basically says and I'm totally paraphrasing this, but it basically says they might have had a normal childhood to begin with, but then something happened that isolated them from society and started shaping them into the person they'd become Illness or injury, probably kept them apart, or maybe it was the jeering prejudice of the other kids. Either way, their response was to remove themselves, and so on and so on. There are literally pages and pages of information on each archetype, including the sub archetypes, and so two sub archetypes of the lost soul are the outcast and the wanderer. So they call a character like Angel and Buffy the wanderer, and then someone like Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights the outcast. So these are both subtypes of the lost soul. Anyway, this book is super fun to read through and it gives writers a great place to start when it comes to character creation. So as a reminder that one's called the Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines, the 16 Master Archetypes I will put a link to that one in the show notes as well.

Speaker 1: 10:46

All right, next up on the list is the Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Moss, and this book is great for anyone who struggles to bring their characters to life on the page. So if you've ever had feedback that maybe says you're telling too much of your character's emotions and reactions and not showing them enough on the page, or if you've been told your writing feels distant and too objective, then this is the book for you. It literally teaches you what the title says. It teaches you the emotional craft of fiction. So in this book, the author shows you how to make every sentence, every description and every bit of dialogue reflect your point of view, character's unique perspective and emotional state. He talks about things like how to tap into your character's emotions when there's failure and defeat. He talks about how to write emotional high moments, how to craft emotional goals in your scenes, how to write feelings without naming them, and so much more. Now for this one. I probably wouldn't recommend it to someone who is a complete beginner only because it might feel a little overwhelming when you're already trying to learn everything else there is in terms of writing a book. But if you're someone who's been writing for a while and you want to get better at interiority and showing your character on the page, then you will probably really enjoy this book. So that one is the Emotional Craft of Fiction by Donald Moss. I will link to that one in the show notes for you as well.

Speaker 1: 12:05

And then, last up, my last recommendation is Story Genius by Lisa Krohn. I love this book for so many reasons, but primarily because it's so good at showing writers how to marry plot with character, and I know I said this earlier about KM Weiland's book, and I also said that that one was probably more of a recommendation for plotters than pantsers. Well, this one Story Genius, is actually the opposite, in my opinion. Now, of course, I think it's great for all writers, but I've found that pantsers in particular, who know they need to marry plot with character and who know that they need to add structure to their work, they tend to like the way that this book and that this author presents the nuts and bolts of doing so in a more organic way. So, rather than laying out the emotional journey beat by beat, this book shows you how to really get in your character's head and say, okay, this happened in the plot. Now what would my character realistically do, based on everything I know about them and based on where they're going? So, although, again, I would definitely recommend this to all types of writers, I would say that this one is especially pantser friendly.

Speaker 1: 13:08

All right, so let me walk you through how this one's laid out. First, the author takes us through how to really get in your character's head and how to uncover the important parts of their backstory that will inform how they show up on page one and how they're going to behave going forward. And then, after that, she walks you through how to design your plot in such a way that it puts pressure on your character's wound, flaw or inner obstacle whatever you want to call it so that the plot will inevitably force them to grow and change. And then, at the very end, she has a section on layering in subplots and secondary storylines, which I think is pretty practical and interesting as well. So I definitely recommend this one. It's one of my all-time favorite craft books, just because of how accessible it is and how balanced it is in terms of being good for plotters and pantsers.

Speaker 1: 13:54

All right. So that is my last recommendation for you in terms of books that are great character development resources. That last one was Story Genius by Lisa Krohn, which I will, of course, link in the show notes for you and, as a reminder, I put together this entire list in an email for you as well. So if you go to savannahgilbocom forward, slash character books all one word, one more time, savannahgilbocom forward, slash character books all one word, one more time, savannahgilbocom forward, slash character books, and then put in your name and your email, I will literally send this list straight to your inbox. That way, you don't have to hunt around in the show notes or make a mental note to remember to check out anything later. You'll have it right there in your email inbox.

Speaker 1: 14:31

All right, and so the last thing I want to say on character development is that, above all else, just remember that character development goes way beyond knowing your character's favorite color or their biggest fear. It even goes beyond their surface level goals and motivations. It's really about understanding how that person's past shaped them, what drives them forward and why, and then, of course, how they'll change throughout the story. And I highly recommend, if you're having trouble with this, if you're having trouble developing your characters or executing a proper character arc, I highly recommend checking out one of the books you heard in today's episode.

Speaker 1: 15:05

All right, so that's it for this episode of the Fiction Writing Made Easy podcast. Head over to savannagilbocom forward slash podcast for the complete show notes, including the resources I mentioned today, as well as bonus materials to help you implement what you've learned, and if you're ready to get more personalized guidance for your specific writing stage, whether you're just starting out, stuck somewhere in the middle of a draft, drowning in revisions, or getting ready to publish. Take my free 30-second quiz at savannahgilbocom forward slash quiz. You'll get a customized podcast playlist that'll meet you right where you're at and help you get to your next big milestone. Last but not least, make sure to follow this podcast in your podcast player of choice, because I'll be back next week with another episode full of actionable tips, tools and strategies to help you become a better writer. Until then, happy writing.