More than a Sidekick: Writing Queer Characters
Sundays - 4-Weeks - Begins September 27th - 10am-Noon PT
Instructor: Finnian Burnett
Queer characters deserve more than tragic backstories and token roles. They deserve roles as heroes, villains, romantic interests, anti-love story folk, and complicated human beings.
In this four-week craft-focused course, we’ll explore how to create characters who feel authentic. We’ll look at common tropes and stereotypes, discuss gender and sexuality, and consider how relationships and found family shape queer characters.
We’ll also look at genre expectations, emotional arcs, and storytelling choices without reducing characters to a single aspect of their identity. Through readings, discussions, and writing exercises, you’ll learn how to craft queer characters who feel complex and layered.
In week four, we’ll explore queer joy and resilience and the importances of writing beyond the narratives of suffering and horror.
This course welcomes writers of all identities, experience levels, and genres.