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

4.5
stars
1,903 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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151 - 175 of 570 Reviews for Creative Writing: The Craft of Character

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.

By Eneida A M

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Nov 2, 2016

In this course I learned how to build characters traits and bring them to life. I also learned about POVs and the difference between them. I wrote, rewrote and did it! A special thanks to Amy B.

By R.K. M

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Jan 24, 2018

This course had great focus and helped highlight and give remedies for a number of areas where I need a great deal of improvement. Both the instruction and the peer review was very helpful.

By natcha w

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May 24, 2020

This course is recommended for everyone who wants to start writing story, fiction or novel. It gives you the opportunity to create characters and teaches you how to make them come to life.

By Shreya J

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Aug 28, 2020

It was a truly amazing course because explaining the intricate details of what makes a person, what makes a great character is no easy task but with the great tutor it was quite splendid.

By Janet S

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Jul 20, 2017

Excellent course. I didn't know what to expect when I started. I was very pleasantly surprised at both how challenging - and rewarding - I found it. Amy Bloom was brilliant. Thank you!

By KUMAR V

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Aug 12, 2020

An exceptional course with a great insight into the creation of characters in creative writing. Heartily thanks to Amy Bloom and the team for such thorough guidance through the course.

By Anjum

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May 21, 2017

The course is excellent and I want to learn more. I enjoyed the first assignment and was disappointed when I couldn't submit the first assignment because I hadn't purchased the course.

By Jillian K

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Dec 5, 2017

This course was an excellent blend of basics and simple intense assignments to practice the concepts learned. I enjoyed every course in the Creative Writing Specialization. Thank you

By Michael Y

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Feb 8, 2019

The second part of Wesleyan's Creative Writing course is, yet again, a wealth of knowledge for aspiring writers of all types. Thanks to Amy Bloom, Coursera, and Wesleyan University!

By Alyanna J d L

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Jul 25, 2017

I am glad I can view the lectures even I have no money to pay for the course. I really love writing (in my own native language) so the course is really a lot of help! I love it! :)

By MANIKANDAN M

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Sep 6, 2022

The course was beneficial in understanding the methods to present a character. It would be better if the valuation of assignments were done by some professional rather than peers

By Brian C

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Aug 18, 2017

You know something is amiss with your writing when a friend suggests more character development and you have to ask them what that means. This course was enjoyable a great start.

By 张凯

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Aug 7, 2016

I like this course. I have done some good job and at the same time I can feel some disadvantages of myself. I learned how to find, create a character and how to make them alive.

By Robert J B E

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Jan 9, 2019

The students submitting offer a surprising amount of talent and inspiration. The course itself is well made so as to provide students with the rationale to overachieve -LeAttol

By Sanjana N

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Nov 30, 2019

The course was immensely helpful. Especially as a budding writer, it gets quite tough to put characters and dialogues into good words. This course helped me do exactly that.

By Carreen P

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Nov 24, 2017

Amy Bloom is very clear in her thoughts and lucid in her explanations. A very well delivered series. Time well spent with great pleasure . Thank you for bringing this to us.

By Santiago C

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Mar 31, 2016

It is a really good course, i've got some problems with the task, because it was a bit difficult for me as my native language is Spanish, but despite that, it went all good.

By Christina C

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Jan 6, 2021

Excellent course taught by a supportive and excellent professor! Thank you for the opportunity to learn and advance my writing skills though this course and your teachings!