Includes index.

Introduction: Who are these people, and who needs them? -- pt. 1. Creating strong and Believable Characters : The Externals. Beauty and/or the Beast : choosing descriptive details -- What's in a name? : using monikers to convey character -- Zip code, please : the role of setting in creating character -- What did you say you do? : using the world of work to enhance characterization -- Say what? : characterizing through dialogue -- The artful deception : making dialogue read naturally (even though it's not natural) -- When less is more : pruning character descriptors to a manageable number -- Don't I know you? : basing characters on real people -- pt. 2. Creating Strong and Believable Characters : The Internals. She's got an attitude : using personal thoughts to characterize -- Lost in thought : making clear what, when and how your character Is thinking -- The Pygmalion trap : how to not let your assumptions torpedo characterization -- Airy dreams and solid news : how to use dreams and newscasts to enhance characterization -- The bad guys : how to make your villains as readable as your heroes -- Do I want to know you? : how to create an unsympathetic protagonist without driving your readers away -- The intelligence dossier : a wrap-up system for investigating your character -- pt. 3. Character and Plot. The yellow brick road : how to start anywhere and arrive at plot -- Fight! Fight! Fight! : when conflict leads to violence -- Whose story is it, anyway? : how point of view begins with character and leads to plot -- Also featuring : secondary characters and plot construction -- The characters, they are a-changing : how to make character change a strong element of the plot -- Seeing is believing : a concrete example of how character, change and plot intertwine -- " ... But it really happened!" : basing plots on real-life events -- Archetypal attractions : using rich old plots in rich new ways -- I see a pattern emerging : the connections among characters, plot and theme -- The characters and the writer.