Your Cast of Characters

Characters are the heart of every story. Without them, stories would be flat, boring, uninspiring. We read fiction to immerse ourselves in the lives of characters—their journeys and struggles, their hopes and failures. And when we go on these journeys, we long to be moved, even changed, by the characters we care about. If we’re lucky, we’ll gain some important insights about ourselves, our world, and those we share life with.

As fiction writers, our task, first and foremost, is to tell a great story. The challenge is to populate that story with a cast of characters that is exactly what’s needed to tell that story in the best way possible, whether we’re writing a play, a movie, a short story, or a novel.

But there aren’t any hard-and-fast rules or a road map laying out exactly how many characters a story should have or what type of characters or the roles each one should play. Too many characters, and a story can get bogged down and muddle the plot. Too few, and the story feels superficial or incomplete.

So how does a writer decide on her cast of characters? Are there some guidelines, at least, to help in that decision?

Yes, there are. And, in this course, you will learn all you need to know to create your cast of characters!

Here's some of what you'll learn in this extensive course:

• What the basic types of characters are and what roles they play in a story
• How your plot and premise inform the characters you develop
• How to determine if a character is essential to your plot or just "filler"
• What kind of supportive characters does your specific story need and how you can determine that
• How to create characters that act as symbols
• What archetypes are and how you can utilize them to create fantastic characters
• How incidental characters can make or break your story
• Why understanding character motivation is paramount

These video modules feature numerous excerpts from novels, movie clips, and deep instruction. In addition, you are given assignments to help you develop a great cast of characters, which you can download and do over and over as needed.

BONUS!

In addition to the intensive instruction in these video modules, you'll also have access to numerous video interviews with best-selling authors, who share their process in developing their cast of characters as well as give tips to authors on how to come up with great characters! These video interviews are not available anywhere else.

Don't guess how many characters your story needs. Don't just throw in random character types to fill out your novel or play or screenplay. This course will give you the guidance you need to make smart decisions about your cast of characters.