Writing Characters Who'll Keep Readers Captivated: Nail Your Novel

'A perfect primer on character creation' - Mars Dorian

'Great foundational tool' - KM Weiland, speculative fiction author and writing coach

'Nail Your Novel is on my shortlist of indispensable writing books' - Lisa Cron, author of Wired For Story

How do you create characters who keep readers hooked? How do you write the opposite sex? Teenagers? Believable relationships? Historical characters? Enigmatic characters? Plausible antagonists and chilling villains? How do you understand a character whose life is totally unlike your own? How do you write characters for dystopias? How do you make dialogue sing? When can you let the reader intuit what the characters are feeling and when should you spell it out?

Roz Morris is a bestselling ghostwriter and book doctor, and a literary author in her own right. Her books have sold more than 4 million copies worldwide. She teaches creative writing masterclasses for The Guardian newspaper in London. She has mined 20 years' worth of writing, editing and critiquing experience to create this book. It contains all the pitfalls and sticky points for writers, laid out as a set of discussions that are easy to dip into. And it wouldn't be a Nail Your Novel book without a good dose of games, exercises and questionnaires to help you populate a novel from scratch.

Whether you write a straightforward story-based genre or literary fiction, this book will show you how to create people who enthrall readers - and make you want to tell stories.

Roz Morris's fiction has sold more than 4 million copies worldwide, although you won't have seen her name on the covers as she ghostwrote for high-profile authors. She is now writing acclaimed fiction under her own name. She is a writer, journalist, fiction editor and the author of the Nail Your Novel series for writers. She teaches creative writing masterclasses for The Guardian newspaper in London.

'Fiction writer's best friend' - Marlies Bugmann

'Like having a private session with a writing coach' - Kayleigh

'I'm reading it for the second time now and it only gets better' - Mars Dorian