Ruta Rimas on Developing Characters

Ruta Rimas, editor at HarperCollins Balzer + Bray imprint presented a hands-on workshop on developing a character from scratch.

Look at your characters & ask questions like:
Who is your character? How does your character react to certain situations?
Write a scene where they do the exact opposite.

Ruta’s examples of well-developed characters:

from TV:
Dexter (conflicted & complicated)

Literary Characters:
Max from Where the Wild Things Are
Frankie Landau-Banks from The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks
Katniss from The Hunger Games

Ruta recommends Writing The Breakout Novel by Donald Maass

Saturday Morning Scenes

Conference Bookstore

Conference Attendees

Agent Linda Pratt

Editor Lionel Bender

Editor Ruta Rimas

Special thanks to J. Michael Smith for the fabulous photos!