WRITERS ABROAD MAGAZINE
Book Reviews
Believable Characters: Creating with Enneagrams by Laurie Schnebly
Review by Nicola Cleasby
I was recently searching the internet for ways to deepen
my characters and came across Enneagrams, a system
used by counsellors and human resource people, which
identifies nine personality types. Each type has its own
character traits and its own corresponding flaws. This led
me to Laurie Schnebly’s book: Believable Characters:
Creating with Enneagrams.
The book takes you through each of the nine character
types, with a quiz at the beginning of each chapter to
determine whether your character might be a fit. And for
anyone who thinks this is over simplifying things, the
author also takes us through connections and sub-types.
It’s very easy to read and to follow and is great for inspiration when you’re getting to
grips with a character. The book provides a fascinating insight into character types
and will appeal to both writers and non-writers, but it’s also a valuable tool for writers
who want to deepen their characters and gain a better understanding of their internal
conflicts.
Deep Sea and Foreign Going: Inside Shipping the Invisible Industry That Brings
You 90% of Everything by Rose George
Review by Susan Carey
Not usually a reader of non-fiction, I was entertained
and informed by this close-up account of commercial
shipping. Author, Rose George joined the crew of the
Maersk-owned Kendal for 39 days and sailed from
Felixstowe to Singapore, a voyage of over 9,000
nautical miles. Crazy facts I learned: in one year a
container ship will travel three quarters of the way to the
moon and back; her crew will only know what cargo she
is carrying if the goods are refrigerated, flammable or
toxic; it makes more economic sense to ship Scottish
cod 10,000 miles to China and have it filleted there, than
it does to employ Scottish filleters to do the same job;
pirates have accountants and kindly ladies in Hull knit
hats to assuage the chronic loneliness of seafarers.
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