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We Interrupt This Series (Avatar) For An Important Announcement

character-340x581With humble apologies to those who are impatient with my infrequent efforts to make a buck from this site (hey, all this good stuff is free, and I do appreciate your support when these moments arrive), but I’m excited to break this news today:

I’m announcing the release of my new ebook…

The Three Dimensions of Character: Going Deep and Wide to Create Compelling Heroes and Villains

If you’ve read my Story Structure or 101 Tips ebooks, you know I don’t mess around with these things, the content is rich, fresh, and for many the clearest presentation of that particular aspect of storytelling that they’ve come across.  Based on initial feedback, this ebook is no exception.

If you’re serious about selling your fiction, then you need to be serious about the crafting of deep and compelling characters.  And it’s not easy.  For my money it’s the most challenging thing we face as storytellers.

This ebook breaks it all down into a tool chest of elements, perspectives, examples and applications.  Maybe for the first time you’ll finally see the difference between a mundane character and a great one, at least from the writing point of view.  And also, maybe  you’ll never again hear the feedback that your hero or villain is flat and one-dimensional.

Don’t know about you, but I hate it when that happens.  And it doesn’t anymore because I build characters using the principles I outline in this book.

Okay, enough selling.  The ebook sells for $14.95, and it’s guaranteed to please.

To read more about it, click HERE.

To order it now, click HERE.

Thanks for listening.  More Avatar soon.

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11 Responses

  1. Ah, I’m loving this book. How I’ve battled with character design and worried about that first dimension and even the second only to get frustrated. I feel as though I always knew about the third dimension but never nailed it until the character started moving through the story. Even then it was a hit or miss affair. You have articulated so briliantly Larry – a million thanks!

  2. Very well done! Took me all of a minute to get through PayPal, download it, and start reading.

    Characterization should start in the design phase; as you point out, pantsing the characters doesn’t work efficiently. As you work top-down on your novel/story and identify your characters, you can assign them several levels of importance. 1 could be your protagonist(s)/villain(s), 2 could be your #1’s primary allies, 3 are minor and 4 are bit players (the pizza-delivery guy).

    You can then do the necessary depth of work on each character according to their level of importance. Note you can have tons of backstory, lots of quirks, and lots of motivation in your design. You don’t have to (and shouldn’t) put all that in your work. Design as deep as you like and revel in it; as you’re getting down to the actual writing phase, use only that which contributes to the story. Retro-fitting is not fun; I know.

    Re conquering the inner demon: you don’t have to do it completely. Isn’t it Sun-Tzu’s The Art of War which says you need to do only enough to make the enemy change his mind? The protagonist may still have the aversion to public speaking, but he’s controlled/conquered it enough to get the job done.

    Then again, if you’ve got a solid three-dimensional character set, you can do a series of novels. The characters can become more competent as they go along, perhaps by conquering a major demon per novel. Please don’t give your protagonist 5 demons and attempt to conquer them all. Pick the major one — the one which is ruining his life at the start — and show how he conquers it enough to get the job done.

    You put ’em up and I’ll buy ’em. Now I wait for the hard-copy Six Core Competencies next year(?) .

  3. @Patrick — you pose a good — and tough — question. What I think you’re suggesting is really at the heart of putting “art” into our stories, and art is a tough thing to teach. It is more of a sensibility. My only response is that if it feels right, do it. A character revelation from the second dimension offered at the First Plot Point certainly could work, especially if the story is somewhat character-driven and if it fulfills the criteria for a FPP (launching the hero down a new path). The real issue is planning when to evolve the character from an innocent/orphan (part 1) to a responding wanderer (part 2) in a way that aligns with the plot twist that is at the core of the FPP.

    As you suggest, nothing is cliche when it works. Making it do so is the art of writing a great story. Merely by asking the question as you do indicates you’re wrapping your head about this, so trust your instinct, use the tools… you’ll make it work.

  4. Hi Larry!

    I’ll need to save a bit for it, but it’s on my list of must get books.

    I hope it sells well for you!

    Sandra

  5. A question for you, Larry, or anyone who’s read both StoryStructure and Three Dimensions, and note I’m currently only about halfway through Three Dimensions but I wanted to ask this while the thought was fresh in my mind:

    Interweaving ideas from both is important, obviously. Hence the whole concept of the Six Core Competencies. However, can you get away with something such as using PP1 as a dual purpose turning the story towards it’s true course and revealing a major second or possibly hint of third dimension character traits as a tied together package regularly (or perhaps one as setup for the other) or would doing so with any consistency risk falling into the realm of cliche? Not everything is cliche just because it’s done often, else the 3 act story structure would be cliche. But that does not mean all such forms are automatically inherent or a good idea to consistently use in the same way the core pieces of Structure are.

    So, is it safe to regularly tie such revelations together to try and increase the oomph of both, or would doing so with any regularity in your writing turn it overly predictable and cliche, damaging the intended effect when used more than sparingly?

  6. Now this is the way to make your characters come to life and live their story in your novel. “The Three Dimensions of Character” eBook is so well crafted that it felt like I was in mini seminar with Larry right there explaining each point.

    I think I got it. As they say proof is in the pudding.

    I also recommend Larry’s other eBooks, these have added greatly to my knowledge bank.

    Larry thank you for offering these eBooks of wisdom. You truly have an incredible gift.

  7. Sweet, been anxious for this one and after getting the last one cheap via early order figured I’d hang out and pay full this go round. Hopefully will find time tonight to devour it, been trying to figure out my characters for my next story (which is looking to be crazy large multi-book if I do what I think with it).

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