Character and action might be the drivers of compelling fiction, but in drafting and revision, how do we decide what kind of development makes sense? How do fear and desire shape the logic—and illogic—of our characters’ choices? And how can we avoid the pitfalls of event that lacks character agency, which can show the hand of the author in the work? This is a generative class that includes examples from Julia Otsuka, Brandon Taylor, and Lydia Davis. Participants will come away from this class with a character profile that includes motivations and a bank of images, obsessions, and actions, as well as tools and understanding for how to move from character to plot and action to emotion in fiction.
Jennifer Solheim's stories and essays have appeared in Bellevue Literary Review, The Los Angeles Review of Books, The Pinch, and Poets & Writers. As a writer and literary scholar, she has taught at University of Michigan, Université de Paris VII, and University of Illinois—Chicago, in addition to creative writing workshops at the Northwestern Summer Writers’ Conference and StoryStudio Chicago. A Contributing Editor at Fiction Writers Review, she serves as the Associate Director of the BookEnds novel revision fellowship at Stony Brook University.
Jennifer will accept manuscripts for critique. Please visit Manuscripts at ocww.info for more details.
