Some
of you might know that I do book reviews over at The Readers’ Suite. Most of
the books I’ve been reading are those I review for People with Voices or the
ones authors ask me to take on. Last
Friday, I was on Goodreads and while looking through my page, I came across a
book I wanted to read, but hadn’t got around to. I downloaded a sample from
Amazon and then bought the book.
It was a Mills and Book Modern Romance. I haven’t read one of those is years because the storylines started feeling like the same tale with different people, plus they’re written in the same way. However, this one was very strong on characterization. The plot wasn’t unique or complex, however, for the first time, I was reading about a female character with physical flaws – burn scars. The writer did a great job putting me into the heads of girl and guy. This is a skill I respect. I’m posting the cover here because it serves as a cool reminder of the escape I enjoyed this weekend and no, I don’t know the writer.
I’ve
made it a point in my writing to pay special attention to my characters. Stories
fall flat if characterization isn’t done right. We know that. This particular
element of writing is why I started this blog and how it got its name, but boy,
have I strayed off point with my posts.
I don’t
think it takes special talent to write compelling characters. My method is to
always be inside the skin or the person whose story I’m telling. It can be
emotionally disturbing, but based on the reviews I’ve gotten on my books to
date, I believe I’m doing something right. It’s all well and good to have a
rollicking plot, but if there isn’t a larger-than-life protagonist to make the
story rock, you lose me as a reader.
So, what
do you think? Can you live without a unique character and deep point-of-view? D’you
believe it takes talent to come up with compelling characters or d’you think it’s
something every writer can learn to do over time?
