Fantasy is full of memorable heroes and villains—explore how you can create your own compelling heroic and villainous characters, and how to use them to drive your fantasy fiction.

When it comes to fantasy fiction it’s easy to get lost in worldbuilding and magic systems, but your characters provide the cornerstone to a successful narrative. Fantasy is full of memorable villains and home to beloved heroes, and in this three-hour session you’ll explore how you can create your own compelling heroic and villainous characters, and how to use those characters to drive your story forward.

All characters need plausible motivations—whether hero, antihero, villain, or somewhere in between. What drives your villain? Your hero? What conflict and tension arises between these motivations? And what are the shades of grey?

Vanessa Len, author of Only a Monster and the forthcoming Never a Hero!, will share insights from her own writing practice and run through brainstorming techniques that you can use to create compelling heroes and villains, and solve story problems at every stage of the writing process.

Particpants will learn:

1. How to create a heroic protagonist
2. How to create a compelling villain
3. How to generate exciting and dynamic character premises
4. Brainstorming techniques to generate ideas that will drive a novel
5. Techniques for solving story problems at every stage of the writing process

About Vanessa Len

Vanessa Len is a Melbourne author and educational editor. Her first novel, Only a Monster, is a young adult fantasy about a monster girl whose summer is ruined when her new crush turns out to be a monster slayer. It was published in 2022 by Allen and Unwin, and is being translated into 14 languages. The sequel, Never a Hero, is forthcoming in 2023.

Venue: Bronwyn Halliday Room, State Library, North Terrace, Adelaide SA

Members $88 / Non-members $140

—Not yet a Writers SA member? Join here for as little as $60!

—We strongly recommend all staff, speakers, and attendees of in-person events be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. You cannot attend if you or a household contact has tested positive within 7 days of the event or if you are ill.

—Writers SA members must be logged in to receive the member discount. If you would like to use a workshop credit to book in, please contact [email protected] at least five working days before the workshop commencement date. Our staff don’t work full time and we don’t want you to miss out!