Class Starts Wednesday, February 11th, 2026

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.

This 6-week advanced-level class is about how to hone characterization while building plot in fiction for more seasoned writers with at least one completed work.

Oftentimes, 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 survey some of the more interesting fictional characterizations in 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 built to influence the world around them—and propel a plot forward.

This is an advanced class for long-form writers who have finished at least one manuscript or are knee-deep in the process of writing a novel and are looking for nuanced ways to deepen their main character(s) as they thread them through plot. It will be taught in a mostly informal style—a mix of lecturing, discussion, and questions.

Suggested Course Texts: 

• Wellness (Nathan Hill).
  
• Yellowface (R.F. Kuang).
  
• Outer Dark (Cormac McCarthy).
  
• The Emperor of Gladness (Ocean Vuong). 
  
• The Secret History (Donna Tartt). 
  
• Nobody Move (Denis Johnson).
  
• God of the Woods (Liz Moore).
  
• A Mastery of Monsters (Liselle Sambury).
  

COURSE OUTLINE:

Week 1: Germinating Character. The first class will be introducing ourselves and discussing our work—what projects we’re working on, the types of characters we’re writing. The concept of characterization will be addressed, and students will be instructed to write a biography for the main characters of their story using some of these generative prompts:

Who is the main character of the story, and what are the principal relationships in their lives? What is their background—where did they grow up, what do they look like/sound like? Where do they live now? What are their strengths/weaknesses? What is their socio-economic standing? What did their parents do, and what were their childhoods like?

Who comprises the principal supporting cast of your novel? What are all their intentions? What actions do these characters take to achieve their goals? What are their greatest fears? What are their dreams? How are these characters both alike you, the writer, and unlike you, the writer. Most importantly, what makes these characters unique and why do their stories need to be told?

Additionally, the concept of character arc will be introduced in the following way, in order for students to begin to foment a more disciplined and structured plot that features their characters.

Three dimensional characters, with complicated psychologies and tangled backstories, can lend themselves better—and in more interesting ways—to stronger character arcs, which gives fiction a spine in which to wrap a compelling story around. But how do we craft these types of fully realized characters, and where do we begin?

This will lead us into one of the most important aspects of crafting a character within the larger whole of a story: conflict.

Every story involves conflict, to a degree. This is one of the main aspects of fiction that seems easy and yet remains tricky. What do we mean by conflict? Technically, we mean characters trying to achieve something and being prevented, in some way, from doing that. But how do the characters we create deal with conflict, and what are the conflicts in their arcs that define each of their stories?

Assignment: students will be assigned to write a one-page character arc, in outline form.

Week 2: Honing Character through dialogue and action. The second class will be spent going over the assignment from the previous week and digging deeper into what students have already crafted with a series of more in-depth generative prompts regarding character, specifically focusing on dialogue and action.

We’ll be discussing how characters act, or react, and what they DO to further define themselves in their world. We’ll be examining how they talk, what they think of others (and what that reveals about themselves). We will highlight a character’s choices, both in action and in words.

Students will be assigned to write a 2-3 page scene, focusing on dialogue and action to reveal, and uncover, characterization.

Week 3: Finding Voice and Plot Within Character. The third class will be spent reviewing the character arc outlines, dialogue/action samples, exploring how fully realized characterization can propel story and plot. We’ll begin to address the core elements of plot, including inciting incidents and rising action. Additionally, since students will by now have a solid blueprint for their main characters, the ever-elusive concept of “voice” will be introduced in the following way:

What do we mean by voice? 

“I love the voice” is the #1 thing agents and editors will say when connecting to a piece of writing. But what does this really mean, and how can the concept of voice be sharpened? How can a writer develop their own unique voice to fit both their style and the characters they wish to create? Does voice match your character age and the time period?

Assignment: students will develop the first five pages of their novel, introducing their main character(s) to the reader, cementing the early stages of their story and plot.

Weeks 4, 5, 6: These will be workshop sessions, where I and the other students provide feedback on whatever students wish to share from their work: the first few pages, arc outlines, or dialogue/action samples. We will address psychological profiles and voice, and discuss how well-crafted characters lend themselves to the layering of plot elements. Students will come away with a plan on how to continue the process of writing their novels, beyond the ever-vital first five pages.

Assignment after week 4: students will write a full outline of their novel based on the materials they already have from previous sessions, making the editorial task ahead markedly less daunting.

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.
  
• Dialogue samples
  
• Outlines for your novel.
  
  

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, February 11th, 2026
• 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.