首页
登录
职称英语
Creative Writing[img]2014m9s/ct_etoefm_etoeflistz_0298_20149[/img] [br] Listen
Creative Writing[img]2014m9s/ct_etoefm_etoeflistz_0298_20149[/img] [br] Listen
游客
2024-01-03
12
管理
问题
Creative Writing
[br] Listen to Track 50.
Creative Writing
Narrator
Listen to part of a lecture in a creative writing class.
Professor
All right everybody. The topic for today is, well... we’re gonna take a look at how to start creating the characters for the stories you’re writing. One way of doing that is to come up with what’s called a character sketch. I don’t mean a sketch like a drawing. I guess that’s obvious. It’s, um ... It’s... a sketch is a way of getting started on defining your characters’ personalities.
To begin, how do we create fictional characters? We don’t just pull them from thin air, do we? I mean, we don’t create them out of nothing. We base them—consciously or unconsciously—we base them on real people. Or, we, um ... blend several people’s traits ... their attributes ... into one character.
But when people think fiction, they may assume the characters come from the author’s imagination. But the writer’s imagination is influenced by ... by real people. Could be anyone, so pay attention to the people you meet... someone in class, at the gym, that guy who’s always sitting in the corner at the coffeehouse .. . uh, your cousin who’s always getting into dangerous situations. We’re pulling from reality ... gathering bits and pieces of real people. You use these people ... and the bits of behavior or characteristics as a starting point as you begin to sketch out your characters.
Here’s what you should think about doing first. When you begin to formulate a story, make a list of interesting people you know or have observed. Consider why they’re unique ... or annoying. Then make notes about their unusual or dominant attributes. As you create fictional characters, you’ll almost always combine characteristics from several different people on your list to form the identity and personality of just one character.
Keeping this kind of character sketch can help you solidify your character’s personality ... so that it remains consistent throughout your story. You need to define your characters ... know their personalities so that you can have them acting in ways that’re predictable ... consistent with their personalities. Get to know them like a friend. You know your friends well enough to know how they’ll act in certain situations, right?
Say you have three friends, their car runs out of gas on the highway. John gets upset, Mary remains calm, Teresa takes charge of handling the situation. And, let’s say ... both John and Mary defer to her leadership. They call you to explain what happened. And when John tells you he got mad, you’re not surprised because he always gets frustrated when things go wrong. Then he tells you how Teresa took charge, calmed him down, assigned tasks for each person, and got them on their way. Again you’re not surprised. It’s exactly what you’d expect. Well, you need to know your characters like you know your friends ... if you know a lot about a person’s character, it’s easy to predict how they’ll behave. So if your characters’ personalities are well defined, it’ll be easy for you as the writer to portray them realistically . . . believably in any given situation.
While writing character sketches, do think about details. Ask yourself questions, even if you don’t use the details in your story ... uh, what does each character like to eat, what setting does each prefer. . . the mountains? The city? What about educational background? Their reactions to success ... or defeat? Write it all down.
But here I need to warn you about a possible pitfall. Don’t make your character into a stereotype. Remember, the reader needs to know how your character is different from other people who might fall in the same category. Maybe your character loves the mountains and has lived in a remote area for years. To make sure he’s not a stereotype, ask yourself how he sees life differently from other people who live in that kind of setting. Be careful not to make him into the cliche of the rugged mountain dweller.
OK. Now I’ll throw out a little terminology . . . it’s easy stuff. Major characters are sometimes called round characters. Minor characters are sometimes called ... well, just the opposite. Flat. A round character is fully developed. A flat character isn’t— character development is fairly limited. The flat character tends to serve mainly as a, um, a motivating factor. For instance, you introduce a flat character who has experienced some sort of defeat.. . and then your round . . . your main character, who loves success and loves to show off, comes and boasts about succeeding . .. and jokes about the flat character’s defeat in front of others . . . humiliates the other guy. The flat character is introduced solely for the purpose of allowing the round character to show off.
Narrator
Listen again to part of the lecture. Then answer the question.
Professor
One way of doing that is to come up with what’s called a character sketch. I don’t mean a sketch like a drawing. I guess that’s obvious. It’s, um . .. It’s,.. . a sketch is a way of getting started on defining your characters’ personalities.
Narrator
Why does the professor say this:
Professor
I don’t mean a sketch like a drawing.
选项
A、To indicate that he is about to explain what type of drawing he wants
B、To help students understand a term that may be confusing
C、To indicate that he used the wrong word earlier
D、To motivate the students to do better work
答案
B
解析
转载请注明原文地址:https://www.tihaiku.com/zcyy/3330302.html
相关试题推荐
NarratorListentotheconversationbetweenastudentandtheclubsecre
NarratorListentotheconversationbetweenastudentandtheclubsecre
NarratorListentotheconversationbetweenastudentandtheclubsecre
NarratorListentopartofalectureinthechemistryclass.Nowget
NarratorListentopartofalectureinthechemistryclass.Nowget
NarratorListentopartofalectureinthechemistryclass.Nowget
NarratorListentopartofalectureinthechemistryclass.Nowget
Inthisquestion,youwilllistentoaconversation.Thenyouwillbeasked
NarratorListentopartofalectureinanartclass.Nowgetready
NarratorListentopartofalectureinanartclass.Nowgetready
随机试题
[originaltext](19)Thefirstmoderndigitalcomputersweredevelopedinthe1940
[originaltext]M:Hi,Ruby,haveyouheardthatthereisgoingtobearobotsho
女性,28岁,因停经42天,阴道点滴流血1天就诊。GP,7个月前行子宫下段
从支出角度看,GDP由以下()部分构成。A.消费 B.投资 C.净出口 D
某教师选择林海音的《城南旧事》开设选修课程,这一课程属于《普通高中语文课程标准(
患者女性,59岁,慢性肾功能不全3年,查尿蛋白(++),血肌酐408mmol/L
根据《建筑基桩检测技术规范》(JGJ106—2014),采用声波透射法进行基桩
要对数据进行填充,可以( )。A.拖动填充柄填充 B.用“填充”对话框进行填
齐某被宏大公司的汽车撞伤,诉至法院要求赔偿损失。下列关于本案举证责任的哪些说法是
某电网规划建设一座220kV变电所,安装2台主变,三侧电压为220/110/10
最新回复
(
0
)