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The Character Workbook, print edition, a character development workbook for novelists
The Character Workbook, print edition
Interior pages from The Character Workbook
Interior pages from The Character Workbook
The Character Workbook in use
The Character Workbook, print edition
The Character Workbook, print edition
The Character Workbook, print edition
The Character Workbook, print edition
The Character Workbook, print edition
Printable pages from The Character Workbook
Printable pages from The Character Workbook
The Character Workbook, printable pages, included with the instant download
The Character Workbook, the digital edition on a tablet, included with the print edition
The Character Workbook, digital edition on a tablet
The Character Workbook, digital edition on a tablet
The Character Workbook, digital edition on a tablet
The Character Workbook, digital edition on a tablet
The Character Workbook, digital edition on a tablet
The Character Workbook, digital edition on a tablet
Close-up of an interior page from The Character Workbook
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The Character Workbook

The Character Workbook builds the people who drive a novel: what they want, what they believe about the world, what happened to them, and what they do when the story makes it cost something. You find the lie a character lives by and the wound under it, choose the kind of arc they will have, set them among the people who press on them, and decide how the reader meets them on the first page.

One invented novel runs through every section as a worked example, so you can watch its people built page by page. Six real novels supply the case studies. Use it while planning, drafting, or revising a book whose people feel thin.

$15.00
Instant download (digital + printables)

Digital edition: a 170-page PDF with the full-color cover. The index is linked, so you can tap any section or worksheet to jump to it, and every section is bookmarked. The worksheets are fillable, and the file works in GoodNotes, Notability, and other PDF annotation apps.

Printables: the full workbook set up for printing at home (170 pages, with printer-friendly section dividers), and the Worksheets Bundle: all 40 worksheets and tools plus the 6 reference pages, in the order they appear in the book. Both come in US Letter, A4, and A5. Print as many copies of each worksheet as each character needs.

Core concepts

Character and characterization, two wants and a need, agency, the wound, the ghost and the defense, contradiction and drift, change, and a working vocabulary.

The inner architecture

The ordinary self, the lie, the private cosmology, the past as meaning, flaws and strengths, inheritance, archetype and stereotype, and writing lives not your own.

Arcs

Kinds of arc, want and need in motion, resistance and denial, pressure, recognition, the cost of change, arcs that spiral, and where an arc comes to rest.

Relationships and the cast

How bonds change, mirrors and foils, the antagonist from the inside, and secondary characters and ensembles.

Voice, body, and point of view

First appearances, perception, the body, rooms and routines, voice, dialogue, psychic distance, and interiority.

Character in the whole book

Mask and leak, how a feeling becomes a decision, the unlikable character, and characters across viewpoints, timelines, and series. Ends with protagonist, antagonist, supporting, and minor character outlines and a final integrity check.

Also inside

40 worksheets and tools, and six reference pages, including a working vocabulary, a character role reference, and arc troubleshooting.

Six case studies: Brit Bennett's The Vanishing Half, Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake, Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, Tommy Orange's There There, Sally Rooney's Normal People, and Elizabeth Strout's Olive Kitteridge.

All items are shipped within 48 hours unless otherwise noted.

We accept returns of unused products within 30 days of delivery. To initiate a return, contact us at help@saintvioletcreative.com.

Digital items are non-refundable.

Saint Violet is an independent creative studio for artists and writers building a more durable creative practice through tools, publications, workshops, and systems for attention, experimentation, and actual follow-through.

The Character Workbook

$15.00

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