Desire and Power

Desire is one of the fundamental elements of character-building in fiction, yet in too many workshop drafts, character desires lack urgency or are too easily fulfilled. In this seminar, we’ll not only discuss different ways to pump up the stakes, we’ll also consider the sparks that can fly when multiple characters have multiple, competing desires. How can tension be built through power dynamics? What are the ways that power might manifest? How might it be applied? And how and when might it shift so that your characters—and your reader—are kept on their toes?