Creating memorable characters for your genre fiction can be both challenging and rewarding. It ain’t easy but it can be done. And if you’re in Victoria, BC, in May, check out my course which is being offered by Camosun College on Saturday May 8th.
You don’t have to have weird and wacky types like you’d find in Dickens (but bully for you if you do); however, you do want personalities that stand out, that resonate with your readers.
After all, think of any good book or movie. Do you remember the intricacies of the plot? Or do you remember the players?
How about The Sculptress, by Minette Walters, as an example. It’s an award winning mystery novel with a terrific twisty turny plot but what I remember most is the titular character, Olive Martin, as she sat in prison carving human figurines out of wax. Let’s just say she stuck with me.
Now, I’m neither Dickens nor Walters (more’s the pity) but I have written a number of published mysteries and I’ve amassed a lot of helpful materials which I’ll be sharing with the participants of How to Create Memorable Characters.
Course blurb below:
Successful fiction writers are able to create characters that jump off the page with believability, originality and likeability.
In this intensive half-day course, novelist Nicola Furlong offers simple, practical and effective tips and techniques to help you bring your fictional folks to life.
You will learn how to use point of view to your advantage, how to craft dialogue that crackles and how to buff up your characters by fleshing out backgrounds, temperaments, personalities and character arcs.
For more info and to register, check out How to Create Memorable Characters.
Who knows? Perhaps we’ll create another Uriah Heep or Stephanie Plum!
