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“Corbett delivers a rich, hard-hitting epic.”

Publishers Weekly
Starred Review

“The best in contemporary crime fiction—or in contemporary fiction, period.”

Washington Post

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“Corbett, like Robert Stone and Graham Greene before him, is crafting important, immensely thrilling books.”

—George Pelecanos

“That rare beast: a work of popular fiction that is both serious and thrilling.”

—John Connolly

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“The line runs through Ernest Hemingway and Graham Greene, straight on to David Corbett. I’m not kidding. He’s that good.”

—John Lescroart

“For all the lyricism of his narration and the compassion he shows, Corbett never strays too far from the blunt vigor of California noir.”

New York Times Book Review

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“Corbett is the best of Quentin Tarantino and Elmore Leonard. Nobody writes crime fiction better.”

—Robert Dugoni

“Corbett handles his story line and subplots adroitly, in economical but polished prose, but his real strength is in character development.”

Booklist

The Compass of Character

Creating Complex Motivation for Compelling Characters in Fiction, Film, and TV

Just as a compass provides direction for an explorer, so motivation provides direction for characters in fiction. The “compass” of character motivation is composed of four points: Lack, Yearning, Resistance, and Desire. In The Compass of Character you’ll learn to deeply consider the key question “What does my character want?” and learn techniques to answer that question by writing realistic and empathetic characters without falling into formulaic, unsatisfying results that only diminish the character. Bestselling author and acclaimed writing instructor David Corbett provides writers with the essentials for building characters with motivations that range from clear to complex by exploring topics such as:

  • Human yearning
  • Pathological maneuvers
  • The pain of life vs. the promise of life
  • Backstory as behavior
  • Mechanics of growth and transformation
  • Dramatizing mistaken desire and
  • Misbegotten yearnings
  • Moral arguments

The key to fascinating characters is rendering subtle inner states in straightforward external circumstances, which requires a fundamental understanding of the simple building blocks of complex motivation as they manifest themselves in behavior, where complexity of purpose collides with the messy, indifferent world. The Compass of Character is the one book that can guide writers to that end with both instruction and inspiration.

Praise

“A compass points four ways and so does Corbett, adroitly reconciling the complex interplay of forces in every character’s life so that writers can create true depth on the page. His exercises make that complexity doable, and the examples he provides are remarkably incisive. If you want to know what makes made-up characters feel 100% real, let The Compass of Character be your guide. David Corbett is the grand master of character development.”
—Donald Maass, The Emotional Craft of Fiction

“With a deft hand, David takes us past writing clichés, charting a new course forward into developing resonant characters in film and print today. His insights have the potential to revolutionize the way writers understand the characters they develop. If you’re serious about your storytelling, don’t miss The Compass of Character.”
—Bestselling author Steven James
“You won’t find a more thoughtful, more human approach to crafting characters than David Corbett’s. Whether you’re looking to add nuance and depth to your cast, or to heighten an arc with authentically high stakes, The Compass of Character will point you steadily north.”
—Bestselling author Jessica Strawser
“One of the best teachers today. Innovative, pragmatic and applicable. I read David Corbett before writing each novel.”
—International bestselling author Robert Dugoni

“Corbett takes the obtuse, the dense, the high falutin, and he boils it down to practical advice. Every storyteller is trying to find lucid ways to unpack narrative construction, and he’s done it flawlessly here. Corbett is a craft ninja.”
—Bestselling author Joshua Mohr

“I looked forward to reading The Compass of Character with equal parts anticipation and dread—the anticipation of someone who knows that every time David Corbett talks about writing, it’s a masterclass in craft, and the dread of a writer who suspects Corbett’s new book will expose all the things I’ve been doing wrong all along. Ended up being a little of both.”
—Award-winning author Tim Maleeny

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