Creating Memorable Characters with Sophie

And just like that, the third and last guest session for the current batches of my online writing programme is over. It doesn’t feel like very long ago that I announced the programme, wondering whether there would be enough participants. I did not promise guest sessions because I knew it would depend on the response I received. It needed to be feasible to invite guest speakers, both in terms of the number of participants and in terms of my ability to pay the speakers. But here we go, two batches for two age groups are nearly over!

Sophie’s writing workshop was my third guest session, and it was lovely. Sessions where I learn something about methodology are always extra special. For instance, Sophie worked with excerpts from the classics, something I’ve never imagined doing. She chose tiny sections from Persuasion, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall, The Lord of the Rings and Boy, amongst others, and she invited the participants to pay attention to the technique employed before putting it into practice themselves.

Importantly for me, she worked with representation and the problem with stereotypes. Whose voice gets heard in stories? How often do we write about someone from a different faith? Are disabled characters represented in literature? Are we guilty of using stereotypes when we describe our characters?

Especially with so many children consistently writing about white characters in Europe and America, I loved that she led a discussion about stories set in contexts that we know and the importance of researching contexts we don’t.

I’m already excited about the next batches of my creative writing programme, scheduled to launch in April! A few quick links:

• Find out more about the programme, the fee structure and the outline.
• Receive email notifications about upcoming reading and writing workshops.
• Read about the first guest session with Nalini Sorensen.
• Read about the second guest session with Dr. Sreeja Nag.
• Read excerpts of what participants have to say about the writing programme – reflection one and reflection two.