Creative Writing-Character and World Building 5

We writers often fall into a way of writing that is comfortable to us and that we know how to write. Sort of like the person who walks the exact same way to work every day or someone who does the same exercise over and over. Eventually, both our minds and bodies know everything and won’t get challenged or grow.

The student will create four different characters with accompanying worlds.

For each character and world, the student writes a short story or “first chapter” of a novel that everyone will read and give feedback on. 

The schedule will look like this. 

Class 1 
Character Development 
-looks
-personality
-backstory 
-family 

Class 2
Worldbuilding
-location
-maps
-history
-descriptive writing

Class 3 presentation of the first story or "first chapter."

Class 4
New Character Development 
-looks
-personality
-backstory 
-family 

Class 5
New Worldbuilding
-location
-maps
-history
-descriptive writing

Class 6 presentation of the second story or "first chapter."

Class 7
New Character Development 
-looks
-personality
-backstory 
-family 

Class 8
New Worldbuilding
-location
-maps
-history
-descriptive writing

Class 9 presentation of the third story or "first chapter."

Class 10
New Character Development 
-looks
-personality
-backstory 
-family 

Class 11
New Worldbuilding
-location
-maps
-history
-descriptive writing

Class 12 presentation of the fourth story or "first chapter."

These are the four characters and worlds the students will work with

1. A 11-year-old girl who lives in a Viking village in Scandinavia 

2. A struggling artist in Paris 

3. A detective solving a series of mysterious disappearances 

4. An elderly man who enters into a gardening competition 


Every 60-minute class section will be divided into 20 minutes of teacher-led instruction and 40 minutes when the students work on their character or world. We will use the "breakout room" function in Zoom to create two or three smaller groups where the students can interact and help each other develop their characters. I will go in between the groups to offer help and feedback. 

To participate in this class, the students need to be able to write and finish a short story or “first chapter” in two weeks and be able to give and receive feedback.