March 5th, 2010

Workshop #2–Character

Well, I’m completely not making good on my plan to post lesson plans ahead of the actual lessons to get your feedback on’em, but considering that on Wednesday I briefly stopped walking in the middle of the sidewalk because I’d jammed two fingers into one glove-slot and wondered how I was going to cope (I worked it out) we’re lucky I managed to get the lesson together for the actual students.

And, when it came time to deliver said lessons, I also count myself lucky that my energy miraculously returned. There’s something about those eager, curious faces, their great willingness to learn and/or to laugh if I fall down…

So the character workshop was similar to last year’s except the kids took it in a different direction. When I asked where they have seen character descriptions before, they said the usual “in books” stuff, but also, on the backs of movies, on the backs of video games, on plaques at a museum, in biographies (one long character sketch), and then, even more interesting, on your passport or your driver’s license!

I love that, because sometimes I do get lost in the “big” “emotional” issues of character development and not bother about “little” details like how old someone is–not “early twenties” but birth year and date. Not, “from southern Ontario” but pick an actual town on a map. These things make a difference to character icebergs, I think–although it sure would be odd if my students think they have to actually use all this stuff in their stories and start describing every character with height and weight!

So, yes, upcoming, a very dates/places/numbers intensive character sketch from me–I’m not sure what style, but maybe a la fight stats in a video game–which actually, come to think of it, probably won’t be entertaining at all to you guys, but might be useful to me.

And maybe then I’ll get some sleep. Have a good weekend, all!
RR