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    The Emotionally Engaging Character
    The Emotionally Engaging Character
    The Emotionally Engaging Character
    Ebook37 pages1 hour

    The Emotionally Engaging Character

    By Ruth Ann Nordin

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    About this ebook

    If you're writing fiction, one of the most important investments you can make is in your characters. They are the glue that holds your story together. Without them, the reader has no reason to keep reading. If you want to write a compelling story, your characters need to be so real that they engage with the reader on an emotional level. The purpose of this book is to help you do that.

    The topics covered in this book are as follows:
    The importance of writing what you're passionate about
    Why you should know your characters more intimately than your readers ever will
    How to incorporate bias, imperfection, and things unknown into the character's point of view
    Why the character is always right
    Making the character "react" instead of "act"
    Why the character should influence plot, setting, and conflict (instead of the other way around)
    Tempting the character to the point they might break
    Delving into emotions
    How supporting characters can enhance the main character's journey

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRuth Ann Nordin
    Release dateJun 19, 2016
    ISBN9781310292651
    The Emotionally Engaging Character
    Author

    Ruth Ann Nordin

    Ruth Ann Nordin has written almost 100 romances, ranging from Regencies to historical westerns to contemporaries. She plays with other genres from time to time, but her first love is romance. She has been happily married for twenty-two years to a sweet and funny guy, and they have four sons, who are all taller than Ruth now that they're 16, 17, 19, and 20. The good thing is she doesn't need a ladder. She considers herself very lucky to have led such a charmed life. Being able to play with characters and create stories is just icing on the cake. Hopefully, she'll get to keep doing this many years to come.

    Read more from Ruth Ann Nordin

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      Book preview

      The Emotionally Engaging Character - Ruth Ann Nordin

      Writing Tips: Book 2

      The Emotionally Engaging Character

      Ruth Ann Nordin

      The Emotionally Engaging Character- Smashwords Edition

      Published by Ruth Ann Nordin at Smashwords

      Copyright © 2016 by Ruth Ann Nordin

      All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes:

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      Cover Photo images Dreamstime. www.dreamstime.com. All rights reserved – used with permission.

      Wedded Bliss Romances, LLC

      http://www.ruthannnordin.com

      Table of Contents

      Chapter One: Getting to Know Your Character

      Chapter Two: Point of View

      Chapter Three: The Character is Always Right

      Chapter Four: Catering Things to Your Character

      Chapter Five: Tapping into Emotion (Example: Sorrow)

      Chapter Six: Supporting Characters

      In Conclusion

      Additional Resources to Help Writers

      Chapter One

      Getting to Know Your Character

      In real life, there is a part of us no one truly knows, no matter how close they get to us. Sure, people around us will have varying degrees of intimacy with us. Our spouse will know us better than our friend, and our friend will know us better than an acquaintance. But the only one who truly knows us is us.

      The same should be true if we are to write the emotionally engaging character. We should know their backgrounds, their darkest secrets (even those that never show up in the story), and we should know their futures.

      This can be a sad thing. I write romance, which is a happy genre. You always have a happy ending. But I know things

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