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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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176 - 200 of 570 Reviews for Creative Writing: The Craft of Character

By Lisa K

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Oct 1, 2018

This course is wonderfully crafted; the assignments were creative and challenging, the lectures deeply knowing, expressive and, of course, articulate, and I love Amy Bloom.

By Molinge J

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Apr 25, 2021

This course is awesome, it helps us connect with our characters, their feelings, emotions, desire. We also get the chance to tell our story from different points of view.

By Spyros S

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Jan 9, 2021

The course provided me with amazing tips to help build my characters. The assignments put everything in perspective nicely. Thank you for your effort, I am very pleased.

By B E

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Jan 6, 2021

The instructor content and commanding writing exercises propelled me into unfamiliar territory where I had to stretch myself to attain the parameters of the assignments.

By Claudia

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Aug 6, 2017

Wonderful course with tons of suggestion to make your characters memorable! The assignments were difficult but I enjoyed the challenge. Looking forward to the next one!

By Tina M

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Jul 31, 2017

I learned so much, it's hard to pick just one thing. In conjunction with the other courses I feel as though my writing has evolved. I am excited to start a new project.

By Joe M

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Jan 15, 2019

My second course in this specialization. Definitely had me thinking critically about how I write characters and a lot of tools that I hadn't really considered before.

By Deebu R

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Feb 21, 2022

loved it!! It's amazing how they have us writing a story every week. I enjoyed the process, and the community was very positive and encouraging with their feedback.

By Sepas H

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Dec 14, 2018

such a great course to take in order to get familiar with the integral foundations for anyone who is interested in creative writing but does not know where to start.

By Joshua T

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Jul 28, 2023

Excellent experience. However the peer grading could be a better system because 33% of what I get most of the time is just people that don't want to review my work.

By lawrence w

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Aug 24, 2022

i'm learning so much from these courses, its challenging and fun. I appreciate feedback from my peers amd love the video lessons. I've been reccomending to others.

By Manjit S

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Dec 9, 2019

I'd always struggled with describing characters and their inner motivations. The exercises helped me practice doing that. Now I'm much more comfortable doing that.

By Aécio B V N

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Jul 24, 2017

Some very interesting topics.

But, overall, the most interesting, challenging and fun part of the course were the exercises - they were the best part of the course.

By Abigail M

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Mar 22, 2019

Estoy verdaderamente agradecida por la oportunidad de desarrollar mis habilidades trabajando en conjunto con personas que compartimos una misma pasión: escribir.

By Swapna B

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Jul 23, 2020

I love the course. The teaching and the teachers are both amazing. I will fulfill my dream of being a successful author and this course is helping me in that.

By Nowshin N N

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Jul 1, 2020

I enjoyed this course. learned a lot and made many mistakes, along the way this course taught me how to engage with your own character and that is the fun part.

By Elizabeth G

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Jun 9, 2017

This was very helpful. More so, than plot. The feedback I received from my peers was better. I realized the power of POV. I also learned about looking at scenes

By Bharti J

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Apr 9, 2018

Great course and interactive platform. Just one hitch! I would prefer to have the hard copy of the certificate as required by a Publishing house to get a job.

By arya k s

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Mar 8, 2018

Loved this course. It has been designed in a way that makes you think at characters from different perspectives. It drives into making healthy writing habits.

By September L

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Jan 11, 2021

I got so much out of this particular course. I loved the guest authors, even ordered some of their books. I feel like I got tremendous value here. Thanks!

By Jennifer T

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Apr 16, 2018

Amy Bloom is such a wonderful speaker! Love the videos about crafting vivid and memorable characters. The peer reviewed assignments are challenging and fun.

By Matthew J G

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Sep 6, 2017

I truly loved the tasks in this course. Also, the community found in the forums contributed to a noticeable progression of interesting topics and courseware.

By Donna P

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Nov 21, 2019

I enjoyed this course because it gave me a bit of a challenge. The lectures were short, sweet and to the point which allowed me to do them in my spare time.

By Vishal M

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Oct 16, 2019

It was an interesting and in depth course. The resources are good and especially how to ask questions to create a compelling characters. Its worth a shot.

By Patricia B

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Mar 2, 2021

Great course, I am enjoying this adventure in Creative Writing tremendously. I look forward to resume the next modules when I get home later this month.