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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Creative Writing: The Craft of Character by Wesleyan University

4.5
stars
1,862 ratings

About the Course

At the center of a good story are the characters in it. In this course aspiring writers will discover how to build and bring to life complex, vivid and unforgettable characters. We will study the choices a writer makes to bring all characters to life on the page, and we will perform written exercises in order to develop a variety of writing and pre-writing techniques, in order to create a variety of characters. We will learn how to use our own life experiences, and the people we know (and how not to!). We will develop inner (thoughts and feelings) and outer (appearance, habits, behavior) lives for our characters and see how that can lead us to richer and more interesting stories. We will breathe life into our characters and let them surprise us....

Top reviews

SS

Aug 10, 2016

I loved this course! Extremely useful and hands on. The course instructor was really impressive, both informative and empathetic, both arty and to the point. Totally admired her style of instruction.

NM

Sep 25, 2020

The course was very well-structured and challenging. The instructor is very experienced and good, thus used relevant materials for this course, be it the guests, or the assignments, or the examples.

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126 - 150 of 551 Reviews for Creative Writing: The Craft of Character

By Kasia P

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Jan 16, 2023

This course was not only inspiration and motivation, but also empowerment. The assignments were truly creative and provided a lot of insight, and video lectures were not only education, but a pleasure to listen to and reflect. Thank you!

By Julie G

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Apr 9, 2022

This course was excellent. I especially enjoyed the interviews with writers and the exploration with them of their craft. Also the exercises provided a good opportunity to practice different aspects of writing characters and dialogue.

By Steven M

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Mar 5, 2022

This was a very satisfying course. Good instruction, good examples, good interviews with working writers. I would note that the instructions for some of the assignments were a little unclear, though maybe this was a spur to creativity.

By Beth P

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Dec 8, 2020

I loved the writing prompts for this part of the Creative Writing Course - The Craft of Character.

The directions for assignments got more complex as the class went on. I got a lot of peer review feedback which was helpful and welcome.

By Audrey A

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Aug 10, 2022

Excellent. I found the course to be engaging and profound. It laid the foundation for an even deeper study of the craft of character. I am grateful to Amy Bloom for sharing the knowledge and inspiring me to write more. Thank you!

By William I H

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Sep 15, 2017

Loved the lectures and the assignments have improved my writing. It's a course, like the Plot course, that I can see myself retaking and it being just as useful. Would love to see a follow-on set of writing classes here too ;)

By Odira U

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Mar 29, 2016

This is my best course in this specialization. The assignments were challenging and fun, and it also made me realize that I'm more of a character person. I find it easier to create a character then to write about the setting.

By Galo V

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Dec 19, 2022

Un curso que al ser dictado en línea, cumple muy bien con lo que puede desear de un taller dictado de esta manera. Me ha sido muy útil para mejorar mi calidad de escritura en español, a pesar de que las clases son en inglés.

By Giovanna A

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Apr 24, 2021

Es un curso muy completo de tantas manera, disfrute mucho cada clase y las actividades, siento que con cada modulo voy aprendiendo nuevas herramientas de gran ayuda al momento de estudiar, editar o crear un texto. Gracias.

By Sarwaswa V

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Mar 22, 2018

It was overall a terrific course which really made me to think things especially Week 2 and Week 3.

Great peers .

I always felt they gave me legit review for my work.

I look forward to come across all of you in next segment.

By Zakir H M

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Aug 26, 2020

I thoroughly enjoyed this course. Learning various techniques to come up with an effective character is really fascinating! I thank you very much for offering and conducting the course that is instructive in many a way.

By Sean D

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Jul 23, 2018

Great course, although some of the assignment briefs could be clearer. I would definitely advise using the forums to help get advice form members and mentors and also search for assignment examples. Tough but rewarding.

By Tulia G

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May 7, 2019

Excellent course for having the first insights about the different kind of narrator, learning about how to build background and subtext in order to show our characters trough details, actions, and locations. Thank you!

By vf

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Sep 5, 2016

Just finished watching all the videos and it is excellent!

To say, 'well done' to any bit of good work is to take hold of the powers which have made the effort and strengthen them beyond our knowledge. Phillips Brooks

By Tuakondja V

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Dec 23, 2021

I learned how to use my senses and everyday life events and conversations in order to build strong characters, and how to use dialogue in ways that support the development of each character and bring them to life.

By Rodrigo B

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Oct 24, 2020

Great! I was expecting a character-centered course, so getting to know that creating a character involves environment, how to use in a useful way (pardon for the pun) dialogue, etc; really opened my mind. Thanks!

By Pradyumna K

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Jul 27, 2020

I found the course very well structured. It was easy to understand and added so much to my understanding of characters and point of view. The assignments were a little tough but I think that is only a plus point!

By Tabitha R B

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Sep 23, 2019

Got a LOT out of this one. I've really started to have the proverbial rubber meet the road, I'm discovering my voice better as a writer. Thank you so much for all the information you provided in this course!

By jayne

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Oct 22, 2016

This course has been unbelievably useful. It has exceeded my hopes. It is well taught and the assignments have really challenged me. I have learnt just as much by reviewing the work of others. Thanks so much.

By John D

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Dec 1, 2016

Terrific class that does a great job of teaching how to write believable characters. I also learned a lot about how to incorporate your characters in your setting and how to write different points of view.

By Edwin D S d L

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Nov 3, 2020

Professor Amy Bloom teaches writing with clear examples and explanations. Her lectures also include intervews with many published authors that enrich the contents of the course with their own experience.

By Krysten C

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Dec 31, 2019

Really loved this course. The assignments were challenging in their own ways, bringing you out of your writing bubble and getting you to really think about your characters and how to bring them to life.

By Andrés F G

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Feb 18, 2022

This was was very good! the style was different from Brando's course of course, I could see the personality of the professor in each piece of content and on each assignment. I really enjoyed this one.

By Trishanku T

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Apr 7, 2022

Easy to understand and it give me confidence to write. Thanks for this amaging course. I learn something new in every lession about constructing a character to develop it . Its very helpful to me.

By Pamela W

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Mar 15, 2023

The different perspectives from the guest writers helped me to understand how writers craft character. Amy Bloom did an excellent job facilitating and guiding the speakers to help students learn.