About this course: 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.
Taught by: Amy Bloom, Distinguished University Writer in Residence and Director of the Shapiro Center for Creative Writing
| Basic Info |
Course 2 of 5 in the
Creative Writing Specialization.
|
| Commitment | 4 weeks of study, 2-4 hours/week |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
- Video: Conception
- Video: The Conflict Within (Shop Talk with Brando Skyhorse)
- Video: Desire and Goals
- Video: Hearing, Selecting, and Seeing
- Reading: A Note on Assignments
- Video: Feedback Expectations for the Specialization
- Reading: Promo Codes
- Video: Visiting Writer: Richard Blanco
- Video: Voice
- Video: Making Them Matter to the Reader (with Visiting Writer Dani Shapiro)
- Video: The Story Reveals Who We Are (Shop Talk with Salvatore Scibona)
- Video: Inflection
- Video: Picking Your Point of View (Shop Talk with Amity Gaige)
- Video: Conversation's Greatest Hits
- Video: Idiosyncrasies
- Video: What We Do and How We Do It
- Video: The Relationship Between the Character and the Wide World (with Visiting Writer Valerie Martin)
- Video: Voice of Narrator
- Video: Voice of Narrative
Each course is like an interactive textbook, featuring pre-recorded videos, quizzes and projects.
Connect with thousands of other learners and debate ideas, discuss course material, and get help mastering concepts.
Earn official recognition for your work, and share your success with friends, colleagues, and employers.
| Audit | Purchase Course | |
|---|---|---|
| Access to course materials | Available | Available |
| Access to graded materials | Not available | Available |
| Receive a final grade | Not available | Available |
| Earn a shareable Course Certificate | Not available | Available |
I enjoyed this course and I would recommend it to others. I enjoyed the assignments and felt like they challenged and stretched me in good ways.
Criticisms include: some confusing titles - why is the third section called Location, Location, Location, when it is the second section that is about location? Some of the wording in the rubrics seem to refer to things not discussed before. So, some revision and clarity would be much appreciated.
Amy Bloom has a way about her that makes it very easy to receive her information, to take it in and digest it. There is a bounty of excellent teaching in this course, a variety of different perspectives on how to sculpt characters that I would've probably never encountered otherwise. Thanks, Amy!
The interviews with professional writers are great! It's good to listen to people who are working with their minds and points of view and how they use that to create. Professor Amy Bloom has a great pedagogic skill. She asks the right questions and gives us great explanations.
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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!