This article makes a case for the centrality of yearning in fictional representations of characters. With the help of illustrations from Adam Phillips, Olen Butler and Ted Hughes I argue that this key element may be missing from the creative work of students. This is my attempt, through exercises and other stimuli, to generate this yearning or longing in the work of my MA students on the Creative and Life Writing Programme at Goldsmiths through a set of linked exercises, with samples of students' writing, offering a commentary on each and concluding with some tentative, but positive findings.