Episode Details
Back to Episodes
How to Create and Develop Characters: A Fantasy Writing Panel with Karen Heuler
Description
How do you create characters readers truly believe in — and grow them across a story? In this community panel episode of The Fantasy Writers' Toolshed, award-winning author Karen Heuler joins Richie Billing and the writing community for a deep dive into character creation and development.
The whole conversation centres on characters: creating them, getting to know them, and growing them. Karen and the panel work through specific strategies for building characters from scratch, how to understand what your characters actually want, the often-overlooked role of side characters, and different approaches for developing and evolving your fictional people over the course of a story.
This episode explores questions like:
- How do you create a compelling character from scratch?
- How do you figure out what your character truly wants — and why it matters?
- What role do side characters play, and how do you use them well?
- How do you grow and develop a character across a narrative?
Whether you're writing a sprawling cast for an epic fantasy or a single protagonist, this panel gives you practical, experience-tested approaches to character creation and development.
In this episode you'll learn:
- Concrete strategies for creating characters from the ground up
- How to uncover and use character motivation and desire
- How side characters strengthen a story
- Approaches to developing and evolving characters over time
About Karen Heuler: Karen Heuler is an award-winning author of literary and speculative fiction, including the novel The Splendid City (Angry Robot Books). Thanks also to community members Joshua Parker and Isa Ottoni, who joined the panel.
📝 What is characterization?: https://richiebilling.com/welcome/the-writers-toolshed/writing-tips/what-is-characterization
🔗 Character & plotting: https://richiebilling.com/writing-tips/character-plotting
🌱 Character development: https://richiebilling.com/writing-tips/character-development
💬 Join our writing community (and our Panels): https://www.patreon.com/TheFantasyWritersToolshed