Writing the Historical Novel Part 2: People Are Always People

People Are Always People: Breathing Life Into Believable Characters Who Happen to Live in

Writers of historical fiction need to remember two things about their characters: they live in a very different world from the one inhabited by modern readers, but they are still human beings with needs and desires that don't differ all that much from our own. In this session, the instructor will present examples of historical fiction and discuss the authors' approach to character development. Students will be invited to share their own challenges with characterization, and an in-class exercise will provide guidance to help them find their own approach to fleshing out the people who live out their stories.

Note: Each session is fully stand-alone. You can take this class independently without enrolling in the other parts.

YOUR INSTRUCTOR

Mary Anna Evans is the author of seventeen novels, which have received recognition including the Benjamin Franklin Award, the Oklahoma Book Award, the Will Rogers Medallion Award, and the Florida Historical Society's Patrick D. Smith Award. They have earned starred reviews from Library Journal and Booklist, they have been recognized as Book Sense and Indie Next Picks, and they have been on "Best of the Year" lists in The Strand, True West, and Voice of Young America. Her nonfiction has appeared in publications including The Atlantic and the Louisville Review, and it has been shortlisted for the Edgar, Agatha, Macavity, and HRF Keating Awards. She holds an MFA in creative writing and a PhD in English literature, and she is a retired tenured professor of creative writing with a specialty in genre fiction.