WRITING COURSE: CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT IN FICTION
11 modules
105 lessons
16 writing exercises
Audio for every lesson (coming soon)
Instant feedback on every writing exercise
In online writing courses, you usually don’t get any feedback on your exercises, or you have to wait for a reply. With ViaScripta, you get your feedback right away, on every exercise, as often as you like.
ViaScripta always knows what you’re learning. If an exercise is about tension, it looks at the tension in your writing, not at whether your piece is well written in general.
You get pointers on your own sentences: what’s already working, where it goes wrong, what you can do differently, and why. You don’t have to get it right the first time. No one’s looking over your shoulder.
Feedback
Learn to write characters who stay with your reader.
Readers forget plots. They remember characters. The question isn’t what happens in your story. It’s who it happens to. This course teaches you to create characters so lifelike that your reader is still carrying them around after the last page.
You build characters on four pillars: desire, fear, backstory, and contradiction. You let them grow over the course of your story, give them a voice of their own, and forge relationships between them that drive your story forward.
What You’ll Learn
The four pillars of every character
You give every character a desire that drives them forward, a fear that holds them back, a backstory that explains them, and a contradiction that surprises.
Psychological depth without psychology jargon
You write characters with a rich inner life. Not through analysis or explanation, but through choices that reveal who someone really is.
Characterization through action and dialogue
You show who your character is through what they do and say. No descriptions, no lists, no résumés. Only behavior that exposes character.
Character arcs that feel earned
You map out how a character develops from beginning to end. Your character doesn’t change because the plot demands it. They change because the pressure leaves them no other choice.
Supporting characters with lives of their own
You give your minor characters a desire and an agenda too. Even a character who gets only two scenes wants something and acts on it.
Relationships that create tension
You build dynamics between characters out of clashing desires, power imbalances, and shared history.
Point of view and voice for each character
You give every character their own way of perceiving and speaking. Your reader recognizes who’s talking without you telling them.
Revising and deepening characters
You test every character for believability, consistency, and depth. Where a character falters, you keep digging until they ring true.
Give your characters the life they deserve.
You want to write characters who are still on your reader’s mind after the last page. The Character Development in Fiction course gives you the techniques to turn every character in your story into a living, breathing person. Start with module 1 today.
Grow as a writer with our courses.
From first story to masterpiece. Choose the course that fits your ambitions.
- Fiction Creative Writing for Beginners Discover your talent for writing and build a solid foundation for any genre. View Course
- Fiction Intermediate Creative Writing Strengthen your voice, deepen your style, and write with more impact. View Course
- Fiction Advanced Creative Writing Learn advanced techniques that take your work to a publishable level. View Course
- Fiction Writing a Novel: From Concept to Manuscript From first idea to finished manuscript: your complete roadmap. View Course
- Fiction Writing Short Stories Learn how to tell a complete story in just a few words. View Course
- Fiction Tension and Suspense in Fiction Learn to hold your reader from the first page to the last. View Course
- Fiction Writing Compelling Scenes Write scenes that pull your reader into your story. View Course
- Fiction Mastering Dialogue Give your characters a voice that leaps off the page. View Course
- Fiction Character Development in Fiction Create characters who make choices, grow, and drive your story. View Course
- Fiction The Art of Storytelling Tell stories that stay with your reader, in every genre and every form. View Course
- Nonfiction The Art of Writing Nonfiction Combine factual accuracy with readability and persuasive power. View Course
- Journalism News Writing Write clearly, quickly, and precisely, from news story to in-depth story. View Course
- Journalism Narrative Feature Writing Bring stories to life with an eye for detail and context. View Course
- Editing Copyediting and Line Editing Hone your writing until it says exactly what you mean, nothing more and nothing less. View Course
