Partial list of this year’s classes

Here’s a list of our 2021 craft track classes so far, by title and author. We’re also putting together a business track, and we’ll have insightful panel discussions as well. Those will be announced soon. And of course, we’ll have read-and-critique sessions.

A Bridge Between Worlds: Revealing Character Arc Through Metaphor – Amber Helt

Choose Vs. Presume: Improving Your Fantasy Worldbuilding – Marshall Ryan Maresca

Dialogue: The Down and Dirty – Brooke Fossey

How to Avoid Info-Dumping – Dana Swift

Intro to Screenwriting: Exit from Reality – Colin Holmes

Kid Speak: Creating Dialogue for Middle Grade Characters – Kay Goodnight

Let’s Talk about Sex: Writing Believable Love Scenes – Sarah Bale

Opening Pages: Tension, Tone, and Reader Expectation – Samantha Mabry

Query First: Beginning Your Novel With a Query Letter – Dana Swift and Katie Bernet

Speculative Young Adult Fiction – Samantha Mabry

Structuring a Genre Novel in Twelve Easy Steps – Marshall Ryan Maresca

The Big Picture: Mapping Out Your Novel with Story Grid Techniques – Leslie Lutz

The Cliches You Need Vs The Cliches You Don’t – A. Lee Martinez and Sally Hamilton

The Magic is You: Developing a Spectacular Writing Voice – Jenny Martin

The 60-Second Novel: How to tell your story in less than a minute – David Morring

We Got the Beat: The Art of the Scene – Leslie Lutz

Writer Role Play: Not Just for the Bedroom – Ellis Kaye

Writing Dual POV – Alex Perry

Class descriptions

A Bridge Between Worlds: Revealing Character Arc Through Metaphor

As you grow, you see the world differently. Well, so do your characters. By tapping into the metaphors that make up your characters’ linguistic identity, we can use your narrative’s figurative language to subtly reflect their growth to readers. Using this method, we can show your characters’ motivations, personal interests, and evolution over the course of the story. In this class by Amber Helt, we’ll look at examples from best-selling novels and workshop the Metaphor Arch with characters from our own novel to see how your prose can take a journey of its own.

We Got the Beat: The Art of the Scene

What is the difference between a narrative summary and a scene? What does it mean to “enter a scene too early” or “leave the scene too late”? And what on earth do editors mean when they say your scene didn’t “turn”? In this 1 ½ hour hands-on workshop by Leslie Lutz, you’ll put pen to paper and learn the foundations of good scene writing and revision.

Intro to Screenwriting. Exit from Reality

From the software you need and the books you should read, to the formatting and unique style of a screenplay, this class will cover the fundamentals of developing your story into a screenplay. We’ll look at writing for film/video/television and short form motion pictures, along with how to get started as a screenwriter. This class by Colin Holmes will probably not help you get your raw story to a producer in time for the Oscars, but it should give you enough information to know if screenwriting is for you.

Kid Speak: Creating Dialogue for Middle Grade Characters

Dialog can be tricky, especially if it’s been a while since you were your character’s age. In this workshop by Kay Goodnight, you’ll practice tapping into your inner-child to create unique dialogue for your young characters. Concrete examples will be examined. You’ll then have the opportunity to apply what you’ve learned to your own work in progress and share the results.

The Magic is You: Developing a Spectacular Writing Voice

Get revved up for a brand new, totally revamped writing workshop from author Jenny Martin! In the class, you’ll learn how to level up your prose and write the kind of one-of-a-kind, unforgettable fiction that will not only garner requests, but linger in the hearts and minds of readers, long after the book has been closed. Whether you’re a seasoned novelist or just jumping into the query trenches, this workshop is for you. You’ll walk away inspired, ready to draft and revise the most engaging fiction you’ve ever written.

Dialogue: The Down and Dirty

This course by Brooke Fossey is going to break down the art of dialogue, whether you’re writing a short funny exchange (“You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”), a long intense scene (“I’m going to make him an offer he can’t refuse.”), or romance (“You had me at hello.”). We’ll learn how the best movies and books use dialogue for character, plot, and emotional impact—and then we’ll put your newfound knowledge to work in your current draft. Those early to the craft will benefit from the basics, while seasoned writers will appreciate the more nuisance pointers. Bring along a chatty scene and a red pen.

The Big Picture: Mapping Out Your Novel with Story Grid Techniques

So you’ve written your 120,000-word masterpiece. Your writing group says your scenes are awesome, and when agents and editors read the first fifty pages of your manuscript, they request more. But in the end, your work ends up in their rejection pile. What happened? And how do you break through to the next level? Story Grid techniques can help. In this 1 ½ hour hands-on workshop by Leslie Lutz, you’ll learn how to map out a story you’ve already written so that you can revise with purpose.