Want to bring characters to life on the page as vividly as fine actors
do on the stage or screen? Getting Into Character will give you a whole
new way of thinking about your writing. Drawing on the method acting
theory that theater professionals have used for decades, this in-depth
guide explains seven characterization techniques and adapts them for
the novelist's use.

In this unique and practical book, you'll discover concepts that will
help you understand and communicate the behavior, motivation, and
psychology of every fictional character you create. Examples from
classic and contemporary novels show you how these techniques have
been used to dazzling effect by Jane Austen, Mark Twain, Steve Martini,
Anne Rivers Siddons, and others. These simple yet highly effective
techniques will help you:

• Create characters whose distinctive traits become plot components
• Determine each character's specific objectives and motivations
• Write natural-sounding dialogue rich in meaning
• Endow your characters with three-dimensional emotional lives
• Use character to bring action sequences to exuberant life
• Write convincingly about any character facing any circumstance