Many writers face the challenge of creating vivid, memorable characters and immersive settings. We include too little detail–or under-present the details we choose–often resulting in bland or flat characterizations.
The world around us is filled with sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touch—a richness that is just as vital for your characters, whether real or imagined. Specific details from our experience, like the sound of a loved one’s laugh or the logo on a faded band t-shirt, can bring your characters to life.
In this prompt-driven webinar, we will explore how writing about sight, sound, touch, taste, and smell is key to creating compelling characters. We’ll look at examples from published work and try some of our own. Afterward, you’ll have techniques that you can immediately apply to your own work.
Closed captioning is available ✔
All registrants receive the recording ✔
Jessica Handler is the author of the novel The Magnetic Girl, winner of the 2020 Southern Book Prize and a nominee for the Townsend Prize for Fiction, a 2019 “Books All Georgians Should Read,” an Indie Next pick, Wall Street Journal Spring 2019 pick, Bitter Southerner Summer 2019 pick, and a Southern Independent Bookseller’s Association “Okra Pick.” Her memoir Invisible Sisters was also named one of the “Books All Georgians Should Read,” and her craft guide Braving the Fire: A Guide to Writing About Grief and Loss was praised by Vanity Fair magazine.
Jessica’s writing has appeared on NPR, in Tin House, Drunken Boat, Full Grown People, Oldster, The Bitter Southerner, Electric Literature, Brevity, Creative Nonfiction, Newsweek, The Washington Post, and elsewhere. Honors include the Ferrol Sams, Jr. Distinguished Writer in Residence at Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, and the Kenyon Review Peter Taylor Fellowship. She is a visiting faculty member at West Virginia Wesleyan College’s low-residency MFA and a member of the faculty at Etowah Valley MFA at Reinhardt College. Her novel, The World To See, is forthcoming from Regal House Press. Jessica lives in Atlanta with her husband, novelist Mickey Dubrow.
Questions? Please email info@craft-talks.com