OMG! There was a new Star Wars movie! Join our panel of authors as they discuss the latest installment of the Star Wars saga from a writer’s point of view (and geek out a little along the way!)
Are Peter Jackson’s films the cinema LOTR we’ve been waiting for? Or did he wipe out everything that makes LOTR great? Join our authors as they debate the topic (and geek out a little along the way!)
Learn How to Build Exciting Worlds for Your Reader, whether you write science fiction, fantasy, or historical fiction.
Description:
We’ll cover how to build your physical world, develop cultures, technology, magic systems, and much, more. You will do short writing assignments in this session.
It's not a character that makes your novel, it's a great cast! Come learn advanced techniques on how to develop your characters into a powerful cast.
Description:
In this workshop, you’ll learn advanced techniques for casting your novel—creating your protagonist, antagonist, contagonist, guide, true love, temptress, sidekick, and hecklers. You’ll also learn the casting director’s method of casting in order to develop unique characters, learn exercises to create character voices, and we’ll get into how to deepen your characters in order to bring them to life. You will do short exercises in this session, and we will take a break for lunch.
We will go through a number of techniques for creating powerful conflicts, such as building character circuitry, devising gads, developing family-centered and identity conflicts, and more.
Description:
In this workshop, we will go through a number of techniques for creating powerful conflicts, such as “building character circuitry,” “devising gads,” developing family-centered and identity conflicts, and so on. You will also learn ways to escalate your novel by deepening and broadening conflicts.
Writer's Workshop: Grassroots Marketing & Social Media for Authors, Artists & Game Designers
Summary:
Effective, affordable do-it-yourself marketing and social media strategies to get your work out in the world and into the hands of your ideal audience.
Description:
Gail Z. Martin writes non-fiction as well as her epic, urban and steampunk novels. LifeHack just named her book 30 Days to Social Media Success as one of the top 10 to read in 2016. Get tips and ask questions on Facebook, Twitter, Blogging, Kickstarter and more!
Writer's Workshop: How To Make Your Alien Language Alien
Summary:
You don't need to be a linguist to leave the Universal Translator at home. We'll explore a few basic ideas, as well as ways to tweak them to make your aliens sound alien.
Description:
You've worked out stellar mechanics and plausible xenobiology as part of your SF worldbuilding, why cheap out when it comes to the most basic of sapient systems? I'm talking about language. Your aliens don't need to have "mastered English by watching old television transmissions." Nor should you resort to a glossary of unpronounceable syllables (and lots of apostrophes). We'll explore some basic linguistic concepts (syntax, pragmatics, semantics) and talk about ways to give one or more of them slight adjustments so that the underlying alien language being truly has both an alien feel to it but also clearly resonates as Language.
Writer's Workshop: SUPERDRAFT - Learn How To Quadruple Your Writing Output
Summary:
Learn the writing productivity secrets the pros know. Come and join Doctor Strange screenwriter Thomas Dean Donnelly as we learn how to write better, write faster, write now!
Description:
Have you ever started to write a novel or screenplay only to later abandon it? Do you wish you didn't struggle so much to get the story in your head on the page? Do you work for hours or days on one small section of your work? Do you find yourself going back and revising before you've finished the story? SUPERDRAFT is a writing system where creativity and productivity meet. Come and join Doctor Strange screenwriter Thomas Dean Donnelly as we learn how to write better, write faster, write now!
Writer and editor Cat Rambo talks about different starting points for a story, the special challenges and advantages or each, and how to best move from rough notion to completed draft.
Description:
There are multiple ways a story idea can manifest: a scrap of dialogue, a scene, a character, a title, and more. Each poses its own set of challenges and pitfalls when fleshing it out into a complete story, but each also holds special strengths that a writer can capitalize on. Come hear Cat talk about the 23 possible ways to start a story and let her show you how to move from a vague idea to an actual, complete draft.