Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn From Actors

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Summary: Getting Into Character Really Got Into My Characters
Review: As a relatively new writer, Getting Into Character was a fabulous addition to my writer's textbook library. In using the techniques to re-evaluate my characters, I have been able to significantly broaden and deepen their presentation on the page and, hopefully, in the minds of my readers. Weak characterization can steal the soul from a book and cause it to have little or no lasting impact. Getting Into Character is helping me detect and eliminate the cotton candy from my writing and put meat and potatoes in its place. Warning: It may also bring about personal revelations regarding core values, action objectives, and coloring passions that could change your life. Writer, know thyself!

Kudos to Brandilyn Collins for bringing us this deep and insightful book. Are you sure this one shouldn't be in the psychology section?

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Summary: The Best Book On Creating Characters I have Ever read
Review: Brandilyn Collins has written one of the most valuable books for novelists wanting to create multi-dimensional characters. I have read several books on creating characters, including books by renowned Hollywood script consultants, and none of them comes close to being as unique, helpful, and well written.

Brandilyn has a great teaching style in her writing and she uses perfect examples to explain the Method acting theories and how they can help novelists create characters whose traits are integral to the plot and not just an afterthought.

I can't write a glowing enough review of Getting Into Character. Brandilyn's book is helping me to dig deeper into my characters, to understand not just their motivation but the psychology behind that motivation. I can already tell that many of the struggles I've been having will no longer be a problem thanks to this book. If you are serious about getting published this is a must for your writer's library.

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Summary: Fine Tune Your Writing
Review: Brandilyn Collins treats us to the seven secrets she uses to bring her fiction to life. Through great examples and thorough explanations, she shows writers how to incorporate these secrets.

Beginning with personalizing, she encourages writers to dig deeply to understand themselves and their characters in a way that almost guarantees well-rounded characters. She delves into areas not often thought about that broaden and strengthen stories in surprising ways.

Use of action objectives provides clear motives, tension and conflict for characters, and subtexting explains how to capture unspoken dialogue on the printed page. Coloring passions and inner rhythm help writers develop rich, believable, emotional characters. Restraint and control explains how authors can make the best word choices, and emotion memory enables writers to create vivid characters even though they have not had experiences similar to those of their characters.

The appendix alone is worth the price of the book, because it recommends additional books on writing fiction. Each entry lists the book Ms. Collins recommends and the secret it supplements. 'Getting Into Character' will help both novice and experienced writers hone their skills. My well-worn copy sits on my desk so I can refer to it often.

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Summary: Great for Experienced or Inexperienced Writers
Review: Brandilyn Collins, who has created some of the most memorable characters in fiction, has taken the principles of Method Acting and applied them to creating 3-dimensional characters in fiction. From personalizing your characters to discovering their deepest desires and emotions, Getting Into Character can help even the most inexperienced writer create believable characters that their readers will bond with emotionally.

I am close to finishing my degree to teach college-level Creative Writing and plan to use Brandilyn's book as one of my main texts in teaching fiction writing.

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Summary: A must-have for fiction writers.
Review: Explore your characters before you write your story. This book will help by making you get to know them-- it's as easy as starting with an interview. I recommend this to fiction writers of all genres.

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Summary: The start of a new era in character development
Review: If you want to get a headstart into what is to come in the next wave of character development then get this book. In my opinion, the future of character development and the secrets in creating a real person on paper lies in the studies done by professional acting coaches.

How did I get this opinion? Well, I was so enlightened by the information in this writing manual that I read the books by the acting coaches Collins refers to and discovered that Collins has scraped the surfaced on a whole science. These acting coaches studied human behavior not only from a scientific point of view but from a sensory point of view. At the time these "Acting Scientists" wrote these books, human behavior sciences like psychology, psychiatry and hypnotherapy were making great strides and right along with them, "Acting Scientists" were adding these priniciples to their acting methods creating a science that changed acting forever. And today, thanks to Collins, Novelists who want to create a real person can benifit handsomely.

There is a thin line between a great novelist and a great actor and I hope to see more acting techniques being translated for the novelist who wants to be great.

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Summary: Bring Your Characters To Life!
Review: Looking for dynamic new insights into character development for your unfinished novel? Brandilynn Collins masterfully presents techniques gleaned from Method Acting to pique your interest and expand your writing skills. "Seven Secrets" lead a novelist to explore the depths of each of his/her characters with a fresh perspective, bringing a vitality and roundedness to their creation that might have been missing. Brandilynn then anchors each technique by illustrating its application in classic works. At the same time, the book is an entertaining conversation, as if the author sat across from the reader over a cup of coffee and discussed their mutual difficulties and successes as writers. Sure to become a "must-have" guide, Getting Into Character is an outstanding work.

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Summary: What more can I say?
Review: The other reveiwers have it right. After studying more than 30 titles on the craft of writing, I can say that this is by far the most useful work on developing believable and well-rounded characters that I have seen to date. The information is timely, practical, and accessible. The examples are well-organized and perfectly suited to the material. The writer can take what he learns and put into practice immediately. Excellent work!

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Summary: THE BEST "HOW-TO-WRITE" BOOK FOR BEGINNERS OR ADVANCED
Review: This is the best "how-to-write" book I have read (and I have over 30 "how-to" books on my shelf now that I have studied). This is great for beginning fiction writers or advanced writers - anyone who wants to make their characters and their stories come to life.

Brandilyn Collins' book GETTING INTO CHARACTER: SEVEN SECRETS A NOVELIST CAN LEARN FROM ACTORS has opened my eyes to how to make my characters sparkle on the pages.

In fact, Brandilyn's chapter on the "Personalizing" process led me to some new realizations about my major character in my current novel-in-progress. I discovered things about my character that I would never have dreamed up without the steps that Brandilyn recommended.

I also loved the entire "Inner Rhythm" chapter in Brandilyn's book - that is be the perfect way to capture on paper the "pace" of the story along with the exact thoughts and movements of my characters. And the "Emotion Memory" chapter is fantastic. I can see how much easier it is to capture some of the inner turmoil that my characters are facing in my novel by using what Brandilyn suggested.

Even if you think you don't need to buy another "how-to-write" book, I would HIGHLY recommend Brandilyn Collins' book.

Melissa Lowe Richardson
Blue Dove Ministries
Helping to heal "blue" hearts using Christian fiction books
www.BlueDoveMinistries.com
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