After our writing exercise, let's discuss characterization and character building in fiction.
Characters are an essential element to poetry, fiction, and plays.
How your characters act, react, handle obstacles and think or feel in a story IS the story. Readers want to connect with a character who thinks, feels, acts, reacts. A character that does not think or feel or act or react to a situation is a boring or static, flat character.
Today, please rewrite your stories (those you have completed a first draft for so far) to include more characterization and character development. There are a myriad of ways to do this. Here are some options:
1. Young writers often forget to have their characters think. Find scenes in your story where you have omitted (left out) this essential character-building element and have your character/protagonist THINK about what is happening, what someone just said, or what he/she just did.
2. Find a scene in your story where your character needs to FEEL something. Either show how the character is feeling by a character's actions, or directly through prose by stating...this character was feeling sad because his dog was run-over this morning by a delivery truck. Either way, FEELINGS help a reader identify and understand a character's motivation.
3. Find a scene in your story where you character is not reacting to the events of the story. Slow down the scene's narrative and get the character involved physically, emotionally (feeling), or intellectually (thinking).
4. Find a scene in your story where your character is not reacting to something another character said or did--find a scene in which an event just happened. Now describe how the character REACTED to this information, event, dialogue, etc.
If we were to break down description in a story into parts, we might divide it into:
Lab: Complete draft 2 of any or all of your stories. If you finish early, you may:
1. Read your chosen short story collection, looking specifically for the author's use of characterization (this is homework, as well)
2. Write a new story
3. Write a new poem
4. Revise an old poem from your portfolio, considering persona or speaker and use characterization.
HOMEWORK: Please read and select a story in your short story collection and examine the author's use of characterization in the story. How does the author develop character by using dialogue, description, and details? Would you consider the protagonist of the story to be flat, round, stereotypical, dynamic, etc.? Defend your answer with textual details. Please write out your answer and turn it in next class (Friday, Nov. 9)
Characters are an essential element to poetry, fiction, and plays.
How your characters act, react, handle obstacles and think or feel in a story IS the story. Readers want to connect with a character who thinks, feels, acts, reacts. A character that does not think or feel or act or react to a situation is a boring or static, flat character.
Today, please rewrite your stories (those you have completed a first draft for so far) to include more characterization and character development. There are a myriad of ways to do this. Here are some options:
1. Young writers often forget to have their characters think. Find scenes in your story where you have omitted (left out) this essential character-building element and have your character/protagonist THINK about what is happening, what someone just said, or what he/she just did.
2. Find a scene in your story where your character needs to FEEL something. Either show how the character is feeling by a character's actions, or directly through prose by stating...this character was feeling sad because his dog was run-over this morning by a delivery truck. Either way, FEELINGS help a reader identify and understand a character's motivation.
3. Find a scene in your story where you character is not reacting to the events of the story. Slow down the scene's narrative and get the character involved physically, emotionally (feeling), or intellectually (thinking).
4. Find a scene in your story where your character is not reacting to something another character said or did--find a scene in which an event just happened. Now describe how the character REACTED to this information, event, dialogue, etc.
If we were to break down description in a story into parts, we might divide it into:
A. Details of physical setting or physical characterExamine your story for its use of description. Increase the amount of detail in your 1st draft.
B. Thoughts and feelings of a character reacting, or acting (often an internal monologue)
C. Details of a subject or idea (often reflective and rich in imagery)
D. Details of an action or event
E. Dialogue
Lab: Complete draft 2 of any or all of your stories. If you finish early, you may:
1. Read your chosen short story collection, looking specifically for the author's use of characterization (this is homework, as well)
2. Write a new story
3. Write a new poem
4. Revise an old poem from your portfolio, considering persona or speaker and use characterization.
HOMEWORK: Please read and select a story in your short story collection and examine the author's use of characterization in the story. How does the author develop character by using dialogue, description, and details? Would you consider the protagonist of the story to be flat, round, stereotypical, dynamic, etc.? Defend your answer with textual details. Please write out your answer and turn it in next class (Friday, Nov. 9)
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