Creating Strong Female Characters OnDemand Webinar

Creating Strong Female Characters OnDemand WebinarABOUT THE WEBINAR If publishers and producers always tout that they want stories with strong female characters, why are so few making it to the screen or page? There is as much confusion about what makes for a strong female character as there is how to write one. Can men understand the 'female experience' well enough to write good female characters or should that be left in the hands of women writers? In this webinar, Christine Conradt, one of the

ABOUT THE WEBINAR

If publishers and producers always tout that they want stories with strong female characters, why are so few making it to the screen or page? There is as much confusion about what makes for a strong female character as there is how to write one. Can men understand the 'female experience' well enough to write good female characters or should that be left in the hands of women writers?

In this webinar, Christine Conradt, one of the most prolific writers for Lifetime and Lifetime Movie Network, examines how culture, feminism, and traditional gender roles, and the notion of romance complicate the task of writing strong female characters and how to recognize and overcome these obstacles. She also explains beat by beat how to create complex characters and discusses whether the adage 'Men are from Mars and women are from Venus' is a hinder or a help in the creation of female protagonists.

The webinar is designed to help writers of all levels re-examine their own perspective of male-female relationships, gender-specific characteristics, and women's roles in both society and literature/film. You will leave the webinar with a better understanding of why this is such a complicated issue, how to sort through those complexities and a check list of characteristics of a strong/complex/layered characters (male or female!).

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

• How to write a layered, complex character
• How to re-examine your own personal views of male/female differences
• How to recognize gender-specific stereotypes and avoid them
• Whether to embrace or avoid gender differences
• To temper traditional notions of romance (e.g., damsel in distress) with female characters that break the stereotype

WHO SHOULD LISTEN?

• Writers looking to improve character development skills
• Writers that want to better understand how culture affects their writing
• Writers that want to create a TV show, film, or book for producers/publishers seeking stories with strong female leads
• Writers that are looking to attach a specific actress to their pilot/screenplay
• Writers that have never before written a female protagonist
• Writers that want to create better-layered secondary characters
• Writers that write in the romance genre
• Writers that typically write male-driven genres like action and sci-fi
• Writers that want to influence the way women are perceived in society
• Writers that want to break in to mediums or networks with a largely female demographic (Hallmark, Lifetime, LMN, OWN, UPtv)
• Writers that are looking to pitch ideas at an upcoming pitchfest
• Writers that want to create characters that are positive female role models for young women