Crafting Dynamic Characters (Writing Mastery)
What you'll learn
- What makes readers fall in love with characters
- How to breathe life into flat characters
- 7 tools for effectively revealing your characters to the reader
- The 4 Foundations that make up all Dynamic Characters
- The importance of accessing a character's "interiority" and how to use it to elevate your fiction writing
- How to brainstorm and develop Dynamic Characters from the ground up
- How to develop your character's "voice"
- How to build and nurture the essential "reader/character" connection
Requirements
- A notebook and pen/pencil or a computer/tablet for exercises
Description
Student Reviews For "Crafting Dynamic Characters":
"One of the most helpful and eye-opening writing courses I've ever taken." - Daryl
"I am amazed at how much my writing has improved since beginning this course. This course has sparked many ideas for new characters. I can't wait to tell their story." - Tunisia W.
"Whether a professional or a beginner, you have something to benefit from this course." - John Paul N.
If there’s one secret to crafting dynamic characters that readers will remember it’s this:
Connection.
The job of a fiction writer is not just to create interesting, compelling, and unique characters, but to weave those characters into the prose in a way that engages readers and connects them to the story.
Because you can have the most interesting, compelling, unique characters in the world but if you can’t effectively reveal those characters to your readers in a way that inspires them to keep reading, what’s the point?
Welcome to Writing Mastery: Crafting Dynamic Characters
In this course, taught by character guru, literary agent and freelance editor, Mary Kole, (and developed with bestselling author and #1 bestselling Udemy instructor, Jessica Brody) you’ll learn how to not only create fully fleshed-out, dynamic characters, but also how to reveal them--and all of their wonderful nuances--in a way that grabs the reader’s attention, inspires their imagination, and captures their heart.
Mary Kole has been working with writers as a publishing assistant, literary agent, editor and writing teacher for more than a decade. She’s helped thousands of authors take flat, underdeveloped characters and turn them into dynamic ones that leap off the page.
This course was produced and co-instructed by bestselling author Jessica Brody as part of the Writing Mastery series whose courses have over 50,000 enrolled students and over 5,000 5-star reviews on Udemy!
In this course, Mary Kole teaches her "secret sauce" for character success, centering around the concept of Interiority (the character’s inner life). Mary will break down, step by step the process of building and nurturing that invaluable reader/character relationship and provide you with 7 vital tools for weaving characters into your prose in an engaging way. Additionally, she’ll break down the 4 Foundations of a Dynamic Character and walk you through the process of brainstorming and developing your own.
And throughout the course, she’ll give you tons of examples, actionable tips, and exercises to help you apply what you’ve learned and put your new skills to work.
By the end of this course, you’ll have:
A solid understanding of why readers fall in love with characters and what makes for an interactive reading experience (an essential component of any successful story)
7 tools for effectively revealing characters to your readers in a way that engages them and makes them an active part of your story
A firm grasp of the 4 foundations that make up a dynamic character
At least one fully fleshed-out character that you can use to elevate a current work in progress or start a new story
Plus, along the way, in order to help solidify the skills taught in this course, instructors Jessica Brody and Mary Kole will take on each of the exercises in the course and share their results in fun, critique-group style “Instructor Jam” sessions. Seeing how professional writers approach the exercises will provide even more insight and context into how dynamic characters are crafted and revealed on the page.
"So in depth, so broken down into easily digestible, yummy little tid-bits of crafty goodness. I love it!" - Kat L.
"[This course] is amazing and it has been quite helpful!" - Siya S.
"Unbelievable information" - Richard R.
“This is ‘just in time’ knowledge for my first novel!” - Johnny P.
This Course Includes:
Tons of fun, inspiring writing prompts designed to break you out of old patterns, get you thinking about character in a new way, and help you apply all the skills taught in the course
Examples from popular works of fiction to provide context and enhance your understanding of the material
Tips and advice from a true publishing-industry insider on how to make fresh choices, brainstorm with confidence, and elevate your fiction writing and character development skills
Whether you’re a seasoned writer or just starting out, whether you have an idea for a story, are revising an existing project, or just looking for inspiration, this course is sure to take your character development skills to the next level.
ENROLL NOW to start developing your own dynamic characters today!
"This is the most dynamic exciting writing course I have ever taken. It’s concrete easy to follow, and has great guidelines to make one a better writer." - Marie-Louise M.
"I struggled with the concept of dynamic characters, despite numerous articles and different courses touching on the topic. With this course I finally understand it! "- Marieka V.
"...brilliant tips and tricks. This course unblocked me and inspired me to take out all of the drafts piling up in my drawers, and get on with the writing." - Tihana R.
"I had some unexpected major breakthroughs about how to energize my main character's motivation, personality, and inner voice." - Renay J.
"This course has been amazing to highlight the importance of characters and give the much needed tools on what to do with them and make them stand out to the reader." - Limahl R.
PRAISE FOR COURSES IN THE WRITING MASTERY SERIES:
10 writing courses
Over 50,000 students enrolled
Average rating 4.7 stars!
"Just, WOW! FULL of tips, tricks, resources, references, and actionable steps" - Tracy
"Superb. Clear and engaging - Dan
"Thorough, accurate, and well-presented --I would recommend Jessica Brody’s courses to any writer eager to rise." - Mark
"Jessica Brody's courses are all thorough, entertaining, and extremely helpful." - Tricia
"As always, Jessica Brody delivers an insider's knowledge and the tools to move forward in the process, now!" - Sue
"Very informative and well worth the time and cost." - Noel
"Clear, concise, & well-narrated with an abundance of enthusiasm." - Christopher
"This course is worth far more than the price of admission!" - Talmage
"Jessica Brody has a gift for distilling lots of hard-earned information into concise and tasty bites." - Katherine
"If you write (or plan to write), get this course" - Scott
"I have learned so much information that has helped me in the writing process." - Christy
"Good pacing, great tools, wonderful ideas... loving this course!" - Regina
"Love the videos. Very easy to understand and lots of great tips!" - Lisa
Who this course is for:
- Anyone interested in writing a novel, short story, or memoir
- Writers interested in learning more about character development
- Writers looking for inspiration for new characters
- Writers looking to breathe life into flat characters
- Writers looking for guidance on developing a character's "voice"
Featured review
Instructors
- 4.6 Instructor Rating
- 17,534 Reviews
- 73,013 Students
- 11 Courses
Jessica Brody is the author of the #1 bestselling plotting guide, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, as well as 20+ novels for teens, tweens, and adults including Sky Without Stars, The Geography of Lost Things, The Chaos of Standing Still, 52 Reasons to Hate My Father, A Week of Mondays, Better You Than Me and the Unremembered trilogy. Her books are published by major publishers like Simon & Schuster, Random House, and Macmillan. She's also frequently hired by Disney Press to write books based on popular Disney franchises like Descendants and LEGO Disney Princess. Her books have been translated and published in over 23 countries and several have been optioned for film and television. She is also the founder of the Writing Mastery Academy, an online school for writers.
- 4.7 Instructor Rating
- 954 Reviews
- 7,645 Students
- 4 Courses
Former literary agent Mary Kole founded Mary Kole Editorial in 2013 and provides consulting and developmental editing services to writers of all categories and genres, working on children’s book projects from picture book to young adult, and all kinds of trade market literature, including fantasy, sci-fi, romance and memoir. She founded Good Story Company in 2019 with the aim of providing valuable content—like the Good Story Podcast and Crit Collective writing forum—to writers of all categories and ability levels.
She holds an MFA in Creative Writing and has worked at Chronicle Books, the Andrea Brown Literary Agency, and Movable Type Management. She has been blogging at Kidlit since 2009. Her book, Writing Irresistible Kidlit, a writing reference guide for middle grade and young adult writers, is available from Writer's Digest Books.
- 4.6 Instructor Rating
- 17,534 Reviews
- 73,013 Students
- 11 Courses
Achieve your writing goals and take you writing to the next level!
Founded by Jessica Brody, author of the #1 bestselling plotting guide Save the Cat! Writes a Novel and over 20 novels, Writing Mastery develops courses to help you become the writer you want to be.
From learning the foundations of fiction to crafting dynamic characters to writing bestselling novels and publishing them, each of our courses are designed to level up your writing, with inspiring instructors, clear explanations, high-quality production, concrete examples, downloadable resources, and fun writing exercises to help you apply everything you've learned.
So whether you're a new writer or already a bestseller, you've come to the right place for honing and elevating your craft.
All our courses are available on-demand, whenever you need them and available on any device, through the Udemy website, mobile, or TV app. And if for any reason, you're not completely satisfied with our content, our courses come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, which means you can check out one of our courses and get a full refund if you decide it's not right for you.