Watch Intro Video

Discover what you'll learn

Hook your reader from the beginning

Do you want to:

  • Never get stuck on your story again?
  • Create characters that jump off the page and hook your reader?
  • Turn two-dimensional characters into multi-dimensional human beings?
  • Tell stories that your perfect reader can relate to?
  • Dig deeper into your characters' backstories, motivations, and beliefs?
  • Introduce your characters in an unforgettable way

In this course, we explore how you can do all this and more. We delve deep into psychology and what makes us human – so that we can create characters who feel human, too.

Whatever type of stories you tell, this course is jam-packed with ideas, techniques, and activities to help you flesh out your characters – or even create new ones!

Hook your reader

Who's the Character Creation Crash Course for?

Anyone who wants to write three-dimensional, interesting, believable characters. We use psychological techniques that explain what makes us human to do the very same with our characters.


Courses are taught using a combination of pre-recorded sessions and live workshops. If you can't attend the live recordings, don't worry! You'll get access to the replay.

Anyone who does attend live will get the chance to ask questions about their work-in-progress to solve their character – or plot – problems.

What you'll learn

This is a jam-packed course that covers everything from idea generation to refining who your character is.

We explore:

  • Write about different experiences to yours
  • Naming your characters
  • Fleshing out secondary and tertiary characters
  • Creating chemistry between characters
  • Creating positive and negative character arcs that WORK
  • What your characters' relationships mean for them – past, present, and future
  • How the right language can bring your characters – and world – to life
  • Sources of conflict
  • How to decide on the consequences and limitations of your character's skills and abilities
Character creation

Pricing options

Pay in one instalment, or split the cost over 12 months.

What's inside

New lessons launching every week!

Next update: .

  • 1

    It's on its way...

    • A message from your instructor

    • Activity: WLTM

    • Coming up
  • 2

    Intro

    • Welcome!

    • Why do believable characters matter?

    • (Not) writing heroes and villains

    • Character roles

    • People you need to know

    • Live Lessons

    • How to use Zoom

    • Naming characters, locations, and more
  • 3

    Demographics

    • Demographics
  • 4

    Relationships

    • Animals

    • Family, friends, and childhood

    • Past relationships

    • Current relationships and love interests

    • Empathy, psychopathy, and narcissism
  • 5

    Bonus Content

    • Recommended reads

Meet your guide

About Kristina Adams

Kristina Adams is the author of twelve books – nine fiction and three for writers. She also runs writing blog The Writer's Cookbook, which helps over 35,000 writers a month. She has an MA and a BA in Creative Writing, and has been writing for longer than she cares to remember.

It doesn't matter what genre she writes – readers always comment on how realistic and believable her characters are. And now, she's ready to share her secrets with you.

When she's not writing, thinking about writing, or teaching writing, she's baking, sewing, or spending time with her westie, Millie.

Success stories

How people have benefitted from the sessions so far

Clear and engaging

Cassie Kelly

The workshop is great for those who want to have strong characters but don’t really know how to do that. As a person who loves characterisation and considers it very important, I found Kristina’s advice to be wonderfully encompassing of the main points of what a character arc is, why it’s important, and how to make improvements. Her way of explaining things is very clear and engaging. If you have trouble with characters and don’t understand how to help a character grow across the arc of your story, this course is a perfect fit for you.

Immediately applicable to my work in progress

Geoff White

A really helpful breakdown of character arcs in their different types, with examples and formulas which not only made things very clear, but made the lessons learned immediately applicable to my work in progress. I'd recommend this to anyone looking to add depth to their characters and weave their different arcs into a cohesive and coherent plot. People always say that genre novels are heavy on plot, whereas literary novels are heavy on character. You know what? Get them right and you can have both a riveting plot and wonderfully realised characters. This course will help you achieve that.

It revealed my characters' true feelings

Di Scotte

It revealed my characters' true feelings without being direct. Great exercise. It helped me see my other main character is actually jealous of the protagonist. I found the dialogue between the two characters changes over the course of the story, as their level of self-confidence changes.

About Kristina's How to Write Realistic Characters workshop

Kristina has helped me write a coherent and compelling plot as well create realistic characters

E.V.Rivers

Kristina has a caring a passionate approach to what she does. She has helped me to control my need to add every possible idea into my story and to write a coherent and compelling plot as well create realistic characters. She instils confidence into you and helps you wade through the all the negativity that writers put themselves through, helping you find the positives. I highly recommend Kristina as she has a vast publishing history to back up her credentials.

About Kristina's author coaching

Pricing options

Pay in one instalment, or split the cost over 12 months.