This was my first book by Matt Bird but be assured I am preparing to dive into The Secrets of Story, his previous book about writing. I believe that together those books have the potential to unlock creativity and give those who want to write keys to go beyond simple talent and will.

The Secrets of Character is a pedagogic and funny guide to build believable and appealing characters. All along, Matt Bird uses examples from well-known books, movies or tv series as it's certainly the best way for us, his readers, to grasp the concepts he's explaining.

The most amusing thing when reading this book is that every few lines, you stop and think "Oh but that's so true!"

I took notes but will for sure buy a paper version of this book so I can take a look from time to time.

Thank you to Netgalley and Penguin Random House for providing an eARC in exchange of an honest review.

This book is a good guideline if you are feeling like you need some examples and topics to start building or developing your character further. It was a fun read and I quite enjoyed the character breakdowns from all the shows, movies and books. I believe it makes useful points and it made me start noticing things I didn't have a name for before, which I think does help the writing process since I am more likely to break them down and categorizing them better.
Overall I enjoyed this. There were times where I kind of wanted more from this and times where I maybe wanted less, but I would recommend this to people in need of direction because I think it gives you enough topics and variety to put your brain to work.

To say I was pleasantly surprised would be an understatement. I thoroughly enjoyed learning about gripping writing styles to engage and engross your readers. This was my first time reading Matt Bird's novels and I will be adding him to my list of "must-read authors." I've been dabbling in the idea of writing a novel and this helped me get a lot of inspiration and key points to start!

Thank you Matt Bird, Netgalley, and Writer's Digest Books for allowing me to review this!

This is my first Bird book, and I liked it, unsurprisingly, since his previous books are so highly rated. I'm not really a writer, but got this "just in case" I decide to take the plunge. I didn't always like the writing style here, but the helpful content is what matters. Recommended. I suspect this will get lots of high ratings.

Thanks very much for the free ARC for review!!

Thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House, and Writer's Digest Books for the opportunity to read an advanced reader's copy of this book for an honest review. (Publish Date: April 19, 2022 / Rating: 3.5 stars)

“The Secrets of Character” by popular blogger, writing coach, and screenwriter Matt Bird is a more laid-back guide geared towards writers looking for the “secret recipe” to creating lovable and unforgettable heroes.

“Everyone just reads the first ten pages, which is enough to eliminate nine out of ten submissions.”

That sentence shocked me at first, but with countless manuscripts flooding in, I realized it wouldn’t logically make sense for publishers to read every submission cover to cover before making a decision to accept or decline it. Bird also shared that publishers are more interested in your hero than your story in those first ten pages, thus selling your hero should be your most critical focus.

Bird proceeds by offering an abundance of examples from popular movies, TV shows, and books to help writers recognize what he considers the three critical steps when creating a great hero: Believe in the reality of the hero, care about the hero’s circumstances, and invest their hopes in the hero to solve the problem.

One big highlight of the book for me was near the end when Bird tells a compelling story about when he first started dating his wife and helped her overcome a childhood fear. I would have loved more personal examples like that throughout the book to help me better connect with the author versus the plethora of outside examples.

My biggest hang-ups with this book were the multiple plugs advertising his previous book, numerous movie and book spoilers, and the unnecessary overuse of profanity. The first two qualms go without saying, and I was able to look past some of the expletives due to the author using direct quotes, but I didn’t understand why Bird himself was using profanity in a guidebook. That type of writing may be suitable for a blog, but I felt it should have been toned back in a guidebook for Bird to be taken more seriously by writers looking for expert advice.

Overall, I would recommend this book to adult writers looking for ways to spice up their characters and make them more exciting. If the profanity and spoilers were toned down, I would recommend this book to any writer looking for a fresh perspective on creating great heroes for their stories.

The Secrets of Character is a really useful book that provides a beginning writer with a lot of tools for crafting believable characters that audiences can connect with.

Bird's book draws examples from literature, cinema, and television and gives extremely concrete advice. Much of the early part of the book is focused on how to hook a reader or viewer within the first few pages or minutes of the story. Bird points out how a lot of what works to draw a reader in is somewhat counterintuitive, or the opposite of what beginning writers want to do when first starting out. In one notable example from the first few chapters Bird rightly points out that writers overestimate how much audiences value being surprised by a character's actions. In another he points out that written dialogue should not *feel* written, giving an example from a tv show in which a character says "I have one question" and then proceeds to ask three questions. Writers would be inclined to revise "one question" to "three questions" but most people do not actually speak that way, and to a reader "I have three questions" in that situation would feel stilted.

Throughout the book there are examples like these. Advice like "give them weird logic" or "give them unique syntax" is interspersed with concrete examples and if you think of your favorite characters, the ones that feel most real to you, it is absolutely true that these tools are applied. While writers who are drawn to character driven stories and for whom characterization is a strong point will likely do many of the things that Bird advises naturally, writers who find characterization tough, or who are often getting notes from critique partners about "voice" or being told that their characters sound the same, or that they lack believability, will find some good advice here. I would recommend this book for any writer who struggles with characterization in general, and even seasoned writers who do not struggle with character might find it interesting to see the way Bird breaks down the hows and whys of what makes characters work for audiences.

This book was very enlightening regarding drafting characters that will be sell-able and likeable to a reader. There are references to characters throughout literary and other media sources to enlighten the suggestions given by the author which was helpful, but in some,e cases I had not read/watched these references and which made me skim to avoid potential spoilers. Overall I enjoyed this book and think it will be useful to go back to when writing new characters.

Thank you, Penguin Random House and Writer's Digest Books, for the advance reading copy.

First of all, trust me when I say you will find this guidebook totally fun and engaging. Let's start from the titles of the chapters!
They are hilarious and will fill your head with curiosity when you glance at the contents.

I wanted to read this book slowly taking one chapter at a time. Don't blame me I didn't.

As much as I am reading this book from a reader's perspective but I do write a lot on other topics so I find this book rather insightful and informative. For a beginner like me who's just beginning to write trying to expand and explore my writing, this book caught my attention at the right time and I am so glad I got to read and get the best out of it. I am all set for the final copy when it comes out.

Coming to the writing and the tips it offers, you will read the entire book like you are actually listening to someone who makes everything look fun. Exactly.
There are times you will laugh out loud and there are times you face second hand embarrassment because we all know what we do.

The tips are actually very simple. The most important ones we need to focus are given as points with bullets and the rest that follow up are pretty short and fun to read.

Just go for this book. Even if you're a writer for years, there are so many practical tips given in this one which might be of great help.

If you are someone like me who gets bored easily reading chunks of information and advice, this one is perfect for you. The author knows how not to do that and that got me read this nonfiction guidebook in a sitting. Will this help? Of course, I will read it again. And again.