Beneath Desire: Creating Complex Characters, with Jacqueline Sheehan

$85.00

Every character has to want something. But beneath that conscious desire often lies something deeper: a wound, a fear, a mistaken belief, or a false story they've been telling themselves.

The most alive characters are not simply pursuing a goal; they're struggling toward a more realized version of themselves. Often, what they want is at odds with what they need, and it is this tension that generates both conflict and transformation.

In this three-hour generative workshop, novelist and psychologist Jacqueline Sheehan will guide writers in exploring the deep psychological foundations of your characters. Through discussion, writing exercises, and supportive sharing, we'll examine how old wounds shape present desires and choices, how defenses become obstacles, and obstacles become destinies, and how the gap between desire and need creates more propulsive and emotionally resonant stories.

This workshop will be held online.

Saturday, October 17, 2026, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Every character has to want something. But beneath that conscious desire often lies something deeper: a wound, a fear, a mistaken belief, or a false story they've been telling themselves.

The most alive characters are not simply pursuing a goal; they're struggling toward a more realized version of themselves. Often, what they want is at odds with what they need, and it is this tension that generates both conflict and transformation.

In this three-hour generative workshop, novelist and psychologist Jacqueline Sheehan will guide writers in exploring the deep psychological foundations of your characters. Through discussion, writing exercises, and supportive sharing, we'll examine how old wounds shape present desires and choices, how defenses become obstacles, and obstacles become destinies, and how the gap between desire and need creates more propulsive and emotionally resonant stories.

This workshop will be held online.

Saturday, October 17, 2026, 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Meet the Instructor

Jacqueline Sheehan, PhD is the New York Times bestselling author of The Comet’s Tale, Lost & Found, Now & Then, Picture This, The Center of the World, and The Tiger in the House. She writes NPR commentaries, travel articles, and essays including the New York Times column, “Modern Love.” She edited the anthology, Women Writing in Prison. Jacqueline teaches workshops at Grub Street in Boston and around the world. Find out more at http://www.jacquelinesheehan.com/.