Characters are the beating heart of every story—fiction, nonfiction, any kind of scripted show. In fact, it’s their actions, dialogue, habits, quirks, appearance, gestures, hopes, dreams, fears, triumphs, failures, and flaws that make a story what it is. We follow people like Sherlock, Hamlet, Katniss, Batman, Lolita, and ________ (fill in your great character here) not because they’re nice folks, but because they fascinate us.
It’s almost magical, bringing people to life through words. Here you’ll learn techniques for creating and revealing characters that seem as vividly dimensional as your wife or boss or next-door neighbor.
Whether you’re working with imaginary or real people, we’ll show you how to write characters that your readers or audience won’t soon forget.
This is a cross-genre course, applicable to any kind of writing that contains characters, including nonfiction.
Intensives are fun, fast crash courses.
Two-day Zoom Intensive
Place & Price
Registration fee $25, paid once per term
One-on-One tuition: $350 Request consultation
The Zoom Intensives are taught via the Zoom videoconference platform.
Character Intensive topics include: building characters, desire, contrast, showing vs. telling, evolution.
Course components: lectures, writing exercises
Intensives are open for writers of any level. Students must be 18 years or older.
Students may reschedule a Zoom Intensive one time.
One-day Intensive
Place & Price
Registration fee $25, paid once per term
One-on-One tuition: $350 Request consultation
The NYC One-day Intensives are taught in-person.
Character Intensive topics include: building characters, desire, contrast, showing vs. telling, evolution.
Course components: lectures, writing exercises
Intensives are open for writers of any level. Students must be 18 years or older.
Students may reschedule a One-day Intensive one time.
To ensure everyone’s good health, students and teachers in NYC classes must show proof of full vaccination—your Covid vaccine card (or a digital scan), a NY State Excelsior digital card, or another form of government-approved proof. You must bring this proof to your first class session; we will contact you with a reminder before your class begins. You may also be asked for proof of identity with an official government photo ID. Face masks may also be required, pending the current situation.
3-week Intensive
Place & Price
Registration fee $25, paid once per term
One-on-One tuition: $495 Request consultation
This course explores techniques for creating and revealing dimensional characters, for any type of writing. Course components:
Character is open to writers of any level. Students must be 18 years or older.
