Overview

In his book How Fiction Works, critic James Wood describes the modern character in fiction as having three layers: conscious motive, unconscious motive, and the deepest, most ephemeral, motive... "to be known." This class, open to writers at all levels, will examine this idea and, through a series of collaborative writing exercises, help students develop original, three-layered characters to use in their fiction. We'll look at short texts by Sherwood Anderson, Flannery O'Connor, Virginia Woolf, and more, that will help us get to the bottom of great, complex character development.

By the end of the class, you'll develop a nuanced understanding of character, create an original, layered character through a series of useful writing exercises, and produce several drafts that can later be used in a story or novel.