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Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets A Novelist Can Learn From Actors Paperback – April 26, 2015

by Brandilyn Collins (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 182 ratings
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EDITION 2: Revised with some new material gathered through 13 years of teaching these concepts at writers conferences.Want to bring characters to life on the page as vividly as fine actors do on the stage or screen? Getting Into Character will give you a whole new way of thinking about your writing. Drawing on the Method Acting theory that theater professionals have used for decades, this in-depth guide explains seven characterization techniques and adapts them for the novelist’s use. You’ll discover concepts that will lead you to understand and communicate the motivation and psychology of all your characters. These highly effective techniques will help you: ~ create characters whose distinctive traits become plot components ~ determine each character’s specific objectives and motivations ~ write natural, meaningful dialogue that moves the story forward ~ endow your characters with three-dimensional emotional lives ~ use character motivation to bring action sequences to exuberant life ~ write convincingly about any character facing any circumstance
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  1. Print length
    239 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    April 26, 2015
  4. Dimensions
    6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    0692438874
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0692438879
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

BRANDILYN COLLINS, an award-winning and bestselling novelist of 30 books, is known for her fast-paced, twisting Seatbelt Suspense(R), and her insightful contemporary novels. She is a popular keynote speaker and teacher at writers conferences.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Challow Press (April 26, 2015)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 239 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0692438874
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0692438879
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.6 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 182 ratings

About the author

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Brandilyn Collins

Brandilyn Collins

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"Collins is a fine writer who knows how to both horrify readers and keep them turning pages." -- Publishers Weekly

"Collins keeps coming with fascinating, unique plots." --RT BookReviews

"Brandilyn Collins, the queen of Seatbelt Suspense®, certainly lives up to her well-deserved reputation." -- CBA Retailers

"[Collins is] a master of her craft ... intensity, tension, high-caliber suspense, and engaging mystery." -- The Christian Manifesto

"Collins keeps the reader gasping and guessing ... artistic prose paints vivid pictures ... High marks for original plotting and superb pacing." -- RT BookClub

------------------

Brandilyn Collins is an award-winning and best-selling novelist known for her trademarked Seatbelt Suspense®--fast-paced, character-driven suspense with myriad twists and an interwoven thread of faith. She also writes insightful contemporary novels with rich characters. She is often blamed for keeping her readers up at night, as they "just have to see what happens next."

In nonfiction, Brandilyn is known for her distinctive book on fiction-writing techniques, Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn From Actors (John Wiley & Sons). Writers Digest Magazine named Getting Into Character one of the top books on writing of 2002.

You can read excerpts from all Brandilyn's books at her Web site: www.brandilyncollins.com. That's also a good place to subscribe to her free newsletter, Sneak Pique, so you can be among the first to know about her latest releases.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
182 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Diana U
5.0 out of 5 stars Fine Tune Your Writing
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2002
Verified Purchase
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.
18 people found this helpful
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Brennan McPherson
5.0 out of 5 stars Helpful for identifying elements for deeper characterization
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2020
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Book covers many helpful tips for quickly identifying elements needed for deeper characterization. Actionable steps that are easy to follow. For working writers, having a sort of formula of questions to lead you through the development process demystifies the magic and gives you a road to walk to avoid writers' block, anxiety, etc. Not a cure-all, but a great tool to strengthen your writing. I'm a multi-published author of novels with several for-hire screenplays under my belt. Also, I'm in between a plotter and a "pantser." This book works well for both. I would also recommend Susie May Warren's "The Story Equation" as a companion to this book--although that book is less clear in its presentation, if you read and underline carefully, you can use it very well, and it carries some of the more powerful characterization tools that augment this book's ideas.
2 people found this helpful
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Merwin McCrady
4.0 out of 5 stars Very Insightful
Reviewed in the United States on February 20, 2020
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Although I came form a theatre background, I was barely taught Stanislavsky’s method and now wish I had. And although I’d rather write than act, this was so insightful. I have been looking for a book that would be more helpful in creating and revising characters in my stories and this gave me techniques that I will definitely use. Some of the techniques and the way she described are better described in other books so I glossed over those, only taking what I thought was important which was still 90% of the book or more. Novelists and fiction writers can definitely take note from the acting and theatre world.
One person found this helpful
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Kindle Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A Writer's Must-Have
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2019
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Getting Into Character: Seven Secrets a Novelist Can Learn from Actors, by Brandilyn Collins, is not your average writing how-to resource. I began reading this book with the expectation that I would find basic ideas about character development. However, I was delighted to find that, while the book does deliver those ideas, it also does so much more.

Getting Into Character approaches character development through the system of Method Acting, a set of techniques formalized by Constantin Stanislavsky. In this system, method actors use the techniques of Personalizing; Action Objectives; Subtext; Coloring Passions; Inner Rhythm; Restraint and Control; and Emotion Memory to delve deeply into a character’s emotions and motivations so that they may portray characters in a fully-developed way. Brandilyn Collins identifies each of these techniques very briefly, then spends one chapter per technique discussing in detail how to apply each to developing story characters.

I am only one third of the way through this resource, but already I have learned so much. For example, I have known
for a while that, in order to build a rich plot, characters should have internal and external goals and those goals should be somewhat related. However, in the chapter on Action Objectives, Collins coaches readers to state these goals as a two-pronged Desire in which a plan of action is followed by an ultimate goal. Collins then goes further to detail to discuss how this two-pronged Desire helps create scenes of conflict that are organic to the story and fight the dreaded mid-story plot sag.

These tidbits alone have helped me streamline my writing process, transforming the plot development of my third novel in such a way that, by itself, this technique makes the book worth what it costs. I can’t wait to see what the rest of this resource holds.
13 people found this helpful
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Melissa Sugar
5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect - Show Your Character's Need On Paper
Reviewed in the United States on June 18, 2015
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This is an excellent book for any novelist who wants to improve their character arc skills. The author takes us through what an actor must learn to effectively get into character. It's not just about thinking about an incident in your own life that shares the same emotion as the character. It's not that simple for an actor and it's not that simple for an author. This book digs deeper into the motivation and need for the want or goal of each scene as it relates to the overall story goal. I have a much better appreciation for the process and my writing has improved thanks to this book. Once you understand what your character really wants and why she needs it, you can write true and authentic body language, gestures, facial expressions and dialogue that will feel real to your readers and that is consistent with how a particular character would act/react/emote during specific situations. Reading this book, for me, was like taking a course in writing real characters based on their needs and motivation. This is one of my few go to writing books that I keep with me at all times. I highly recommend this book to writers of all genres, whether you are a new or experienced novelist.
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Top reviews from other countries

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sophomore
4.0 out of 5 stars molto utile per chi scrive narrativa
Reviewed in Italy on October 22, 2021
Verified Purchase
Dopo aver letto altri libri dedicati alla tecnica narrativa ho trovato la citazione di questo bel libro. L'idea di base è quella di imparare gradualmente a costruire personaggi tridimensionali e credibili seguendo una serie di passaggi che si ispirano alle tecniche attoriali di Stanislavsky e Boleslavsky. L'ho trovato decisamente utile.
One person found this helpful
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Elizabeth Sime
5.0 out of 5 stars F abulous
Reviewed in Canada on July 16, 2017
Verified Purchase
Just returned from a workshop "Turning Memoirs into Fiction."
Wish I had read this before going. I will reread this book. Hope it sticks to help me develop my next character..
One person found this helpful
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Liz
3.0 out of 5 stars OK but not as good as I'd hoped.
Reviewed in Australia on December 18, 2019
Verified Purchase
May suit a beginner but I didn't learn much that was new from this book.
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Ann Marie
5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Insights
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 2, 2015
Verified Purchase
The author, Brandilyn Collins, studied acting, including the Method of acting laid out by Constantin Stanislavsky, which teaches actors to really get inside a character, to take on their inner lives, to become the character. When she became a writer, she automatically used the Method techniques to bring her characters alive. Speaking to other writers, she was surprised that they didn't know about this, which is why she wrote this book.

I was fascinated by the idea, as I really need to work on the characters in my novel. Brandilyn explains the different techniques very well, with specially written examples and study passages from classic novels and her own books.

She shares seven 'Secrets' which authors can use to get inside their characters and make them believable, and then learn to write about them in a realistic way. For example, Secret #1 Personalizing, ensures your characters aren't stereotypes. By focusing on a character's inner values you can discover natural traits and mannerisms that spring from their backstory instead of just making them up. You may even discover a whole new plot point because of a belief or attitude you had not considered before.

The first five 'Secrets' show you how to burrow down into your characters and discover their inner traits, manners and objectives and how they will manifest in different situations. The last two 'Secrets' are about how to write what you have discovered, creating a strong visual picture and using your own emotional memory to portray your character's actions and reactions.

I like her statement, 'Good fiction can be defined with "Five Cs": convincing characters caught in compelling conflict.'
5 people found this helpful
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Stefan Mueller
5.0 out of 5 stars Einzigartige Einsichten für die direkte Umsetzung...
Reviewed in Germany on April 8, 2015
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...dieses Buch zeigt definitiv, wie's gemacht wird: den entworfenen Charakteren die Tiefe zu geben, die sie individuell machen - im Gegensatz zu den Figuren, die oft in plotgetriebenen Romanen und Erzählungen auftauchen. Für mich exakt das fehlende Puzzlestück, das das ganze Bild des gelungenen Charakterentwurfs zusammensetzt. Und das nicht bloß theoretisch: sondern es zeigt für jeden der Punkte auf, wie es textlich/literarisch/konzeptionell eingearbeitet wird, handwerklich. Definitiv das Buch, das ich gebraucht habe. Uneingeschränkte Empfehlung.
One person found this helpful
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