Character 1: Creation
Character 1: Creation is an Intensive, meaning it happens in a short time span (1 day in NYC, or 2 days on Zoom, or 3 weeks Online). The course includes a mixture of lectures and exercises. It’s open to writers of any level. Farther down, you can view a syllabus for this course.
If you feel you’re solid with conceiving characters, you may go straight to Character 2. If you’re in doubt about this, start with Character 1; it will be valuable even if some of it is review.
Characters are the beating heart of every story. When we’re made to feel their presence, the entire story awakens, and we follow those folks wherever they go—likable or not, young or old, familiar or foreign.
Whether you’re working on fiction, nonfiction, or a script, we’ll show you how to breathe life into characters that we see and believe and care about.
Character 1 teaches how to conceive characters—where they come from, who they are inside and out, what their contradictions are, where their desire lies, and what makes them fascinating.
Character 2 teaches how to bring characters to palpable life on the page, making them real enough so we feel like we could live next door to them or bump into them on the street.
This is a great class to learn about the building blocks of creating a great character.
Peggy Hoemeke
physician assistant
Notes
This is a cross-genre course, applicable to any kind of storytelling, including nonfiction.
Upcoming Classes
NYC classes are being scheduled. Please check back soon.
Price
Registration fee $25, paid once per term
3-Week
-
Online
Anytime, week-long sessions
Tuition: $185
-
One-on-One
Tuition:
Mini - $395, Private - $775
Available on Zoom
2-Day
-
Zoom
Real-time videoconference
Tuition: $185
-
One-on-One
Tuition:
Mini - $395, Private - $775
Available on Zoom
Syllabus
This course gives an overview of how to conceive great characters, in any genre. Course components:
Lectures
Writing exercises
New York City/Zoom classes
The syllabus varies from teacher to teacher, term to term. Many topics will be similar to those covered in the Online classes.
Online classes
Week 1
All of Humanity: The role of character. Likeable or not. Round and flat characters. Origins of characters.
Week 2
Getting to Know Them: Background. Physicality. Personality. Magic keys. Contrasts and consistency.
Week 3
The Character Thickens: Desire. Change. Names.
Note: Content may vary among individual classes.
Teachers
Paul Zimmerman
Paul Zimmerman wrote the feature screenplays Love, Brooklyn, a selection of the Sundance Film Festival, and A Modern Affair (Columbia Tri-Star). He served as screenwriter-in-residence for Tribe Pictures, has written screenplays for JEM Entertainment and Primusfilms, and he authored the chapter on Character in Gotham's book Writing Movies (Bloomsbury USA). His play Pigs and Bugs was originally presented at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Festival, and his one-person play Reno was presented in New York City at the West Bank Cafe among other venues. He has published fiction in Confrontation Magazine. He has taught at Hofstra University and St. John's University. Paul holds a BA from Bennington College and an MFA in Playwriting from Yale.
Read more
Stuart Pennebaker
Stuart Pennebaker is the author of the novel Ghost Fish (Little, Brown). Her fiction has appeared in theStudio Magazine, After Dinner Conversation and The Crawfish, among others. She is the author of the newsletter Missed Connection. She is Gotham’s Director of Communication. Stuart holds a BA from the University of South Carolina and an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School.
Read morewrote the feature screenplays Love, Brooklyn, a selection of the Sundance Film Festival, and A Modern Affair (Columbia Tri-Star). He served as screenwriter-in-residence for Tribe Pictures, has written screenplays for JEM Entertainment and Primusfilms, and he authored the chapter on Character in Gotham's book Writing Movies (Bloomsbury USA). His play Pigs and Bugs was originally presented at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre Festival, and his one-person play Reno was presented in New York City at the West Bank Cafe among other venues. He has published fiction in Confrontation Magazine. He has taught at Hofstra University and St. John's University. Paul holds a BA from Bennington College and an MFA in Playwriting from Yale.
is the author of the novel Ghost Fish (Little, Brown). Her fiction has appeared in theStudio Magazine, After Dinner Conversation and The Crawfish, among others. She is the author of the newsletter Missed Connection. She is Gotham’s Director of Communication. Stuart holds a BA from the University of South Carolina and an MFA in Creative Writing from The New School.
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