Class

Alive on the Page: Learning to Render the Mind of Your Characters

When we read fiction we love, we often forget that the characters are invented, that they aren’t actual people with real struggles and triumphs. More than anything else, it is our deep connection to character—and particularly to perspective characters—that gives us a doorway into the dream of fiction, that lets us vanish into a story and live it beside these invented people. As writers of fiction, then, we must always strive to make our characters “alive on the page,” to give them the complexity of real human beings. This invites our readers to form the strongest kind of imaginative bond with our stories: the bond of relationship, of personal connection.

There are many ways to make our characters feel alive—physical description, backstory, home environment, to name a few—but these only give them so much depth. A character who truly lives on the page will have an active, engaged mind: the unique attitudes, attentions, and associations that make them feel like individual people. Without this nuance of mind, our characters are only vehicles of plot: while our stories may be immersive, our readers will lack this fuller emotional connection.

In this seminar, we’ll explore important ways to render your characters’ minds. We’ll examine techniques such as internal monologue, associative dialogue, character-based setting choices, and story design based on inner moral conflict and personal change. The seminar will feature in-class writing exercises for each technique we discuss—helping you to develop your own characters’ minds—and examples from experts of character like Toni Morrison, Marilynne Robinson, and Lorrie Moore. We’ll also explore aspects of identity and psychology related to character development. The seminar will end with a Q&A session and further resources for character development.

Instructions for Accessing This Online Class

In order to access live class meetings, you must have the Zoom application downloaded to your computer. You will also need a WiFi/Internet connection throughout the duration of your scheduled meeting and a computer with audio and video capability. The information to join your Zoom classroom will be provided in your confirmation email upon registration. Please check spam folders if you do not see this email upon registration. For more information on how to use Zoom, please see our training manual here.