Programming

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Learn what imposter syndrome is so you are able to recognize it, along with ways to combat imposter syndrome to prevent it from stifling your creative flow!

Preparation. Focus. Follow-through. Feedback. Finishing. Can you complete a novel in one year? Author Richard Engling will discuss the techniques that allowed him to release the three novels of his Dwayne Finnegan series in three successive years. You will walk away with some of the tools that helped him go from spending years on his earlier novels, to turning out his three most acclaimed works in a fraction of his previous time.

Learn the basics of a query letter, plus some tips and tricks to really make it stand out!

A great antagonist can intensify the conflict in your story and turn it into a riveting read. But how do you create an antagonist who propels the story forward and forces your protagonist to change – all while fascinating the reader? In this workshop, we will discuss the different types of “Big Bads” and do a series of writing exercises that will help you discover and design the antagonist who will best challenge your protagonist to their personal breaking point.

Most writers are prone to self-sabotage and we make our writing process much more complicated than it needs to be. This conversation will investigate the ways in which writers hinder their own process and Mia will provide tools to circumvent these habits.

Choosing which book publishing path to take is deeply personal, and each one comes with pros, pitfalls, and perils that few talk about. In this session, we’ll uncover your "why," before digging deep into indie-publishing: the realities and the mistakes to avoid.

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Conflict is more than fights and action scenes. It lives in difficult choices, competing desires, and the gap between what characters want and what they do. In this workshop, you'll learn how to build compelling internal, interpersonal, and situational conflict that reveals character and raises the stakes. Through discussion and writing exercises, you'll strengthen tension, deepen emotional impact, and discover how conflict can transform flat scenes into unforgettable ones.

The most beloved characters of our time all have one trait in common: they let the reader experience their interior worlds, with all of the darkness, the strangeness, the confusion and the shame. It's not that the writers linger in these places (it would be breathtakingly challenging to read too much of it!) but these moments allow us to identify with the character and to be drawn ever deeper into the work.  Many writers use special techniques to indicate that such moments are approaching. We will be examining a variety of these methods and testing out which are most effective. Stand aside, John Gardner. We all need more information than was provided in your essay on psychic distance!

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As an author/actor, the presenter thoroughly enjoys his own book-store/conference/etc. readings/Q&As/signings -- but one needn't be an actor, he stresses, nor an extrovert, to "deliver" your work in fine style. Several simple yet potent public-reading/-speaking tips  are followed by an impromptu real-time demonstration. Includes a brief workshop element

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Irony is the heart of all meaning. Telling an “ironic” story is not the same thing as telling a sarcastic story, or a “meta” story. All good stories should be ironic in at least ten different ways, and Matt will take you through them.

Not the typical fill-out-a-character-sheet class. In this workshop, you'll learn four techniques for building characters — Core Wounds, Key Strengths born from Trauma, Verbs, and Imagery Sets — and leave with over a dozen new directions to to explore your characters. Some of these techniques naturally lead to more plot, others inform the setting, but all make your book rich with emotional resonance. Join USA Today bestseller Jade Lee for her Master's Class in Characterization, and get the character solutions you need to bring your people to life.

Join author and librarian Betsy Bird for an in-depth dive into the trends, the pitfalls, and the advantages of publishing books for kids in the current day and age. This talk will touch on submissions, marketing, things to avoid, and what you'll need to make your next children's book submission a success.

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