Construct Complex Characters Readers Care About—a Two-Part Interactive Writing Workshop
Part I – Building Believable Characters
Whether a story is plot-driven or character-driven, it’s memorable, fully-formed characters that draw readers in and keep them turning the pages. We are layered, complex beings with virtues, hang-ups, secrets, phobias and bad habits. Our characters should be, too.
Part I of this two-part, interactive workshop will give you the tools to delve beyond surface information like age and hair or eye color and get to know your characters intimately. Such knowledge equips you to create wholly-developed, multi-faceted characters who feel real to readers and with whom readers can form an emotional connection.
Part II — Create Compelling, Complex Secondary Characters
None of us exists in a vacuum. Neither should our characters. Our friends, family, bosses, co-workers, and neighbors impact our lives in ways big and small. Our encounters with them often develop or reveal our true character. The same should be true of our secondary characters. Well-developed secondary characters—whether good, bad, or indifferent—shed light on our understanding of the primary characters in a more striking manner than narration alone.
In Part II of this interactive workshop, we’ll examine how to use secondary characters to reveal key aspects of primary characters and move the plot along. We’ll also discuss how to create a cast of characters that add to the story rather than distracts from it.
Following an interactive discussion of each topic, workshop participants will put the techniques learned into action by crafting layered, believable characters specific to your next fiction project during this interactive, full-day workshop led by a multi-published author of romantic fiction populated by complex, emotionally-compelling characters.
During this two-part workshop:
- Learn the essential elements of engaging, complex characters.
- Discover simple methods for breathing life into your characters—without completing extensive character profiles.
- Discover surefire ways for creating characters with conflicting personalities who aren’t caricatures.
- Learn how to create complementary secondary characters who enrich the story and broaden understanding of the protagonist.
- You’ll construct primary and secondary characters for your current or future project.
***Either topic can be presented as either a half-day workshop or an abbreviated writers‘ talk.***
Click here to schedule an online or onsite workshop presentations.