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.
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| Commitment | 4 weeks of study, 2-4 hours/week |
| Language | English |
| How To Pass | Pass all graded assignments to complete the course. |
| User Ratings |
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 |
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.
I have enjoyed this very thorough class. Although some of the assignment titles were misleading, the assignments overall were very good once I understood them. At first I did not like having to get feedback and give feedback on assignments, but as the course went on, I was able to see the value in this and understand why it was set up this way. By week 4, the observations of classmates not only resonated with my own about our writings but also enlightened some of the thoughts I hadn't yet put into words yet so I was able to articulate them and understand them better. Great course!!
--The videos were very interesting, especially the discussions with other writers.
-- The four exercises were worthwhile and challenging--perhaps too challenging for some of the participants, based on the pieces I read. Note that two hours isn't nearly long enough to do most of these exercises if the objective is to produce a piece that is both well thought through and well written.
--I found the peer reviews to be highly variable in quality.
-- Some textual material should be included in the course. We can always cut and paste the transcripts of the lectures--but why not provide easily accessible lecture notes? And there should also be instructional materials other then the lectures.
-- The questions asked of the peer reviewers are good ones. They would provide useful guidance in dealing with the assignment. Why not give them out along with the assignment?
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Helped me build and develop exciting characters.