Getting into Character

This book provides acting techniques writers can use to bring their fiction to life. In the early twentieth century, Russian director Constantin Stanislavsky transformed the acting world with a series of techniques he called "method acting." By discovering the inner life of a character, actors learned to bring emotional realism to their roles as never before. In "Getting Into Character", novelist Brandilyn Collins takes seven of the most eye-opening techniques of the Stanislavsky method and adapts them to the art of writing fiction. Like actors, writers learn how personalize characters, determine their action objectives in a scene, write subtexted dialogue, and much more. Collins concludes each chapter with excerpts from both a familiar classic and a modern bestseller to illustrate how top-notch authors from Jane Austen to Steve Martini have used these same techniques to great effect. Suitable for aspiring and accomplished novelists alike, "Getting Into Character" is a unique guide that will transform cliched writing and flat characters into believable and engaging fiction.