1. Review of Toni Morrison’s “The Origin of Others”
Toni Morrison’s book The Origin of Others takes a look at otherness. This is just a review of the book, but it breaks down the arguments inherent in Morrison’s book while further arguing a point. Those of you interested in the theory of otherness will benefit from this short piece.
2.
How to Develop Fictional Characters: 8 Tips for Character Development
This link will help you work on building believable characters with depth.
https://www.masterclass.com/articles/how-to-develop-fictional-characters#8-tips-for-character-development
3.
Character Generator
If you click on the link https://www.character-generator.org.uk/detailed/
it brings you to a character generator. This may be cheating… but is not a bad place to start.
4.
How Well Do You Know Your Characters?
Click the link to review : https://www.jtellison.com/how-to-build-a-character
This article is interesting for you to think about a couple of things:
1) How much of the “rules” of writing keep the world in a pocket. Think about what she writes about “pronounceable names.” Is this something that boxing in what names we accept? Does it create a world where characters names X are associated with Y?
2) Think about the algorithms. What does the computer age tell us about how our brains connect to writing, reading and video? Character? https://www.jtellison.com/how-to-build-a-character
CHARACTER BUILDING
Options:
1) Use the Brainstorming in this week’s Hypothesis Assignment to write a piece of fiction where you tell the story from multiple perspectives, a la Morrison.
-You developed some characters this week. Think of a plot where the characters come together. Make sure you develop them so that they are believable. Examples of settings that may be plausible: a funeral, schoolroom, a museum, a mall, a restaurant.
-Think of a conflict involving otherness. Develop the conflict in a plot.
-Tell the story from each character’s perspective.
Or
2) Post a Third Person Narration piece that uses one of the following:
-THIRD PERSON OMNISCIENT: When writing in third person omniscient we use the words he and she. In third person Omniscient we can show the thoughts and actions of all our characters.
-THIRD PERSON LIMITED: Third Person Limited is similar to the Omniscient form, but here we are limited to the thoughts and actions of just one character. In this way it helps the reader to emotionally connect with that character. We are only listening to his/her thoughts and are thereby drawn closer to that character. Other characters may be in the scene, but it’s only the thoughts of our main character that we learn about. It’s only his/her thoughts that the reader will care about.
-THIRD PERSON OBJECTIVE: When we write in the Third Person Objective we are only writing about our character’s actions and not his or her thoughts. Here we do not use, he said, or she said. The reader isn’t told what is going on in the character’s mind, but should be able to work this out from what the reader is doing or what is happening to him/her. In other words, it is up to the reader to decide what is happening in the character’s mind.
Suggestion: Make it a point to try your hand at writing with a particular subgenre in mind: utopia/ dystopia, romance, or action/thriller. Take a look at “Harrison Bergeron” for ideas.
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