At long last, the damsel in distress has been retired, along with the evil stepmother, nagging wife, and blonde bimbo. Stories that feature authentic, multi-dimensional women characters are finally in demand. But writing these characters is not as easy as one might think!
“We’re digging out from centuries of cultural expectations that are very ingrained,” says instructor Kate Montgomery. “Even as a woman writer, it’s an ongoing challenge to avoid the clichés. The Ice Queen, Cheerleader, or Ninja can easily sneak into a story if you’re not actively working to craft unique women characters who are complex and conflicted and have their own trajectory.”
In this class, through a lively and interactive mix of short lectures, discussions and individual and group writing exercises, you’ll learn how to:
- Use intersectionality to give women characters added experience and motivation
- Keep your women characters from falling into “supporting character syndrome”
- Propel women characters beyond their relationships with men (with five tried-and-tested strategies from Kate)
- Give your women characters real agency and real obstacles
- Weave meaningful female friendships through your story
- Tap into history for inspiration and authenticity
- Pass the “Bechdel Test”
When you walk away from this 3-week class, you’ll have experience creating genuine women characters of your own and know how to both write and market stories that feature original, complex, and unpredictable women characters.
About The Writing Salon's Online Zoom Classes
You will be able to participate in live class meetings via Zoom videoconference. To attend classes, you'll need a phone, tablet or computer and access to the internet. You can participate in the class from wherever you'd like, whether on your living room couch or in your office. Before your class meets, you'll receive an email from The Writing Salon with more information about Zoom and your remote class. If you have any questions about remote learning, please don't hesitate to reach out to us at hello@writingsalons.com.
- Live Zoom Meeting: Wednesday, February 18, 2:00pm-4:30pm
- Live Zoom Meeting: Wednesday, February 25, 2:00pm-4:30pm
- Live Zoom Meeting: Wednesday, March 04, 2:00pm-4:30pm
Kate Montgomery was not only warm and inviting, she was 100% prepared, providing stacks of carefully considered handouts while also maintaining a flexibility to follow the rhythm of our group. Her knowledge in the field was undeniable and her enthusiasm for discussing and dissecting students' ideas was balanced by honest notes and critiques. I hope to be signing up for another class of hers soon.
It was a wonderful class! Kate really helped us understand the structure of a screenplay and had great tips on how to get the creative process of writing started. I’d love to be able to take a continuation of the course at some point . . . Thanks for the great experience!
Now, this may sound like a cliche, but Kate inspired me to make time in my life for what I really want to do: write stories. And that’s hard, I’m a cynical Eastern European, hard to impress and convince. But now I’m going to spend a couple of hours each week to write something down, and if she’ll invite me I’ll go to all her events and workshops, pitch my story ideas, and do my best to create amazing work. She is incredibly charismatic, and it feels great to be around her. But the whole inspiration part is what makes her a standout teacher.
Kate is terrific. Her passion and energy for her art is clear. She was anecdotal, forthright, engaging, and informative. She drew us out of our writerly shells and had us creating on demand. It was fun. While the interactive screenplay activity engaged us, it also taught me some new tricks. When I take away something from a workshop, and put it into my writer’s toolkit — it’s a win-win for me.