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Skillshare

Write Believable Characters for Beginners

via Skillshare

Overview

Do you have a story you would like to write? How about a character or two flashing scenes inside your mind? 

Maybe you have a keen interest in writing genre fiction such as horror, adventure, fantasy, paranormal or romance. If so, this class will give you the ability to make characters that will become the beating heart of your story.

Characters may be fictional but they are also people in the minds of your reader and they are a pivotal part of your story's creation process.

But what happens if your characters aren't yet three dimensional?

How do you go beyond creating cliche characters?

In my experience, it's important to know them as much as possible before writing the first scene. However, I do know there are writers who like to discover their characters as they build a story too.

No matter whether you prefer to write plot driven stories or discovery write your way through your novel, this course will help you to create characters with depth and interest. I will also help you to develop a basic character sheet that you can refer back to and tweak/add to as you write and discover more about your characters.

Characters are the lens through which the reader will experience your story. It is my belief that every writer wants their readers to fall in love with their characters and so, it's important to know who they are and what they have to offer the story.

This class is designed to introduce you to concepts of character creation that will help build characters that capture the imagination and interest of your readers. It will help you to create characters that come across as real to your readers too. 

In this class, we'll explore the following:

  • What makes a character interesting?
  • What makes a character likeable? And why you should you care.
  • What role your character performing in your story?
  • What conflicts do characters need?
  • And, how to create a character work sheet that will help create a well rounded character, from physical appearance to finding their greatest fears which will help make them stand out in a crowd.

Join this class and and learn to think about characters in a way that will build depth and interest in your genre fiction.

I hope you enjoy this class!

Please leave me a review, add your thoughts to the community section and let me know if you have questions. I'll do what I can to help you out. 

And if you have any creative genre fiction topics you would like me to explore in a future class, let me know.

All the best with your character creation and story development.

Selina

About the Project Character Work Sheet and where to find it 

I have created a bonus video where I walk through the project worksheet by fleshing out one of my characters, Luca, who is a love interest. I hope it helps you think through your project and helps you to build more confidence in not only your character development but world building, themes and other aspects that are closely tied to the story telling/story plotting and writing process. 

If you're looking for the Project Character work sheet document, it can be found under the Project & Resources section. It's a link on the right hand side of the screen. Just download it and start thinking through your character.

Try to think about what conflicts they have internally, what their facing externally and what they will do to overcome the obstacles to get what they want in their story. 
Feel free to add to this character work sheet so it is all relevant to you and your character. 

Syllabus

  • Introduction to Writing Believable Characters
  • What is a character?
  • What makes a character interesting to readers?
  • What makes a character likeable?
  • Characters and Your Project
  • Summing up characters
  • Bonus Worksheet walk through

Taught by

Selina Shapland

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