Understanding Your Character
Hemingway’s Iceberg Theory notes that as writers we only show on the page the tip of our character’s iceberg. Our knowledge of our character makes up the bulk of the iceberg below the surface that we never reveal on the page. In this two-hour workshop, we dive deep into the characters of our stories and examine their external and internal desires, their wants and their needs. We will read several short pieces of fiction and discuss how these authors create characters with emotional and psychological depth. For those who participated in the previous workshop on Plot Structure: Examining Desire & Resistance, we will also touch on how well-developed characters help determine our character’s desire and resistance and drive the stories we write not the other way around. With Jennifer Pun