Good Characterization is why most peo­ple read fic­tion. Sure, you can draw your read­ers in with action, mys­tery, and romance, but what they will remem­ber thirty years after read­ing your book are the char­ac­ters. Or not.

You will always remem­ber Elizabeth Bennett, Katniss, Holden, Jean Valjean, and Harry the boy who lived. These char­ac­ters will stick in your brain for years, maybe longer even than some of your friends. However, other char­ac­ters you for­got as soon as you closed the book. What was the character's name of that book you had to read in ninth grade? You know, the really bor­ing one?

The ques­tion is, will your char­ac­ters be remem­bered? Or will they be for­got­ten as eas­ily as those in that ninth grade novel you for­get the name of?

Seven Steps to Memorable Characters

This con­ve­nient tuto­r­ial will be deliv­ered to your email inbox every week in man­age­able chunks. You'll also get links to help­ful resources and pro­fes­sional ser­vices. Here are the super-fun top­ics we'll cover:

• The Strongest Form of Characterization
• 9 Villains in Literature and Film and How to Make Yours Better
• The Weakest Form of Characterization
• How NOT to Introduce a New Character
• The Most Important Character Archetype
• Harry Potter and the Three Types of Heroes
• How to Explore Your Characters' Motivations

Character Archetypes

The author of Ecclesiastes said, "There's noth­ing new under the sun." This is true for char­ac­ters in lit­er­a­ture as well. Certain char­ac­ters appear over and over through­out his­tory, whether in Shakespeare, Disney, or even Harry Potter. You will dis­cover these arche­types and how you can use them to enhance your own characters.

Practical Characterization Advice

At The Write Practice, we're all about putting to use what you've learned imme­di­ately. That's why after each les­son you'll get a chance to prac­tice cre­at­ing new char­ac­ters and tweak­ing the ones you already have. Seven lessons means seven unique exer­cise to help you cre­ate char­ac­ters that stick in your read­ers' memories.

What NOT to Do When You Create a Character

As impor­tant as learn­ing good char­ac­ter­i­za­tion is, it's just as impor­tant to learn how not to do char­ac­ter­i­za­tion. For exam­ple, avoid back­story!

Sign up for the free tuto­r­ial now!