Tae) FICTION WRITING Characters & Viewpoint ORSON SCOTT CARDCHARACTERS AND VIEWPOINT BY ORSON SCOTT CARD WRITER'S DIGEST BOOKS CINCINNATI, OHIO.Characters and Viewpoint. Copyright © 1988 by Orson Scott Card. Printed and bound in the United States of America, All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by Writer’s Digest Books, an imprint of F+W Publications, Inc., 4700 East Galbraith Road, Cincinnati, Ohio 45236. (800) 289- 0963. First paperback edition 1999. Other fine Writer’s Digest Books are available from your Jocal bookstore or direct from the publisher, Visit our Web site at www.writersdigest.com for information on more resources for writers. To receive a free weekly e-mail newsletter delivering tips and updates about writing and about Writer's Digest products, send an e-mail with the message “Subscribe Newsletter” to newsletter-request@uritersdigest.com, or register directly at our Web site at wew.writersdigest.com. 10 09 08 07 ib 4 15 Portions of this book appeared previously in Writer’s Digest (October, November, and December 1986) and in Amazing Stories (‘“Adolescence and Adulthood in Science Fiction,” September 1987). Library of Congress Cataloging-in- Publication Data Card, Orson Scott. Characters and viewpoint / Orson Scott Card. pcm. Includes index. ISBN 18: 978-0-89879-927-9 (pbk : alk. paper) ISBN 10; 0-89879-927-9 (pbk : alk. paper) 1, Fiction—Technique 2. Characters and characteristics in literature. 3. Point of view (Literature) L Tide. PNS383.C4C37 1988 808.3—dc19 88-15532 cP. Mlustrations by Janice Card To Gert Fram, alias Nancy Allen Black: You never had any trouble finding an attitude or point of view, and as for inventiveness, you wrote the book.