Character in Fiction

The Power of Storytelling – Character Driven Fiction

In this course, Professor Lars Iyer (University of Newcastle) explores the power of storytelling through writing character driven fiction. This course includes reference to two key texts: Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice (1813), and George Orwell’s 1984 (1949). In the first module, we look at characters in fiction. In the send module, we consider our protagonist’s goals. In the third module we look at obstacles to the protagonist’s goals, before thinking about raising the stakes of the story in the fourth module. In the fifth and final module, we finish by exploring how to create a fictional world and the structure of storytelling.

Character in Fiction

In this module, we look at characters in fiction, focusing in particular on (i) the relationship between character and plot (ii) types of characters in fiction (iii) the protagonist (iv) creating a sympathetic character.