Conceptualisation and exposition : a paradigm of character creation

• Main Author: Varotsi, Evangelia
• Other Authors: Randall, Martin ; Childs, Peter ; North, Kate
• Published: University of Gloucestershire 2015
• Subjects: 808.02; PN Literature (General)
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.668145

While the concept of the fictional character has been widely discussed at an interdisciplinary level, a foundational theory of character creation in Creative Writing is yet to follow. As a result, Creative Writing students refer to post-construction analysis in Literary Theory, or even the formulaic advice often suggested by popular writing manuals. Aiming to fill this gap, and at the same time reconcile the chasm between Literary Theory and Creative Writing, my thesis shall initiate a paradigm of character creation, by combining creativity with craftsmanship. More specifically, my approach consists of two interrelated stages: Conceptualisation entails the conception of the character by means of authorial perception, imagination and judgement, which precedes her textual birth; and Exposition, which pertains to the conveyance of such a priori knowledge on paper. My research is conducted through both synthesis and critical analysis. I will be presenting, analysing and thus substantiating my own method of work and at the same time I will examine existing theories I wish to encompass or challenge. My sources are interdisciplinary: Literary Theory and Criticism, Cognitive Psychology, Theory of Mind, Theory of Person and Linguistics are some of them. Examples from Rick Moody’s The Ice Storm (1994), J.M. Coetzee’s Disgrace (1999) and Sarah Waters’ Fingersmith (2002) will be used to support my hypotheses. I will not be presuming upon the novelists’ original intentions, but rather testing my own method against their texts.