Swanwick 2017 - Thursday: Icebergs

Advanced Characterisation

I might be bold enough to say that they saved the best for last. Thursday's short course was a look at Advanced Characterisation with Simon Hall. The basic concept taught was that every character is an iceberg - hence the title of this blog post. The first session involved making a character based on this notion, beginning with what's above the surface: appearance, clothing and props, and mannerisms.

The second session continued this by going below the surface with a structure knows as "DEEPS". This consisted of Daily life, Emotional attachments, "Euchs" (Flaws in a hero, redeemable qualities in a villain), Past, and Secrets. As before, I was applying this to my protagonist in my current WIP, and I'm hoping to apply the same thing to the other characters.

As for the evening events, we had a semi-formal event on the lawn known as the Dregs Party. After dinner, there was the Swanwick Farewell. This included an awards ceremony for the Page to Stage performances (The Swannies), and in lieu of a pantomime this year, there was a sing-song. But the most important aspect is definitely John Lamont's famous Writer's Anthem. It wouldn't be a farewell without that.

Credit to The Writer's Circle

I'd like to close this series of posts by saying it was such a great pleasure to be back at Swanwick, and to thank them for such a wonderful experience. I look forward to returning in 2018 for the school's 70th anniversary.

Happy writing.