Before you commit to your character, maybe you should date them?

Many of us commit to our characters immediately. They pop into our heads and we’re just sure they’re right for the book. But you should all know by now that certainty is never to be trusted when it comes to writing. Characters, as they first occur to us, can always use development, and the best way to deepen and develop your characters is to challenge them—and what could be more challenging and revealing than dating?

Marilyn R. Atlas, co-author of Dating Your Character, suggests you do exactly that. Marilyn is a talent and literary manager, author, and award-winning film, TV, and stage producer. Her projects have won many awards, including at the Sundance Film Festival and the Texas International Film Festival, and have crossed from book to screen, and stage to movie. But what will interest you most, I’m guessing, is that Mariilyn used to be a regular guest lecturer in the Writing Program at USC, where she taught a class every year on creating three-dimensional, non-stereotypical characters. And, Marilyn was also the person who sold the debut novels “Chasing the Jaguar” to Harper Collins, “Hungry Woman in Paris” to Grand Central Publishing, “The Ave Maria Bed & Breakfast” to Hachette Publishing, and “The Last Ride of Caleb O’Toole” to Source Books. She doesn’t call herself a literary agent but a literary manager: her end goal is not the book but the movie or series, but she can get the books sold all the same.

Marilyn has kindly agreed to give my writers a private 90-minute tutorial on how to date your characters, as part of an organic approach to character creation. She’ll take us through her eight-step methodology:
– Casting Your Ideal Character
– The Meet Cute
– The First Date
– Serious Dating
– Moving In Together
– The First Fight
– Making A Commitment
– Hitched Or Ditched

She’ll also discuss why the key character beats that work for Hollywood can also improve the character arc of a book. And last but not least, her time with us will include a Q&A, in which she’ll answer the questions I know you have about how to make your story leap from book to screen.

Our little private event will be on May 19th, from 5:30-7:00pm PT. For the first time in two or three years of these happy hour chats, I’ll be collecting a small fee of $15 for Marilyn’s time. I really think this is an opportunity worth “investing” in. Hopefully, it isn’t a large enough amount to cause hardship to anyone. If you’d like to join us, please register below and send $15 to shirin.BRIDGES@gmail via Paypal. If you’d like to find another way to pay, just drop me a line at the same email address.

I hope to see many of you there. For those of you who can’t make it—I hope you’ll be able to join us next time! You can look forward to future free events.

In the meantime, happy writing.

Shirin