An invaluable guide for fiction writers who want to learn how to create unforgettable characters. Readers love fiction first and foremost because they get to LIVE in the stories they read. The story's characters are the conduit to that experience, and storytellers that create memorable, relatable characters connect with readers at the most fundamental level. All fiction writers need to master the skills involved in creating great characters if they're going to connect with a meaningful audience. The challenge, of course, is that creating great characters is anything but easy. So how do you do it? Let the contributors to this book - all established novelists - show you the way. From essentials like knowing your characters and giving them personality to more nuanced concepts like shading characters and even using places as characters, FIRST CRAFT: WRITING GREAT CHARACTERS is a brief text packed with advice gleaned from decades of writing experience. Each chapter includes illustrations from the author's own work along with useful exercises that will help your characters walk right off the page. FIRST CRAFT: WRITING GREAT CHARACTERS is presented by AuthorsFirst, the virtual writers conference that has dozens and dozens of craft sessions available online and that sponsors an annual fiction writing contest. Contributors to this volume include New York Times bestselling author Lou Aronica, national bestselling authors Mary Marcus, John L. Hart, and Emily Sue Harvey, acclaimed novelists Leora Skolkin-Smith and K.J. Steele, and praised memoirist Marcia Gloster.