B R O W N 
B E A G L E
B O O K S

Sessions

 

Getting To Know You

 

In our free, 30 minute phone consultation, we’ll take a look at your project and identify your main and secondary characters. We’ll discuss what it means to add depth and layers and begin to craft them into complex, memorable characters. Over the next five weeks, we’ll unearth who your characters are…and discover who they really want to be.

 

Week One

Is your character street smart and book shy? Do they walk with a limp or speak with a lisp? Do they have an affinity for statistics but a passion for art? Your characters have their own unique set of characteristics that helps to distinguish themselves for the reader and define who they are. The more you understand your character, the more complex they are; the more complex they are, the more distinct and memorable they become. In week one, we’ll review your character’s individual traits, discover what it is that makes them unique, and find ways to add depth that can further enhance your story.

 

Week Two

Unlike in books, life doesn’t begin in the middle of things. Everyone comes with their own history and family tree, experiences that shape our motivations, and events that help us become who we are.  In short, we all have a story. Similarly, your characters also have a story, and it’s up to you to find it and share it.

 

Don’t forget your secondary characters! Just as strangers in our own lives play a role in our story, so do the minor characters in your novel, with their own traits, motivations, and history. In week two, we’ll look at the concept of using backstory to create complex characters to enrich the world you’ve created.

 

 

Week Three

 

The old man eating his lunch on the museum steps, tapping his foot in time with the music from passing cars. The young woman stuffing grocery bags in her tiny, two-door hatchback to take to the food bank where she works. The teenager strumming his second-hand guitar in the middle of the town square… Unique, memorable people cross our paths every day, fueling our imagination and providing ample inspiration for our stories. In week three, we’ll discuss how to draw from that inspiration by merging what we see in the real world with who we want our characters to be. We’ll play with a combination of personality traits, craft back-stories, and use real-life observations to create authentic characters and see how they might fit into the world you’ve created.

 

Week Four

 

Some writers might argue that a name doesn’t matter when it comes to character development, but would a rose smell as sweet by any other name? Okay, so that’s Shakespeare. But the infamous bard was onto something when he penned those words. Would Romeo be such a romanticized character if he traded names with Tybalt or Mercutio? Would Katniss Everdeen be such a memorable heroine if she were named Katie? What if the monster in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein had a name at all? Would it humanize him or would he still be viewed as a monster?

 

Names matter for characters as well as ourselves, becoming a part of our identity and shaping the way in which others view us. In week four, we’ll look at the characters you’ve created and determine just what’s in a name.

 

Week Five

Every good book ends with a strong conclusion. In this final session, we’ll write our own with a review of your custom character worksheets. We’ll take a look at both main and minor characters and see how their development has made them memorable and added depth to your work. Your characters play a major role in your story. Now let’s bring them to life!