Bodies and Heartbeats: Crafting Character from the Inside Out

January 14 – February 11, 2025

Deadline: November 22, 2024

Instructor:

      E. C. Ambrose

Level:

Intermediate

Live Class:

7 pm-8:30 pm EST
Tues., Jan. 14
Tues., Jan. 28
Tues., Feb. 11

Tuition:

$259.00

Course Description

If you will try being fictional for a while, you will find that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats. –Richard Bach

 

In her critiques as a guest lecturer at the Odyssey Writing Workshop and as a critiquer for the Odyssey Critique Service, Elaine Isaak, who writes as E. C. Ambrose, has become legendary for identifying weaknesses in character and suggesting brilliant yet simple ways to strengthen characters. This course will help you to develop a clearer sense of what makes a powerful character and will teach you the techniques you need to develop strong characters.

The first duty of the fiction writer is to make the reader care about people that don’t exist. In this workshop, we’ll talk about how to create the core of a sympathetic character and bring that character to life through words so that the reader invests in the dreams and challenges of your imagined people. Students will study and discuss examples, perform exercises to practice creating sympathetic and believable characters, and write short-shorts that put these new skills into practice.  Students will also provide critiques of their classmates’ work.

The course is intended for writers of fantastic fiction, though fiction writers who focus on other genres could profit from this class and would be welcome. The course will cover issues relevant in middle grade, young adult, and adult fiction.

It will be most valuable for intermediate writers, since it will assume students already understand the basics of characterization.

Students must be ready to hear about the weaknesses in their writing, particularly in their characters, and to work to strengthen them. Students must also be ready to give feedback to their classmates that is both truthful and helpful.

Our goal as a class is to provide a supportive yet challenging, energizing environment that will help students improve their writing.

Each student will have a private meeting with Elaine.

Assignments:

Students will have some homework assigned before the first meeting, and will also be assigned homework during the course.

The first assignment will have a due date of January 13, the day before our initial meeting.

Homework will be assigned on January 14 and 28, with due dates, respectively, of January 20 and February 3. You will also be required to provide critiques of some of your classmates’ work, which will be due on January 27 and February 10. Any student who misses a deadline may be expelled from the class and will receive no refund.

All assignments should be properly formatted and should be submitted as MS Word files or rich text files.

You should reserve a minimum of 5 hours each week to complete homework.

Assignments will include readings, writing exercises, critiques, and writing new fiction.  Students will also be required to reply to online discussion questions during the course.

Elaine will return students’ homework with her feedback by the day before the next class session.

Students are expected to follow guidelines about assignments and class materials established in the Odyssey Online Student Handbook.

Attendance:

Since we will have only 3 class meetings, attendance at every class is necessary for students to get the most out of this course.

You are expected to attend all classes, except in cases of emergency. In such cases, you should notify the instructor.

Classes will be recorded and made available to students for a limited time.

Any student who misses more than one class may be expelled from the course and will receive no refund.

It is your responsibility to find out what happened in any classes you missed and to complete homework by the deadlines.

Students are expected to follow the policies about attendance and behavior set out in the Odyssey Online Student Handbook.

Texts:

Students will be required to complete several readings before the course begins. Additional readings may be required after the course begins.

Technical Requirements:

Technical requirements for all Odyssey Online Classes are covered on the Online Classes page.

Tentative Schedule:

January 14:   First class meeting. Introduction and orientation. What makes a character sympathetic? Character from the inside out: what drives your character?  Establishing goal, motivation and conflict. Goals people care about, motivations that show character depth, conflict that will create internal and external tension. Examples of characters we care about. Assignment of homework.

January 20:   Homework is due.

January 24:   Some students will have private meetings with Elaine between 7:00-8:15 PM EST.

January 27:   Critiques are due. Homework is returned with Elaine’s feedback.

January 28:   Second class meeting. Discussion of previous homework assignment. The nitty-gritty: how do you show what your character is after? How do you suggest motivation? Using point of view to reveal character. Back story, subtext, secrets in layers. Some ways to analyze how your character is working (PASATFWOT, the window). Assignment of new homework.

January 31:   Some students will have private meetings with Elaine between 7:00-8:15 PM EST.

February 3:   Homework is due.

February 7:   Some students will have private meetings with Elaine between 7:00-8:15 PM EST.

February 10:  Critiques are due. Homework is returned with Elaine’s feedback.

February 11:  Third class meeting. Discussion of previous homework assignment. Characters together—relationship is key. Power dynamics. Considerations of character for longer works and series works. Ensemble casting—who to include and how. Showing the antagonist. Character = plot: deriving scenes from your character’s emotional core.

Instructor: E. C. Ambrose

E. C. Ambrose writes knowledge-inspired adventure fiction including the five-volume Dark Apostle series about medieval surgery, The Singer’s Legacy fantasy series as by Elaine Isaak, and the Bone Guard international thrillers as by E. Chris Ambrose. The Dark Apostle started with Elisha Barber (DAW, 2013), described in a starred Library Journal review as, “beautifully told, painfully elegant.” Her latest releases are Conquistador’s Blood (Bone Guard 7) and her Young Adult science fiction novel, A Wreck of Dragons. Her superhero game, Skystrike: Wings of Justice, is available from Choice of Games.

Her short stories have appeared in Fireside, Warrior Women and Last-Ditch, among many others, and she has edited several volumes of New Hampshire Pulp Fiction.  In addition to fiction, she has written how-to articles for The Writer magazine, nonfiction at Clarkesworld, and authored the Lady Blade fantasy writing column at AlienSkin magazine for three years. Her speaking engagements have included local chapters of Romance Writers of America as well as other writing groups, the World Science Fiction and World Fantasy Conventions.

Elaine attended the Rhode Island School of Design for three years, and studied speculative fiction at the Odyssey Writing Workshop, where she is pleased to return as an instructor. A former animal mascot designer and adventure guide, Elaine lives in New Hampshire with her family where she felts, dyes and weaves as she devises her plots.

Elaine’s research interests include the history of technology and medicine, Mongolian history and culture, medieval history, and unusual animal senses. Her research and travel has taken her to Germany, England, France, Mexico, India, Nepal, China and Mongolia as well as many United States destinations. In order to write the best books she can, Elaine learned how to hunt with a falcon, clear a building of possible assailants, and pull traction on a broken limb. She is eager to see where writing will take her next. Visit www.RocinanteBooks.com to find out more about Elaine’s many guises.

E. C. Ambrose’s Students