People on the Page: Crafting Characters Readers Care About • Reedsy

📚 Overview

Every good story needs compelling characters — without them, even the most brilliant premise falls flat. In this two-day workshop with editor Katie Seaman, you’ll learn how to write complex, believable characters that readers will genuinely care about.

Across two in-depth sessions, Katie will show you how to develop your characters’ wants and needs, and how to bring their personalities to life through dialogue, interactions, and interiority. You’ll also explore how character motivation drives plot — and how to use it to build and resolve tension across your story.

The event takes place over two days, on November 10th and 17th.

🎓What you’ll learn

How to use voice and dialogue to express your character’s personality

Techniques for building character profiles to understand how they think

Ways to develop character arcs through conflict and resolution

Tools for writing main and secondary characters with depth

🎟️ What’s included

Live teaching and Q&As with a professional editor

Writing exercises and guided writing time

A take-home assignment with the opportunity for live feedback on day two

One month of Reedsy Studio Premium and access to our Ultimate Character Development Template

Schedule

EVENT

November 10th, 2026 • 3pm - 5pm EST

Creating Believable Characters

Characters keep readers invested — but only if they feel real. On day one, editor Katie Seaman will show you how to build characters from the inside out: establishing their personalities, backstories, and emotional lives so they leap off the page. You’ll finish the session with a take-home assignment to put what you’ve learned into practice.

EVENT

November 17th, 2026 • 3pm - 5pm EST

Driving the Plot: Character Motivation & Misbeliefs

Character and plot development go hand in hand. On day two, you’ll explore how your characters’ motivations and misbeliefs shape the key turning points of your story — and how to use them to build and resolve your character arcs. Katie will also give live feedback to a selection of students who submit their assignment.

Speakers

Katie Seaman

Editor

Katie spent over a decade at major publishing houses, including Penguin Random House and HarperCollins, where she launched debut voices and published award-winning and Sunday Times bestsellers. Katie loves working with writers to understand their vision and make it shine even brighter on the page, building their confidence along the way.