On 12 February, GCSE students from Ormiston
Bolingbroke Academy attended a creative writing workshop at the University,
hosted by the Department of English.
Led by lecturer Dr Graham Atkin, the students
completed an exercise called ‘The Character Box’, which helps budding dramatists
and fiction writers think about how to create distinct and interesting
characters.
Each student filled in a blank box template on a
sheet of A4, responding to different prompts and questions from Graham about
the character they are creating, such as: ‘Name, Age, and Gender’; ‘Worst Day’;
and ‘Dream/Hope/Aspiration’. Having filled in the template and cut out and
assembled the boxes, everyone had a rounded (albeit cuboid) character about
whom a play or story could be written.
