Claim Your Story2014

 October, 2014

Dream big, feel deeply, write now

Schedule

8:45 Sign in

9:00 Opening remarks and writing prompt

8:45 Sign in

9:00 Opening remarks and writing prompt

9:30-10:45 Brave on the Page, Jessica Morrell Courage means performing hard tasks even though we’re scared. So it is with writing. Writing is risk. Write demands our most authentic selves. This workshop will help you bring to light stories that are potent because they come from passions and demons. Brave writing is often our best writing, but it’s difficult to feel vulnerable on the page or to create characters who speak our fears. We’ll focus on taking chances with personal stories along with risky plots and characters. The alternative? Being forever haunted by what we fear to tell, nightmares we dare not share, memories we keep burying, and the truth that needs light.

11: 00-12:15 Everyday Book Marketing: Strategies for Promoting Your Book During Your Regularly Scheduled Life, Midge Raymond Learn how to promote your book without getting overwhelmed amid the seemingly endless marketing opportunities available to authors. We’ll cover a range of marketing basics, from author websites to blogs to events, and you’ll learn how to keep the never-ending tasks of book promotion manageable. You’ll receive tips on how to promote your book on an everyday basis, whether you have ten minutes a day or two hours a day, including tips on how best to use Facebook, Twitter, and other social media.

12:30 Lunch & Keynote: Melissa Hart: Write the Book You Want to Read This keynote, informed by a famous J.D. Salinger quote, asks you to claim the story you’ve always wanted to read by boldly sitting down to write it yourself. Hart will challenge you to consider the excuses we make for not writing and inspire you to make a literary life your top priority.

1:30-2:30 What’s in a Title? Jessica Morrell Titles are one of the main selling tool for any book or written piece. This workshop lays out the importance of a title to attract agents, editors, reviewers and readers. We’ll also discuss how the right title inspires as you’re writing since it encapsulates the many meanings of the work for you before it does it for the reader. We’re going to brainstorm and search for the perfect kickass title, no matter if we scour the bible, poetry, rock lyrics, the yellow pages, titles of paintings, John Cheever’s diaries, look under rocks, couch cushions, four leaf clovers, but find a title that kills. Or maybe it lies within the story.

2:45- 4:00 Scene in Story: The Critical Component, Melissa Hart This workshop addresses the elements of a compelling scene–the building blocks of both fiction and memoir. Students will study powerful scenes from published literature, then work on crafting their own. They’ll come away with a solid sense of how to create short and book-length works built from expert characterization, dialogue, setting, narrative arc, and theme.

4:15 Branding, Discussion, Q & A with Melissa Hart, Jessica Morrell & Midge Raymond Branding is the buzz word now for creating your own public image. For authors, especially new writers, it is imperative that you build a brand around your name. Let’s discuss the basics along with fresh ideas for creating a brand.

4:45 Wrap up