Live Seminar Via Zoom Saturday, February 7th, 2026

Class will meet 12PM - 4:00PM EST

Taught by Karen E. Bender, author of three collections; Refund, which was a Finalist for the National Book Award, shortlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Story Prize, and Longlisted for the Story prize; The New Order, which was Longlisted for the Story prize; and The Words of Dr. L,  published in May, 2025. Her novels are Like Normal People and A Town of Empty Rooms. Her fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Granta, Ploughshares, Zoetrope, The Yale Review, The Harvard Review, Story, Guernica, and others, have been reprinted in Best American Short Stories and Best American Mystery stories and won three Pushcart prizes.

How do you create difficult characters--or, ones that you can't stop reading about? In this course, we will examine a few different types of difficult or "unlikeable" characters.

We will read some examples of great and mesmerizing difficult characters in literature, reading work by writers including Lorrie Moore, Elena Ferrante, John Cheever, Edward P. Jones, Jhimpa Lahiri and Gish Jen, and see how writers create them.

We will see how writers use juxtaposition and layering to make them rounded. We will have time for generative work so that you can work on developing your own difficult characters. 

Note: The week of the seminar, Karen will email several PDFs of stories to read; you can read these before class, but you don't have to. 

Can't Make It Live?

No problem! The session will be recorded and available to watch after the seminar concludes.

• Understand the techniques writers use create difficult characters
  
• Several character sketches that you can incorporate into current or future drafts
  
• Think strategically about past drafts and how to deepen your characters

COURSE EXPECTATIONS: 

We will be going over the different types of difficult characters in class and then writing generative exercises to practice exploring these characters. Students should come to class ready to write and will have opportunities to share work if they like. They will leave class with a variety of memorable characters and ideas on how to develop them.

TESTIMONIALS:

"This seminar exceeded my expectations. I loved going through the different types of story openings that exist and then seeing clear-cut examples of each from the materials that were shared in class. Karen is a fantastic facilitator!" -Alexandra Y.

"Class was excellent and exceeded my expectations. I found Karen's approach of writing an opening that set up two questions extremely valuable. Five of five stars." -Diane K.

"I though Karen gave great input on our exercises. I would highly recommend this seminar! I learned so much." -former student

"The best part about the Exploring Strategies for Story Beginnings seminar with Karen E. Bender were her insights, warmth, generosity, intelligence and the categories for types of story beginnings she presented to us. Karen is a wonderful instructor, and I've taken all of her seminars." -former student

"The close reading of the texts was extremely valuable. Karen is a great teacher, and I though this was a great seminar on strategies for story beginnings." -former student

"I found Karen's teaching so valuable. She dives right in and I love her style. I signed up for her other seminars after I took this one. Thank you!" -former student

"In her seminars, Karen always offer such specific techniques, which has helped me deepen my understanding of craft and benefited my writing practice. Thank you!" -former student

"Karen's class taught me invaluable writing techniques that I missed because I have a JD instead of an MFA. This was so great! Thank you, Karen!" -former student

"I loved the structure of understanding various story openings and emphasis on goals for first paragraphs. This class definitely exceeded my expectations." -former student

"It was great. I was working on a rewrite, came to the realization that I needed more interiority, saw this class, jumped on it, and I've already used some of the techniques. The concepts and ideas that were coupled with good, well-paced exercises." -former student

"This class helps all levels of writers get better access to the all-important matter of characters. Highly recommend." -former student

"What a fantastic person! I liked her style, her content, and her drive for us to get the most out of 2 hours. Karen really pointed out a fantastic technique and her enthusiasm is infectious. I just wanted more time with her!" -former student

"Exceeded expectations. Lots of content, practice, plus interaction packed into Zoom." -former student

"Karen E. Bender's Strategies for Story Beginnings seminar exceeded my expectations! Karen is an excellent teacher: she is patient, explains all her materials well and provides valuable examples and feedback. I really enjoy how Karen runs her courses. This is the second of hers I've taken, and I plan to take more. In fact, I recommended Karen's classes enough after the first one I took that a friend joined me for this one. Thank you again!" -former student

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

• Instructor: Karen E. Bender
  
• Live Seminar Via Zoom on Saturday, February 7th, 2026
• 12PM - 4PM EST
• Live Seminar Via Zoom. Can't Make It Live? No problem! The session will be recorded and available to watch after the seminar concludes.
• Tuition is $99.

Contact us HERE if you have any questions about this seminar.