Book Review: 10 Steps to Creating Memorable Characters by Sue Viders, Lucynda Storey, Cher Gorman, Becky Martinez

The great agent and author Noah Lukeman states in his book The Plot Thickens that all good fiction is character driven. I agree completely. A good setting, a good plot, and the best literary skills won’t mean anything if your characters aren’t up to snuff. I’d go so far as to say that you could possibly get by with an average plot, setting, and writing skills if your characters are great. Great characters drive plot and create their own literary drama. But how do you get great characters? One of the simpler ways is to follow the guidelines in 10 Steps to Creating Memorable Characters. This large format workbook is super easy to follow and actually kind of fun, as novel writing goes.

The book takes you from start to finish through the development of both key and secondary characters - you just fill in the blanks to indicate things like physical description, profession, history, relationships, personality, body language and speech, wardrobe and possessions, and environment and daily living. As the title suggests, there are 10 steps in all - including the final one, which is putting it all together. For each step or section, there are exercises to help you gain a deeper understanding of what you’re trying to do. These might include things like writing mini-stories, exploring angles on your character under different circumstances, or exploring other characters in films or literature.

You’ll probably do one of the things in the book anyway. It’s likely that you’ll define some of your character’s clothing, and his or her physical appearance, come up with a name and a few complications, regardless of what kind of book you're writing or your level of experience. But few people would go to the extent that Viders, Storey, Gorman, and Martinez are suggesting, and without this kind of detail, your characters just won’t be as rich. You could wing it as you go along, letting your character develop his or herself, but — as the authors rightly suggest — that’s a very hard way to write a novel, and it’s so easy to lose your way.

Article Author: Maggie Ball

Magdalena Ball runs The Compulsive Reader. She is the author of Sleep Before Evening, The Art of Assessment, Quark Soup, and, in collaboration with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Cherished Pulse and She Wore Emerald Then. …

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