ONLINE Creating Compelling Characters
6 Weeks | Thursdays | Begins July 9, 2026
6pm-8pm PT | 7pm-9pm MT | 8pm-10pm CT | 9pm-11pm ET | 10pm-12am AT
Instructor: Bevan Thomas
MEMBER PRICE: $270.00
NON-MEMBER PRICE: $340.00
An exciting plot can thrill us, sophisticated description can intrigue us, but compelling characters make us feel. They make us laugh, make us cry, make us keep turning the pages. If your characters feel real, then your whole story does.
This course will take you through all the steps of creating compelling characters, whether it’s your hero, your villain, or one of your supporting cast. How do you develop character goals that enrich the story’s plot? How do you make an antagonist an effective foil for your protagonist? How do you give each character a unique voice? We’ll discuss all these questions, and more. We’ll explore every inch of your characters, make them come alive. Let’s get to know these people better!
This is an interactive online class using the Zoom web platform.
Bevan Thomas is an award-winning author, editor, and creative teacher with an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia. He has always been fascinated by how fictional characters can feel so real, and how in a story you can experience being people very different from yourself. Bevan’s own writing delves deep into his characters’ psychologies, often focusing on people dealing with neurodivergence or mental health issues. Among his many projects, Bevan created the anthology Through the Labyrinths of the Mind, which features a range of stories about mental health, and Epic Canadiana, which pays tribute to classic Canadian superheroes, and which won the 2016 Gene Day Award. Bevan lives in Vancouver with his wife, the cartoonist Reetta Linjama.
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We are a community that thrives on support and encouragement. Based on the philosophy of "no writer left behind", the J. Michael Fay Subsidy Program is available to anyone who finds themselves in financial need but really wants or needs to participate in one our programs are classes. Click link above for more details and to apply.
