How to Create Compelling Characters That Drive Your Story | 4-Week Online Writing Workshop

This is the deep-build class: not just one scene, but the full interior architecture of the  characters who drive your story. Great stories begin with unforgettable characters, but to write unforgettable characters, you have to know them better than anyone else. In How to Create Compelling Characters That Drive Your Story, writers will learn how to move beyond surface-level traits and develop a deep understanding of who their characters are at their core. Whether you're working on a novel, short story, or screenplay, this course will help you build complex, believable characters with depth, motivation, and emotional resonance. We’ll explore essential elements of character development including backstory, goals and stakes, personality psychology, relationships, and character motivation. Most importantly, you’ll learn how to uncover what drives your characters' fears, desires, contradictions, wounds, and beliefs, so their choices feel authentic rather than convenient to the plot. 4 class sessions Thursdays, October 15-November 5 8p-10p ET 5p-7p PT 7p-9p CT By the end of the class, you’ll understand how knowing your character shapes plot, tension, and transformation, and how to design characters whose decisions propel your story forward. Writers of all levels are welcome. Seats are capped to keep this workshop intimate. Registration closes on Tuesday, October 13th, 48 hours before our first session, so Marielle can prepare for exactly who is in the room. All class meetings will be held via Zoom. For more information on how to download or use Zoom, please click here. Please note: At this time, to protect the confidentiality of the space and sharing of students' work, classes are not recorded.