Character Desire: What Your Character Wants, Needs, and Doesn’t Even Know She’s Missing

Romance novels have given a whole different connotation to the word “desire,” but desire in literature doesn’t have anything to do with intimate relationships or lust. Without it, there is no character growth, no forward movement of plot, no obstacles to be overcome. In this workshop, we’ll do hands-on exercises to learn what the three prongs of desire are; how desire impacts tension, character agency, and the climax of the story; and how to incorporate all these elements into your manuscripts and illustrations. Yes, even a picture book must have desire! (Suggested reading: Raymie Nightingale by Kate di Camillo, Merci Suárez Changes Gears by Meg Medina, The Great Gilly Hopkins by Katherine Paterson, Rosie Revere, Engineer by Andrea Beaty)