Class Starts Wednesday, June 4th, 2025

This class will meet via Zoom on Wednesdays from 7:00PM - 9:00PM Eastern

Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button (lower left) to talk with us.

Instructor Derek Milman studied writing and acting at Northwestern University. His first play was produced in NYC in the first year after his graduation. He received an MFA in acting from the Yale School of Drama and subsequently performed on stages across the country, appeared in numerous TV shows, commercials, and films, and worked with two Academy-Award winning film directors. Derek’s debut novel, SCREAM ALL NIGHT (HarperCollins), received a star from Publishers Weekly and has since become a Halloween cult favorite. It was also the subject of a Hollywood bidding war and was optioned by UTV/Hazy Mills. Derek’s second novel, SWIPE RIGHT FOR MURDER (Little, Brown), received a star from Booklist, was named one of the best YA books of the year by Seventeen Magazine, and was cited by EW and Buzzfeed as one of the best books of the season. It earned out its advance, selling 20,000 copies in its first year of release. A DARKER MISCHIEF, Derek’s third novel, was recently released by Scholastic. It was named one of the best YA books of the year by Cosmopolitan. School Library Journal declared it a "First Purchase" for high school libraries and it received starred reviews from Booklist and Kirkus.

Read an Interview with Derek on Crafting Characters Who Drive the Plot of Your Novel.

In the best novels, a story germinates around a specific character, and the novel’s plot is propelled by the intricate psychologies of the characters in the story as they clash with the world around them, rather than external action alone.

But what makes characters fascinating and eminently readable? 

This class will teach you how to hook readers and build a compelling plot through the intricacies of character. Students in this class will learn to hone characterization while building plot in fiction. 

Over six weeks, we will survey some of the more interesting fictional characterizations in recent literature while we learn how to craft the type of characters that aren’t merely empty vessels meant to absorb the world around them—but are built to influence the world around them—and propel a plot forward.

This course for long-form writers at all stages of the process will be taught using a mix of lecturing, discussion, questions, and workshops. 

The second half of the course will be devoted to workshop sessions, and students will write an outline of their novel based on the materials they already have from previous sessions, thus making the task ahead markedly less daunting.

Suggested Optional Course Texts: 

• The Nix (Nathan Hill)
  
• Young Mungo (Douglas Stuart). 
  
• Seymour: An Introduction (J.D. Salinger). As well as Nine Stories.
  
• On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous (Ocean Vuong). 
  
• The Goldfinch (Donna Tartt). 
  
• The Nickel Boys (Colson Whitehead). 
  
• The Great Gatsby (Fitzgerald).
  
• A Gate at the Stairs (Lorrie Moore).
  
• Beloved (Morrison).
  
• Brighton Rock (Greene).
  
• The Mysteries of Pittsburgh (Chabon)

COURSE OUTLINE:

Week 1: Germinating Character

Week 2: Honing Character

Week 3: Finding Voice and Plot Within Character

Week 4, 5, & 6: Workshop Sessions

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• Instructor feedback and guidance on all outlines.
  
• Methods for building characters and plot.
  
• Technique for how to integrate characterization within a story.
  
• Character biographies for the main characters of your story.
  
• Character arc outlines.
  
• Outlines for your novel.
  
• A plan on what comes next in terms of completing your novel, from a craft perspective.
  

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

This class meets weekly via Zoom. Come prepared for a super fun class with live interaction on Zoom each week and plenty of writing, reading, and talking!

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Tuition is $495 USD. You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

• Instructor: Derek Milman
• Class Starts Wednesday, June 4th, 2025
• This class will meet via Zoom on Wednesdays from 7:00PM - 9:00PM Eastern
• Tuition is $495 USD

Contact us HERE if you have any questions about this class.