CHARACTERS AND PROBLEMS

OLIVIA

ARNIE THE DOUGHNUT

ASSIGNMENT:

Have you read Arnie the Doughnut by Laurie Keller? It's one of my all time favorites because of it's zaniness and plot. It's also a great cast study for looking at a how the storyteller built a story around a character and problem. So here's the assignment. Get the book, Arnie the Doughnut. If you can't you can't get the book, you can watch a reading here. (Reading the book and flipping through the pages yourself is so much better so do that if you can.)

Answer the following:

• Who is the Character? What are his/her attributes?
• How does the storyteller introduce the character?
• What's the character's problem?
• Is the problem relatable, interesting or humorous to kids?
• How does the storyteller evolve (escalate) the problem?
• Are there any events or scenes that don't relate to the problem? If so, would the story be better by cutting the scene out?
• How does the storyteller resolve the problem?
• How does the character grow by the end of the story?

THE DAY THE CRAYONS QUIT

EXERCISE: EMPATHY

Another favorite book (there are so many good ones) is Drew Daywalt's the Day the Crayon's Quit. Pick a color and write a letter to Duncan. If you have a flood of ideas for your color, just keep writing. If you are having a hard time coming up with ideas, try the post it exercise, where you list out a few colors and then list feelings and life experiences. Try "collaging" them to together to see if that sparks some ideas.

You can also use index cards and write a lot of ideas of what your crayon may say. Then you can recompose the prose.

Share what you've come up with on our FB group.

ASSIGNMENT: YOUR CHARACTER & PROBLEM

Take a look at your story and your characters. What's your character's problem. You should be at a stage where you have an idea for a story, done lots of doodles and have a few lines or feelings for scenes you want to connect. Examine your character and ask yourself the questions:

• Who is the Character? What are his/her attributes?
• How are you introducing the character? What does it reveal about your character?
• What's the character's problem?
• Is the problem relatable, interesting or humorous to kids?
• How do you evolve (escalate) the problem?
• Are there any events or scenes that don't relate to the problem? If so, would the story be better by cutting the scene out?
• How do you resolve the problem?
• How does the character grow by the end of the story?

NOTE- After you build your dummy and have page turns, it is much easier to understand and feel the reader's experience. Sometimes, It's also easier to understand how your character should evolve. Sometimes, I can project what I think should happen in the story just by turning pages to a dummy. We're covering building a dummy in the third lecture this week.