VCFA Lecture

I'll give my 45 minute long graduate lecture at the January residency of Vermont College of Fine Arts. The lectures, given by faculty and graduating students, are always super high quality. So much of what I've learned during my MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults program, I've learned by attending the lectures.

I turn in my lecture description next week. Here it is.

“WHO AM I?”

CHARACTER ROLES AND IDENTITY

“Who in the world am I? Ah, that's the great puzzle!” exclaims Alice in Wonderland. How does the writer answer the vital question of “Who am I?” when developing characters? I’ll explore how writers can use both internal and external aspects of identity on the page and in the story. I’ll also discuss roles, not stereotypical or archetypical roles, but the everyday, down to earth, nitty-gritty multiplicity of roles and look at how we use roles to influence action and plot when we craft story.

Titles discussed will include Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White, Hanging on to Max by Margaret Bechard, Jumped by Rita Williams-Garcia, The Miles Between by Mary E. Pearson, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J. K. Rowling, and of course, Alice in Wonderland.