Muse & the Marketplace 2019

What is the language of your character’s body? Gesture, or involuntary movement, while not often discussed as an aspect of craft, is a hugely important feature of character development. Gestures big and small bring our characters to life; gestures reveal who our characters truly are. In this session, we will look at examples of extraordinary scenes in which characters’ physical movements demonstrate complex feelings and attitudes. We will do several fun exercises to practice moving beyond familiar gestures (sighing, leaning, shrugging, running hands through hair...) in order to grasp how we can create memorable characters fully alive on the page.