2019 Master Classes - PNWA - a writer's resource

2024 Master Classes

VERBAL IMPACT:
Characterization Master Class

Thursday, September 19th

8:30 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.

$185.00 for conference registrants.

$370.00 without conference registration but must be PNWA member.

Bestsellers start with fascinating people. Boost your writing process and anchor your career at any stage with a characterization method that jumpstarts drafting, crafting, revision, and pitching. In this one-day workshop, we’ll take your fictional folks to the next level with a simple, powerful technique that will strengthen your people, your plots, your hooks, and your voice whether you’re a plotter or pantser, a beginner or an expert. Join Damon Suede for a masterclass of hands-on, chop-wood, carry-water characterization for plotters or pantsers in any genre. Via ample examples and interconnected exercises you’ll tackle your current and ongoing challenges in real time. Go beyond looks, persona, and boilerplate traits so you can bust your ruts and build the perfect cast to dazzle your readers.

MOVING CHARACTERS: (3 hrs with breaks)…a deep dive character class to help you maximize appeal, dynamics, chemistry, and impactful casting.
CHARACTER LAB: (90 mins)… character exercises for savvy casting, backstory, depth, spark, goals, chemistry, emotional resonance, and more.
ASSEMBLY REQUIRED: (90 mins)…how to unpack inspiration,mise en place story ingredients, and stretch your voice by exploring different workflows.

Presented by: Damon Suede

Damon Suede has worked as a performer, director, and writer in film and theater. He now writes award-winning gay romance and teaches writers how to use their words more effectively for writing and marketing.

For the conference discount, add this masterclass to your conference registration:

Writing About Your Life
On Writing Memoirs

Thursday, September 19th

11:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.

$105.00 with conference registration

$210.00 without conference registration but must be PNWA member.

On Writing Memoirs

A memoir is a themed slice of life (unlike an autobiography, which is a chronological accounting of your life). This workshop helps you determine which structure will work best for your memoir: bookends, pyramid, reverse pyramid, or chronological narrative; decide what to include—and what is best left out; select examples and anecdotes that both support your points and maintain an engaging pace; and write dialogue that captures the emotional truth of the event and resonates with readers.

Presenter: Jane K. Cleland

Jane K. Cleland writes a variety of crime fiction, including thrillers, middle grade, espionage, and the long-running Josie Prescott Antiques Mystery series. All her novels have been published by St. Martin’s Minotaur. All her short stories (and a novella) have been published by Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine. Her books and stories have been IMBA-best-sellers, multiple award winners, and have received starred reviews from prestigious journals like Library Journal.

For the conference discount, add this masterclass to your conference registration:

Novel Pages to Screenplay Pages - Streamlined Method to Turn Your 300 page Book into a 90 page Movie

Presented by: Kim Hornsby

Saturday, September 21

1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

$150.00 for conference registrants.

$400.00 without conference registration but must be PNWA member.

Have you ever thought "this book would make a great movie!" It's easier than you think to learn how to turn a book into a movie. Go from 300 pages of narrative and descriptive passages to 90 pages of high powered action lines and crisp dialogue on a page that's mostly white space.

With fully formed characters, a story arc and plot lines, the average novelist is 70% there to being a screenwriter once the book is written. Even if you didn't write the completed book, the project is already in an art form and you just need to learn how to translate the novel pages to screenplay pages. In this Master Class, learn the easiest method of adapting a book to a movie with Kim's tried and true technique that streamlines the process and teaches you how to write a visual piece of art that relies solely on what is seen on the screen. Kim will take you through the process of boiling down your story to one sentence and building it up again using the book as your template. Having taught hundreds of novelists her method across North America at writers' conferences, Kim guarantees that when you leave the class, you will have the beginnings of your movie and all the writing tools needed to finish your adaptation.

Learn movie plotting, formatting, screenwriting tips and tricks and how to stay on track to turn that book into a 90 minute story fit for Netflix or HBO.

For the conference discount, add this masterclass to your conference registration:

Mastering Suspense

Presenter: Jane K. Cleland

Friday, September 20, 2024

2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

$125.00 with Conference Registration

The stories that keep readers up all night share three key characters: they’re suspenseful, well-structured, and cleverly plotted. In this comprehensive overview, you’ll discover how to write tighter, more polished first drafts by focusing on the underpinnings of effective storytelling. Specifically, we’ll discuss how to:

· Create spine-tingling suspense by escalating conflict and raising the stakes.

We’ll assess how to optimize the story-driving potential of four kinds of conflict: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual (and how best to combine them). On the face of it, it would seem that conflicts are either external and internal. However, it is only when an external situation is perceived as a conflict that the story moves forward. It is people’s reactions to an incident, not the incident itself, that generates a conflict. In other words, all conflicts are internal.

· Choose the structure that’s best for your story.

Structure is an organizing principle that once set helps you develop your through-line plot or storyline and keeps you on track as you write.Different stories lend themselves to different structures and there is no right or wrong decision. The only mistake you can make is having no structure at all. The two broad options are linear (also called chronological) and non-linear. We’ll also review three questions designed to help you decide which structure is best for your story, considering the timeline, scope, and theme

· Integrate plot Twists, plot Reversals, and moments of heightened Danger (TRDs) using Jane’s Plotting Roadmap to help build suspense while controlling your story’s pace.

“Plot twists” is an umbrella term, referring to three specific plotting strategies guaranteed to captivate your readers with their I-can’t-wait-to-see-what-happens-next unpredictability.

Plot Twists: something unexpected, but not the opposite
Plot Reversals: something unexpected, and the opposite

· Moments of Heightened Danger: something that adds urgency and dread to the story.

When your plot Twists, plot Reversals, and moments of heightened Danger (TRDs) come at tactically sound moments, your story’s pace quickens and your action becomes more focused.

Whether you like outlining or prefer a more organic approach to writing,Jane’s Plotting Roadmap can help you create a powerful framework for your story by ensuring you integrate captivating twists and turns (TRDs) at appropriate points in your story.

Making thoughtful, reader-focused decisions about suspense, structure, and plot helps ensure your story will resonate with readers—and those are the stories publishers want and readers crave.

To sign up for this masterclass, select this as an add on to your conference registration:

Editing with an Agent's Eye.

Presenters: Katie Reed and Andrea Hurst

Saturday, September 21, 2024

8:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.

$125.00 with Conference Registration

Basically, how to approach your manuscript from the perspective of an agent for the purpose of revising it to make it submission ready. This course would cover self-editing before submitting to agents, common mistakes writers make and how to identify and correct them before querying, deep dive into a couple elements of story that we see all the time to cover in more detail (for example, we might spend significant time on story structure, does your story start in the right place, does the catalyst happen early enough to keep the reader turning the pages, or narrative voice and polishing the prose to ensure the agent is captivated by the manuscript from page one, or choosing the right point of view for the project), red flags for agents that might make them stop reading, what an R&R is and what to do if you get one (and when/how to ask for one!), how an author might make minimal changes to their project that can prevent genre straddling and help them make their projects more commercially viable, the editorial process that might take place with an agent after signing, and the editorial process that takes place after a manuscript is sold (this part would be more like, from sold to shelf!). I would also include advice for how to find and vet good developmental editors (and what to stay away from).

To sign up for this masterclass, select this as an add on to your conference registration:

From Query to Contract: Mastering the Submission Process

Presenters:

Renée C. Fountain, President

Gandolfo Helin & Fountain Literary Management

Saturday, September 21, 2024

10:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

$75 with conference registration.

VIP Offer: $125 with conference registration that includes a critique of your query and the first 5 pages. Must preregister for this offer.

Before you try to hook that agent, or query that publisher make sure your submission is solid. Whether you write fiction or non-fiction, have a work in progress or a complete manuscript, this class will guide you through the process of crafting compelling submission materials, as well as provide essential tools and strategies to effectively communicate your project to literary agents and publishers.

You’ll learn how to:

Craft a dynamic query letter
Create a true synopsis (hint: there’s spoilers!)
Write a solid non-fiction book proposal
The do’s and don’ts of pitching

Renée We’ll also discuss how an agent views your material and the importance of the first five pages. By the end of this class, you'll be armed with the knowledge and confidence to navigate the world of publishing and increase your chances of securing representation and publication.

To sign up for this masterclass, select this as an add on to your conference registration:

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2024 Master Classes