Student'U presents: The Student'U creative writing course

Our very own blogger is a passionate Short Story and poetry writer. From now on he will offer an Online Creative Writing Course for our readers. Every week on this blog he will discuss another part on how to bring a story to life and adding literary value to your imagination. Today the art of creating your main character.

Okay, your characters are the core of any literary story. They are the vehicles through which the story evolves. The core of a short story is the struggle of your protagonist. A traditional story has the following structure:

1. The main character is introduced. The writer shows certain character trades that define him or her;
2. He or she is confronted with a situation or person that challenges his/her character trades and doesn?t allow him or her to keep on acting the same as before;
3. The main character seeks for solutions for the conflict that arose between his character trades and the situation/other person;
4. A solution or action that ends the conflict.

The first step to start off the story is to create your main character. What is his or her personality and what the appearance? What does he or she does in everyday life and what is the history of your main character?

This requires some deep diving into your imagination. There are many ways to do that. One way is to go on the street and observe people there. Notice the details. What are they wearing? How are they moving and what are they speaking about? Write down all these details and memorize them in your mind?s eye. The most important question is always ?why?? Why does the person dress, move and talk the way he does? How did it grow to be like that and what is he trying to express by it? By answering the ?Why? question you are starting to create your character?s background story.

Another way is to completely make up a character. This requires to dive deeper into yourself. Lying in your bed with your eyes closed while listening to some relaxing music might be the best way to start the process of creation. While you are closing your eyes you should imagine yourself sitting in a bar. There is somebody sitting next to you. Take a close look. What is he or she wearing? What details do you notice first? What is your first impression about the emotional state of this person and what about him/her makes you think that?

The main things you will have to formulate about your main character are:

1. Specific details about his/her appearance (this makes him more identifiable for the readers)
2. What emotions are most dominant in him and how does he show that in his movements, use of language and interaction with others?
3. What is events in his life had the most impact on him/her?

First assignment:

You are in the park with your main character. He has a secret that he is hiding from you. Write a scene in which you show through dialogues and events how he is hiding the secret from you, what you are doing to find it out and what it turns out to be.

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Source: http://www.studentu.me/studentu-presents-the-studentu-creative-writing-course/

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