What you'll learn

Create characters that are fully integrated with their stories.

Course content

2 sections • 11 lectures • 1h 32m total length

Introduction8:14
An outline of the course, and a pep-talk about ambition, and why an artist needs it.

Lesson zero: Outline3:56
A short lecture giving the outline of a story that I'm going to use as a framework for examples later in the course. Essential.
Lesson one: Someone from Nothing7:32
How to think of characters as a story creator, rather than as a story teller or as a reader.
This lesson defines three new "types" of character; once you've learned and understood them, all the other character creation tools will make sense. Essential.
Someone From Nothing - (Lesson one)
Lesson two: Butchery14:03
Some practical methodologies for keeping your characters memorable for both you and the reader. If you're already adept at character management, and you know how to make balanced and subtle use of backstory, this lesson may still be useful to you, as it puts character management and backstory in the context of story creation.
Butchery - (lesson two)
Lesson three: Outer Life11:51
Some key insights into how to describe a character's physical appearance - what they look like - and the effect it has on the reader. Although many authors get this dead wrong every time, this is one of the features of storytelling that many authors instinctively get right. Which are you?
Outer Life - (lesson three)
Lesson four: Inner Life (part one)8:55
Inner life is all about thoughts and feelings, and how you convey them to the reader. Part one covers feelings. Part two thoughts. The assignment is included in part two.
Lesson four: Inner Life (part two)4:42
Inner life is all about thoughts and feelings, and how you convey them to the reader. Part one covers feelings. Part two thoughts. The assignment is included in part two.
Inner Life - (lesson four)
Lesson five: Knowing the Character8:14
This lesson is about the wrong way and the right way for the reader to find out about, and get to know a character. This is one of those features of storytelling where there are right and wrong ways. But of course, it's not as clear cut as that might sound, and there are variations for each of the three character types defined in lesson one.
Knowing the Character - (lesson five)
Lesson six: Point of View9:58
You're probably already familiar with Point of View (POV) or narrative "voice." In this lesson you'll learn how the reader's relationship with characters is affected by it. It might not be what you're expecting.
Point of View - (lesson six)
Lesson seven: Conclusion5:23
You'll probably have started to wonder whether the distinction between the three character types defined in lesson one is absolute, and binding. The reality is that although there can be some overlap between coevolver and additive, and some overlap between ariser and additive, in general, how the creative process generates characters is pretty stable. But they can transform from one type into another, either during the writing of a first draft, or when the first draft (the creation) is turned into the second draft (the telling).
In this lesson, you'll also learn the fundamental difference between a first draft and all other drafts, and I hope, understand why I bang on about this being a creative, artistic process all the time.
Bonus Content - Assignments, and your book3:47
How to get more help on your assignments, and on your next book.

Requirements

You should be able to both write and read in English.

Description

"Kitless Character Creation" - conceive and develop characters without kits, tricks or gimmicks.

If you're writing a novel you already know that a novel needs characters.

But where do characters come from?
How do you invent characters that are compelling, convincing and realistic?
What sort of characters does your story need?

Kitless Character Creation is a set of tools and techniques wrapped around one big idea:

Characters are created at the same time as the story.

Once you've grasped the relationship between characters and story, and how they interact during the creative process, you will find it much easier to create and manage your characters, to recognize their purpose and role in the story, and you'll see much more easily how your characters affect your readers.

In this course, you will learn how to use this relationship, and how it relates to all the common features of creating and developing characters:

introducing new characters
describing what characters look like
describing what characters think and feel
how the reader should get to know your characters
the effect of narrative voice and point of view on characters

Who this course is for:

Anyone who wants to become an author
Experienced authors of fiction

What you'll learn

Explore related topics

Course content

Introduction1 lecture • 8min

Lessons10 lectures • 1hr 18min

Requirements

Description

Who this course is for: