Build Better Characters: The Psychology of Backstory & how to Use it in Your Writing to Hook Readers

Book excerpt: Compelling characters are what keeps readers turning pages and buying books - from fantasies to mysteries to the great literary novel. But how to do you create characters that feel three dimensional and real on the page? Counsellor and author Eileen Cook shares common psychological techniques to help you build your characters and take your story to the next level. Covering understanding your character's backstory and how it impacts their choices in your book by doing a structured counselling interview, personality structure (Myers Briggs and Emotional Intelligence) and how that may lead to conflict, and understand dissecting the Stages of Change to see how your character moves through them . Filled with practical tips, examples and prompts this is a craft book you will return to over and over. This is the second book in the Creative Academy Guides for Writers series. Be sure to check out the rest of the guides for writers in this series. Scrappy Rough Draft by Donna Barker Build Better Characters by Eileen Cook Strategic Series Author by Crystal Hunt