The compass of character : creating complex motivation for compelling characters in fiction, film, and TV : the four directional forces that guide your characters / David Corbett.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Corbett, David, 1953- author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Fiction--Authorship.

Fiction.

Fiction--Technique.

Motion picture authorship.

Creative writing.

Characters and characteristics.

Characters and characteristics in literature.

Plots (Drama, novel, etc.).

Physical Description:

280 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

[Cincinnati, Ohio] : Writer's Digest Books, [2019]

Summary:

"Just as a compass provides direction for an explorer, so does motivation provide direction for characters in fiction. The 'compass' of character motivation is composed of four points: Lack, Yearning, Resistance, and Desire. In The Compass of Character, you'll learn to deeply consider the key question 'What does my character want?' and learn techniques to answer that question by writing realistic and empathetic characters without falling into formulaic, unsatisfying results that only diminish the character. Bestselling author and acclaimed writing instructor David Corbett provides writers with the essentials for building characters with motivations that range from clear to complex by exploring topics such as: human yearning; pathological maneuvers; the pain of life vs. the promise of life; backstory and behavior; mechanics of growth and transformation; dramatizing mistaken desire and misbegotten yearnings; and moral arguments. The key to fascinating characters is rendering subtle inner states in straightforward external circumstances, which requires a fundamental understanding of the simple building blocks of complex motivation as they manifest themselves in behavior, where complexity of purpose collides with the messy, indifferent world. The Compass of Character is the one book that can guide writers to that end with both instruction and inspiration."--Publisher's description.

Contents:

Methodology of This Book-Motivation as the Compass of Character

Recent Trends in Storytelling Require Complex Motivation

Part 1 Developing a Technique

1 Logic of Longing p. 7

Fundamental Methodology of Motivation

Lack

Yearning

Resistance

Desire

2 Hole at the Heart of the Matter-Lack p. 14

I Echo in the Empty Room

II Projection and Contentment-How Lack Reveals Itself in Simple Characters

III Urgency, Anxiety, and Denial-How Lack Reveals Itself in More Complex Characters

IV Special Case of Lack Induced by Trauma or Tragic Loss

V When the Character's Oblivion Is Absolute

VI Symbolic Representation of the Character's Lack

3 Heart of the Matter Itself-Yearning p. 34

I Pulse of the Story, the Source of Willfulness

II Lack and Yearning -Cause vs. Effect

III Yearning as a Calling, Self, Soul, or Destiny

IV Yearning as a Natural Outgrowth of Lack

V Weighing and Balancing the Two Approaches

VI How Yearning Defines the Stakes

VII Yearning's Ineffable Nature

VIII Bringing Yearning Down to Story Size

IX No Man Is an Island: The Role of Others in the Character's Yearning

4 Why the Character's Yearning Remains Unfulfilled-Resistance p. 78

I Weaknesses

II Wounds

III Limitations

IV Opposition/Obligations

V Flaws

VI Interplay Among Factors-and the Overriding Issue

VII Giving the Resistance Its Own Daimon

5 Backstory as Behavior: Pathological Maneuvers vs. Persistent Virtues p. 113

I Exploring Backstory for the Character's Key Seminal Moments

II Finding the Connective Tissue or Theme Among Backstory Moments

III Moving From Moments to Habitual Behavior-Pathological Maneuvers and Persistent Virtues

6 Prime Mover, Desire-Not Conflict-Drives Backstory p. 145

I Desire Drives Story

II Desire and Change

III Linking Desire to Yearning

IV Motivating the Character Who Is Reluctant to Act

7 Weaving a Life: The Three Levels of Dramatic Action p. 175

I Story's Three-Tier Structure

II Stories That Contain Only One or Two Struggle Levels

III Interweaving Struggle Levels

IV Using Intrinsic Longings to Interweave Struggle Levels

V Interweaving Struggle Levels-Two Examples

Part 2 Develop a Deeper Understanding

8 Folly's Footsteps: Misguided Desires and Misbegotten Yearnings p. 190

II A Common View of Character Arc-Analysis and Critique

III Illuminative Examples

IV Moral Dilemmas and Dream-Killing Choices

9 Force of Evil: Death Wishes, Malignant Hearts, and Summoning the Apocalypse p. 236

I Are Villains Born or Made?

II Moral Argument: Morality-and Immorality-as Motive

III Diabolical Distinctions

IV Villain in Secret Search of Punishment

10 Divided Desire: The Special Case of the Anti-Hero p. 262.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

9781440300868

1440300860

OCLC:

1086011064

Publisher Number:

99984998399