CHECK-IN/REGISTRATION: 8:30-9:30 AM
9:30 AM-1:00 PM: WRITING WITH SOUL
1:00 PM-2:00 PM: LUNCH BREAK (Meal Provided)
2:00 PM-5:30 PM: WRITING WITH SOUL

Fiction matters more than ever, but there are pressures: cultural, political, industry, income, and brand. How do you write stories for a world that needs them, when the world wants to dictate the stories you tell? How do you keep your integrity? There are ways to do that even while your write stories that grip, thrill, and move us.

Join literary agent and craft guru, Donald Maass, for a challenging, deep dive into writing with humanity, depth, and scope—to help your work stand out in a crowded marketplace. Learn the keys to writing timeless fiction, finding and keeping your audience, and drawing from personal experience to speak universal truths. With new material and a sneak peek from his upcoming craft book, BONES OF THE GODS.

Topics in this day-long, intensive workshop include:

• What is authenticity?

• Why we connect—or not

• The two modes of story: outer & inner

• The inner journey of active heroes

• How to make passive protagonists dynamic

• Outpacing the reader

• The human carnival

• Worlds ordinary and extraordinary

• Achieving story freedom

• The true engine of story power

  And more!

Coffee/tea/water available all day. Lunch provided.

Soak it all up in jam-packed 75 minute sessions.

9:00-9:30 AM: CHECK-IN/REGISTRATION
9:30 AM-1:00 PM: CLASSES
(Specific schedule to come)
1:00-2:00 PM: LUNCH (Provided)
2:00-3:00 PM: ASK US ANYTHING/AGENT ONE-ON-ONES
3:00-6:00 PM: CLASSES
6:00-7:00 PM: AGENT ONE-ON-ONES
8:00-10:00 PM: ANNIVERSARY PARTY/BOOKSALE/ CELEBRATION:

Keynote from Donald Maass, classes, one-on-one agent meetings, Ask Us Anything, and panel discussions to include:

• In for the Long Haul - Keynote with Donald Maass

• The Power and Perils of Backstory with Dorian Cirrone

• Glow up for Your Prose with Grace Burrowes

• Internal and External Worldbuilding with Emma Dryden

• Take the Hero’s Journey with a Trailblazer with Chris Vogler

• Creating Stronger Conflicts with Janice Hardy

• Tension and Anticipation: The Keys to Story Success with Lorin Oberweger

• And more!

Coffee/tea/water available all day. Lunch provided.

SATURDAY EVENING: Party! Come enjoy some libations and nibbles, listen to music, dance, chat, buy books, and celebrate our thirtieth anniversary!

Dig deep in rich two-hour sessions designed to put you to work!

8:30 AM - 9:30 AM: AGENT ONE-ON-ONES

9:30 AM-1:30 PM: DEEP-DIVE TWO-HOUR WORKSHOPS

1:30 PM-2:30 PM: LUNCH (Provided)

2:30 PM-3:30 PM: ASK US ANYTHING/AGENT ONE-ON-ONES

3:30 PM - 5:30 PM: DEEP-DIVE TWO-HOUR WORKSHOPS

Workshops include:

• The Elements of No-Fail Openings with Donald Maass

• Revision: Gaining Perspective and Changing Perspective with Emma Dryden

• Forging the Character of My Characters with Chris Vogler

• Finding the Plot in Your Premise with Janice Hardy

• Making Description Do Double Duty with Dorian Cirrone

• And more!
  
  Coffee/tea/water available all day. Lunch provided.