Topic: Creative Writing--Character

10-second review: How teach students to create character? Exercises in creating character.

300-word sketch involving character’s thoughts who cares passionately about something and then 300-word sketch involving character’s thoughts who feels the opposite. Write letter in which writer describes meeting you—and does not like you—and then letter from someone who likes you.

Source: G Godwin. The Writer (December 2004), 8. [originally, Dec. 1979.] The Writer is a magazine by writers for writers.

Comment: I never tried to teach creative writing. I didn’t know how. Nor did I have in my mind a compelling reason for teaching it. Now, after the fact, after I am retired, I can see that students who attempted to write in the genre would have a greater appreciation and understanding of the artist’s achievement in the literature read for class. At any rate The Writer magazine is a great source of techniques for learning to write fiction and of fairly frequent articles on writing poetry. Some of those articles have been reviewed in this blog. RayS.