Characters on the Couch

Here are a selection of Pierre’s columns. Writing as Gabriel St Claire he gives a fascinating take on the psychological motivation of literary characters. Pierre Brouard is  a Clinical Psychologist and is currently the Deputy Director of the Centre for the Study of AIDS at the University of Pretoria. His work includes training, research, consulting and writing and his interests … Read more

News, exercises and a writing tip

Here is a potpourri of news, a victory announcement, exercises, reminders, and a writing tip fresh from the pen of one of this year’s Man-Booker prize short-listed authors: here goes!

Summer Writing Courses

We have a very busy summer ahead of us with a great array of writing courses on offer for Johannesburg between now and December. Here’s a course designed to rev you up for a challenging writing project – or, more simply, to help you re-engage with your creative self. The Creative Writing Course designed to … Read more

Test your imagination with this writing exercise

Here’s a writing trigger that we stumbled upon on the internet. Suggested by writer Yvette Amarlyse, it’s a prompt designed to catapult you out beyond the fences that, unknowingly, you’ve erected around you.

Writing exercises galore

Well done to Linda Ravenhill winner of the May Boekehuis gift voucher. Click here to read Linda’s entry. We held our regular monthly Allaboutwriting/continued meeting last week and invite all of you to do the same exercise, under the same conditions. Send in your effort, and you’ll stand in line to win a Boekehuis or … Read more

Character Course

Allaboutwriting hosts a Character Course in Johannesburg on 24 October 2009.

The Character Course blends psychology and writing

Sometimes it takes a shrink to work out what really makes a person tick – even if that person is a fictional character in the mind of a writer. Psychologist Pierre Brouard thinks he is probably the first of his profession to be involved in running a writing course. He is co-convenor of a regular … Read more

Can you write without suspense?

Jo-Anne Richards muses on the challenges and excitement of a writer’s life.

Characters on the Couch

How would you convince your readers that the passionate understudy could be driven to murder to get the plum role? Well, our advice would be to e-mail Characters on the Couch – a blog written by a practising psychologist to help writers hone their craft. Pierre Brouard, writing as Gabriel St Claire, offers psycho-literary advice … Read more

Characters – beyond the cardboard cut-out

Characters don’t exist in isolation. They are the sum of their history, experiences and personality. Here are some tips on howto develop characters more fully.

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