Workshops in the Conference Room
Fantasy Culture Creation
Morgan Barca
Writing is a blast – all the world is yours to create! So where do you begin? Luckily enough, you can join this workshop on culture creation! Bring a pencil and paper because it is time to write down some ideas. We will discuss several places to start and a whole host of directions to go in the development of your fantasy culture. Let’s talk language, death rituals, taboos, family structure, numerology, diet, fashion, and technology. And then, after a long drink of water, we’ll dive deeper!
CW: sex, violence, language (as discussion dictates)
Submission Tools & Tricks
Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam
You’ve written your short story. You’ve painfully edited it, sent it around to your critique partners, murdered those darlings, excised those adverbs, and pronounced it finished. What now? Join prolific submitter and rejection expert Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam for a two-hour seminar on the submissions process: formatting, finding markets, writing cover letters, tracking submissions, managing acceptances and rejections, and exploring reprints.
Exploring the Intersection of Fiber Arts and Daily Life from the Medieval Era through the 19th Century
Bethany Tucker of Scribal Workshop
This hands-on workshop focuses on how fiber arts (especially spinning and weaving) in Europe directly affected and shaped the lives of people, how that changed based on class and race, and how technological advances altered the relationship between the average person and tools that had once been common household items.
Tools and Materials of Writing from Pre-history to the Ballpoint Pen
Lucas Tucker of Scribal Workshop
An exploration of the materiality of writing and the transmission of stories and how that effects our means and mechanism of storytelling. This is a hands-on workshop using historically accurate tools and materials to explore the physical acts of writing and communication.
Presentations
So You Want to Be a Writer: Getting Started
William “Bud” Humble
We’ll cover some of the pitfalls beginning writers fall into and how to spring over them as well as discussing numerous ways to avoid unnecessary heartbreak.
Stranger than Fiction
D. G. Swain
The truth is stranger than fiction because fiction has to make sense. This applies to political, magical, and social systems, scientific principles, and other elements of continuity. In this discussion, D.G. covers the pros and cons of various world-building platforms such as Campfire and World Anvil, how to get the most out of these apps, and then how to wrangle your research in a way that doesn’t drive you completely mad. Special consideration is given for free and open-source resources!
Tap Into the Creative Flow
Richard J. Gonzales
Fiction writers who stand out are the highly creatives. Writers can master dialogue, plotting, characterization, etc. But what captures readers and keeps them turning those pages is the highly imaginative journey. This class will offer both the theory, tips on how to develop creativity, and demystify the process. Through fun exercises, participants will practice tapping into the flow. Presenter will offer examples of creative works and offer a reading list for continued study of the development of the creativity. By the end of the class, participants will understand the meaning of creativity, see and feel examples of creativity, learn how to develop it, and include it in their writing.
Topics in Writing Historical Fiction
Jon Black
From grand, empire-spanning sagas to the colorful characters of your hometown’s past, there are more similarities in historical fiction than differences. This class offers an overview of the building blocks of solid historical fiction and examines some of the calculations writers must consider when crafting such stories. Topics covered include how to research, considerations for how much research to do, determining appropriate levels of detail, using historical figures in fiction, whether and how to use authenticity readers, how to bring the past to life for readers, and cross-genre historical fiction. Q&A offers participants the opportunity to receive feedback on their specific questions or challenges.
How to Find Time, Energy and Emotional Wherewithal to Finish Your Writing Projects
Amber Royer
You know you can’t sell a novel or memoir without finishing it first. But after the flush of a new idea wears off, sticking with a project can be HAAAARD! In this class, you will learn how to think of writing as a career, how to fall in love with your manuscript all over again, and how routine and schedules can make you a more efficient writer. The class will also consider how to deal with changed circumstances, and how to deal with dips in productivity without feeling guilt. Thinking about productivity may need to be different in the time of pandemic. We will consider taking time for self-care, and how sometimes it’s okay to focus on refilling the well – but that you have to recognize when processing changed circumstances turns into procrastination.
Breaking Bad: How to Write a Heist or a Caper
Mark Finn
Heists and capers are a staple of pop culture and they aren’t unique to crime stories, either. In this workshop, we’ll talk about the specific elements that go into creating and pulling off a heist on the page, regardless of what genre you’re writing in, and how to create new daring heists and capers from scratch.
That Story Would Make a Good Movie – or Would It?
Wendy Wheeler
That story would make a good movie!— Or would it? Do you, like me, so vividly picture your stories in your mind that you dream about a relationship with Hollywood to get them onto the Big Screen? This will talk about what it takes to sell and produce a movie vs a book (very important!), what stories work best for a movie vs a book, and ways you can write your novels/stories to fit the needs of Hollywood so they might get optioned. Or, expand your skill set by writing screenplays too.
Apocalypse HOW?
Rhonda Eudaly
Ever wanted to end the world, but don’t know how the government would handle it? Learn the basics of emergency management and how to have a believable doomsday.
Write the Fight Lecture
Morgan Barca
Do you want to learn to write fight scenes? Heck yeah! Do you have lots of questions about fighting? Fantastic! Learn some of the ins and outs and pitfalls of writing those violent moments that make your story’s conflict all the bloodier! Get information to help know when and where and how much! This high-energy lecture will discuss the value these scenes can add or detract and how to know which is which.
CW: discussion of violence, possibly in detail (as discussion dictates)
Explaining the Joke: An Empirical and Totally Unbiased Look at Humor in Writing
Chris Irby
Mark Twain famously said, “Explaining a joke is like dissecting a frog — you understand it better, but the frog dies in the process.” That said, we’re going to dive into the chaotic, writhing abyss of humor writing and try to figure out what it is that makes stuff funny.
Finding Your Voice
Rebecca Balcárcel
What is voice and how do you put it into your work? Let’s explore those questions and do an exercise that will lead you toward that magical ingredient that agents, editors, and readers hunger for!
Writing Local Histories
Mark A. Nobles and Debra Rodia
Debra and I will show writers how to research and write interesting histories of their own hometown and get them published!
Sir John Falstaff’s Guide to (Bad) Behavior in Elizabethan England
Sam Nash
“I’ll so offend to make offense a skill.”
Everyone behaves badly, from time to time, but can they do it with skill and purpose? After this show, maybe they can!
Sir John Falstaff, well-known for his bad behavior, will discuss how to misbehave with good, and bad, intent, as well as discussing the differences in acceptable behavior in both our day, and in Shakespeare’s.
And, of course, for one to behave badly with intent, they have to know how to behave correctly, so we will delve into the accepted behaviors and etiquette of Elizabethan England in general.
This show is aimed at adult audiences, but can be adapted to more advanced teens – it has a firm PG-13 rating.
Handling Critiques: Negotiating the Perils and Pitfalls of Literary Advice
Michelle Muenzler
Critiquing somebody’s work–or processing a critique of your own work!–can be a perilous and nerve-wracking process. Here we’ll discuss how to maximize the benefits of the process while avoiding the various pitfalls seeking to bog us down.
A Chill Discussion of Tricks to Writing
William Ledbetter
Join William Ledbetter for a laid back discussion about tips and tricks collected during his 30 year career of writing short stories and novels. We will toss around different ways to start and end stories, how to avoid pitfalls and tropes, and maybe how to help your story to crawl out of the slush pile.