At the center of a good story are the characters in it. In this course aspiring writers will discover how to build and bring to life complex, vivid and unforgettable characters. We will study the choices a writer makes to bring all characters to life on the page, and we will perform written exercises in order to develop a variety of writing and pre-writing techniques, in order to create a variety of characters. We will learn how to use our own life experiences, and the people we know (and how not to!). We will develop inner (thoughts and feelings) and outer (appearance, habits, behavior) lives for our characters and see how that can lead us to richer and more interesting stories. We will breathe life into our characters and let them surprise us.
This course is part of the Creative Writing Specialization
Creative Writing: The Craft of Character
Offered By
About this Course
Learner Career Outcomes
47%
50%
Learner Career Outcomes
47%
50%
Shareable Certificate
100% online
Course 2 of 5 in the
Flexible deadlines
Approx. 13 hours to complete
English
Syllabus - What you will learn from this course
Discovering Characters from Your Life and Elsewhere
What happens in the writer's mind before any words are written on the paper? Characters then reveal themselves through conflict and drama. Without conflict there is no purpose to the story. We then discuss desire. Human beings want things, even when we don't really know what it is we wish for. Finally, we conclude the module like Michelangelo, chipping away everything that is not the masterpiece statue of David. Learn to find what is germane to the story you are telling by looking closely at the character.
Creating Characters on the Page
Here, we delve deeper into the characters. What is their physical description, and how can we describe them through action? How do they speak? What makes me want to read about them? When your characters need help or understanding, or even rescuing, this draws the reader in, far more than likability. Finally, we discuss how the plot reveals the inner life of characters through what they do as well as say.
Dialogue and Monologue
How do we lead a reader to a world that feels real? Narrators have an attitude, towards subjects and audience, about the world and its events. We discuss in this module considerations involved in planning for these realities, including the differences between first and third person and the construction of dialogue with verisimilitude - the feel of real life - while stripping away the tedium. We ask what idiosyncrasies your characters possess and how to control them to advance the narrative.
Set Your Characters Free.. and Give Them Somewhere to Go
In this module, we reflect on how our readers learn about our characters - and how we as writers do, as well. We ask questions about who is telling the story, why, and with what goal. We conclude the course with a conversation about the narrator and, distinctly, the narrative, to see how they shape the reader's perception of character and story.
Reviews
4.5
TOP REVIEWS FROM CREATIVE WRITING: THE CRAFT OF CHARACTER
I loved this course! Extremely useful and hands on. The course instructor was really impressive, both informative and empathetic, both arty and to the point. Totally admired her style of instruction.
Excellent teaching, be aware the meat of this course is in the interviews. If you read and watch them then the assignments are self-explanatory. The discussion boards were however a disappointment.
The information I need to craft compelling characters. Wouldn't have learned this information just by reading books! Amy is an excellent instructor, and the work is challenging but not unreachable.
I think the assignments are well designed, and I really appreciate the part in which we are asked to tell our peers which part would we like them to comment on; it really helps me improve my work.
A really thorough course into making characters. I personally think that I have leaped further, in the quality of my writing. Recommend it to anyone willing to spend time to work on their writing.
In this course I learned how to build characters traits and bring them to life. I also learned about POVs and the difference between them. I wrote, rewrote and did it! A special thanks to Amy B.
This course had great focus and helped highlight and give remedies for a number of areas where I need a great deal of improvement. Both the instruction and the peer review was very helpful.
I enjoyed Amy Bloom's guidelines and am keen to create some well rounded characters. Thank you for enabling me to follow along without having to pay ( no evaluation of the assignments).
Excellent course. I didn't know what to expect when I started. I was very pleasantly surprised at both how challenging - and rewarding - I found it. Amy Bloom was brilliant. Thank you!
I do not understand why these courses over lap. I finished #2 today, tried to start #3 but found that I had 10 hours to complete the first weeks assignment? Who is in charge out there?
The course is excellent and I want to learn more. I enjoyed the first assignment and was disappointed when I couldn't submit the first assignment because I hadn't purchased the course.
This course was very interesting and the assignments were good. I thought it relied too much on conversations with other authors but overall it was enjoyable and I learned new skills.
This course was an excellent blend of basics and simple intense assignments to practice the concepts learned. I enjoyed every course in the Creative Writing Specialization. Thank you
The second part of Wesleyan's Creative Writing course is, yet again, a wealth of knowledge for aspiring writers of all types. Thanks to Amy Bloom, Coursera, and Wesleyan University!
I am glad I can view the lectures even I have no money to pay for the course. I really love writing (in my own native language) so the course is really a lot of help! I love it! :)
The assignments tend to be very confusing, I understand that they make sense for making characters, the difficulty might just be with the characters, but they are quite confusing.
You know something is amiss with your writing when a friend suggests more character development and you have to ask them what that means. This course was enjoyable a great start.
The students submitting offer a surprising amount of talent and inspiration. The course itself is well made so as to provide students with the rationale to overachieve -LeAttol
Amy Bloom is very clear in her thoughts and lucid in her explanations. A very well delivered series. Time well spent with great pleasure . Thank you for bringing this to us.
The course was immensely helpful. Especially as a budding writer, it gets quite tough to put characters and dialogues into good words. This course helped me do exactly that.
About Wesleyan University
About the Creative Writing Specialization
Frequently Asked Questions
When will I have access to the lectures and assignments?
Once you enroll for a Certificate, you’ll have access to all videos, quizzes, and programming assignments (if applicable). Peer review assignments can only be submitted and reviewed once your session has begun. If you choose to explore the course without purchasing, you may not be able to access certain assignments.
What will I get if I subscribe to this Specialization?
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile. If you only want to read and view the course content, you can audit the course for free.
What is the refund policy?
Is financial aid available?
More questions? Visit the Learner Help Center.