It’s all about character

Week two of our project with Beaminster school, and we spent a chatty morning looking at dialogue and character. Writers improvised their own dialogues in the style of classic improv show ‘Whose Line is It Anyway?’, by using questions only. It’s really hard but a lot of fun! This exercise served as the springboard for writing a dialogue between two characters.

We also talked about what makes a compelling and believable character, and the writers came up with brilliant insights such as backstory and imperfections. We then gave each pupil a Character Questionnaire to start to create a protagonist, and from there they developed a scene showing their characters’ dreams and ambitions.

The Bank Manager was given a run for his money (or words) when Year 9 boys read their work to him, as did some of the younger pupils. Some fantastic writing already coming out of these youngsters; the resultant anthology is going to be a must-read…