Workshops & Special Events
Below are complete descriptions of workshop content. Click for detailed schedule»
Thursday PM
Practice Pitch Session
Thursday, 5:30 pm-7:30
You’ve arrived in Madison, your bags are unpacked and you’ve settled in for the 24th Annual Writers’ Institute Conference. Head on over to the Madison Concourse Hotel where Laurie Scheer, Christine DeSmet, and Bridget Birdsall will conduct a group practice pitch session. Receive feedback on your pitch (this is especially important for those of you who are pitching first thing Friday morning at the conference), gain confidence, and be ready to excel with your official agent pitches. This event is a good way to break the ice and move wholeheartedly into this year’s event. You don’t want to miss this opportunity to hone and define your perfect pitch!
Instructors: Laurie Scheer, Christine DeSmet, and Bridget Birdsall
Note: Practice pitch session on Thursday evening is available only to those who register to attend the entire Writers’ Institute. Other practice pitch sessions are available to all attendees.
Friday AM
Secrets of Published Authors Panel
Friday, 8:45-9:40
Ever wish you could just sit down and ask published authors everything you’ve always wanted to know? Now you can! Join Ron Kuka as he moderates our panel of authors who will give you honest answers to your burning questions about writing, pitching, publishing and promoting books. From writing schedules and making sacrifices around kids, jobs and real life schedules, to agents, editors, platform, book blog tours and more, this panel will answer the questions you want to know. Any question is OK! Join this highly interactive opening session for inspiration and practical ideas that can take you and your writing to the next level.
Panel: Heather Shumaker (NF), Kashmira Sheth (F), Julie Tallard Johnson (F/Gen Writ), Anne Greenwood Brown (YA)
Moderator: Ron Kuka (F/NF)
The Unleashed Writer: Taking Your Writing to the Next Level
Friday, 9:45-11
This workshop engages personalized methods to ignite inspiration, ideas, and creativity. This includes ways to move your idea and writing when stuck, and how to get started or continue with an idea. You’ll be guided from mediocrity to a point of inspiration, to formulating an idea, to writing and creating, and finally on to writing for publication. Train yourself to be inspired and creative “on the spot.” Includes (1) Exercises that move any writer through resistance, (2) seven strategies for keeping the creative juices flowing with your book idea, and (3) how to move through the different flavors of resistance and write!
Instructor: Julie Tallard Johnson
Writing a Mystery Is So Much Fun It’s a Crime
Friday, 9:45-11
Not too many years ago, short mysteries were dead as the victims within the book covers. Now, mysteries—and the mystery/suspense/thriller market—dominate the bestseller lists. A big part of the resurgence is due to the “cozy mystery.” Literary agents, editors, and readers can’t get enough of them—but not just any old idea sells. This workshop defines what makes a “cozy” so cozily compelling. We also define “suspense” vs. “thriller” vs. “mystery” vs. “cozy mystery.” You take home a toolkit for getting into the cozy market as we cover: How might your protagonist need to be redrawn for each type of mystery, and most especially for the “cozy”? Why are all of the sleuths women, and what if you want to introduce the next Sherlock Holmes or Hercule Poirot? Do you need to have a gimmick or be expert at a craft or hobby in order to sell a cozy? Will the craft, hobby, or profession you’ve chosen sell? How might you tweak it for success? How do you write a cozy quickly enough without going crazy so you can feed the market that requires you to write at least two a year? Is there a formula? Setting matters—what might be a no-no? Where in the pages should the murder occur? Your cozy mystery workshop also gives you the ingredients and format for your novel proposal marketing package.
Instructor: Christine DeSmet
Writing the Renegade Book Proposal
Friday, 9:45-11
If you’re a nonfiction writer, you know the Book Proposal is the tool authors use to sell their nonfiction book ideas to publishers. In this session, we’ll explore the basic rules of a book proposal and then discuss how to break some of the rules to create a book proposal that truly stands out. Led by author Heather Shumaker, who sold a book from the slush pile using an “organic” proposal—find out how you can write a book proposal that will shine.
Instructor: Heather Shumaker
Writing for YA—What's Next
Friday, 9:45-11
YA fiction is the fastest growing genre today, with its readership expanding well beyond the junior highs and high schools. In fact, a recent study showed that over 50% of YA readers are actually well into adulthood. It's no surprise with YA novels’fast-paced and engaging stories that explore universal issues of transformation, sacrifice, love, and loss. But as common and familiar as these issues, the YA landscape can be a bit baffling to the new recruit. In this session, Anne Greenwood Brown discusses:
- What makes a novel “YA”
- The difference between paranormal, fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian, contemporary, steam punk, etc.
- The trends within each of these categories
- The pitfalls of “writing to the trend” and how to get ahead of the crowd
Instructor: Anne Greenwood Brown
The Deep Edit
Friday, 11:15-12:15
The purpose of this workshop is help the participants reconsider their fiction prose in terms of sentence rhythm, sound, and visual brightness. In short, the qualities that makes a prose style “pop.” We will look at early drafts of published stories and then follow the steps the writer took to create a polished draft. We will then apply some of these lessons to our own prose during in—class exercises and discussion.
Instructor: Ron Kuka
Book/Chapbook 101, from Concept to Distribution—Prose/Poetry
Friday, 11:15-12:15
This workshop walks poets and prose writers walk through each of the steps necessary for their book, chapbook or anthology to take in its journey from vision to reality. You’ll learn how to best structure material, budget costs and set price, prepare art and layout for publication, obtain cover blurbs, choose a printer, publicize the book’s release, get reviews and achieve distribution outside of your immediate area. These are challenges for small publishers and poets and writers desiring to be published that determine a work’s success.
Instructor: John (Jack) Lehman
Pacing Picture Book: 20 Tools—Pace & Write Picture Book to Wow
Friday, 11:15-12:15
This Pacing Picture Book session helps writers through the picture book editing process by focusing on 20 ultimate editing tools that help connect with readers to story, decrease word counts, and bring out the rhythm and heart of your story while producing a well-paced picture book. We will shift the focus to the reader’s experience and answer questions: How do I change my picture book into a performance readers will love? How do I invite participation through art and words, add in surprise, best utilize my page turn, or create an interactive game? How do I boost my use of rhythm, rhyme, and repetition? How do I see small changes as a way to craft big results?
Instructor: Jodell Sadler
How to Turn a Journal into a Book (or Two!)
Friday, 11:15-12:15
This course is for both nonfiction and fiction writers. A trick to successful creative writing is to know how to use anything and everything in your life to move your writing along. A journal gives you a place to bring that “everything” together and transform it into an award-winning book or popular blog! This can be for those who already use a journal or want to know how to use a journal to propel their writing to the next level.
Instructor: Julie Tallard Johnson
Friday Lunch-Success Panel
Friday, 12:20-1:40
You’ll have the opportunity to network and enjoy lunch while Writers’ Institute director Laurie Scheer celebrates the writers who have had success stories in the past year. Please note: There is a separate fee for this luncheon. If you choose to bring your own lunch, you are still invited. There will be seating available at the side of the room.
Friday PM
Demystifying Romance and Women’s Fiction
Friday, 1:50-2:50
The session focuses on understanding these two individual genres specifically. Participants writing outside of these genres can also learn strategies for identifying exactly what genre they write in and how to target editors and agents effectively.
Instructor: Scott Eagan (Agent)
Finding Meaning in the World Around You
Friday, 1:50-2:50
This session will concentrate on strategies for finding meaning and relevancy in the world immediately around you. Rather than traveling to exotic locations, this course will debate ways everyday life can be the basis for creative work. We will use our native Wisconsin as a point of departure. Some in the art world would argue that the Midwest, particularly Wisconsin, makes for banal “fly over” subject matter. We will show examples of historic and contemporary visual culture using “Wisconsin as subject” to spark dialog then invite participants to share examples from their own lives to critique and expand possibilities paying particular attention to the fine details and emotional qualities of place while being aware of perceptions and misperceptions of those within and without.
Instructors: Julie Shimon and Johnie Lindemann
Pace Your MG/YA Project: Going Far Enough to Fully Engage Readers
Friday, 1:50-2:50
This workshop is about pacing and “going far enough” to engage your reader fully. It explores how to integrate excellent picture book pacing techniques into the middle grade and/or young adult novel to do more and go far enough to move, pause, halt, or slow a story to enhance the emotional tension within your novel. If you are looking for great ideas on how to get more out of your editing process, this is for you. How will you move your story? How will you bring out the heart of your story? See the power behind these ordinary tools and how they can bring thrill and excitement into your writing process.
Instructor: Jodell Sadler
Art of the Query Letter—Query Letter Writing Workshop
Friday, 1:50-2:50
What’s the most important page of your book? The query letter. Join authors Shumaker amd Brown for a hands-on workshop on crafting query letters. Learn the key elements of a query letter and participate in a query letter critique. Writing a captivating query letter is a special skill that can raise your project to the top of the slush pile. In this session, Shumaker and Brown present a hands-on approach to creating the perfect pitch, including winning examples, a fill-in-the-blank outline, and a group critique.
Instructors: Heather Shumaker and Anne Greenwood Brown
Writing the Female Superhero
Friday, 3-4:15
Women are becoming more prevalent as leading characters, but the real energy at the forefront is the female superhero. Wonder Woman is a foundation, but The Hunger Games’ Katniss Everdeen has taken over as the new breed of unbowed winner. This workshop will examine how to create strong women on their own, in conjunction with romantic partners, and as leaders and role models for younger readers.
Instructor: Killian Heilsberg
Blog Is the New Black: Blogging Basics
Friday, 3-4:15
As a writer, there is one thing you should do every single day. You should be writing. Writers write. Period. If you are not writing, then how can you be a writer? And if you are writing every day, why aren’t you writing on a blog where you can create a portfolio for publishers and editors to see your work? In this class, I will lead you though the blogging basics: where to get started, an overview of platforms, tips on writing a post, and other important tools you will need to start your online writing portfolio.
Instructor: Kimberly Aime
How to Read a Novel
Friday, 3-4:15
Wait a sec, you learned to read in primary school, right? So why should you take a course on reading? Not so fast. Chances are you may still have a lot to learn about your beloved leisure activity. The best writers out there don’t just sit down at the beach and burn through the latest best-seller; rather, they take advantage of professional techniques—we’ll cover the top 10—to get to the deeper secrets of the reading experience. Learning to read like a writer can improve your own writing dramatically and help you to follow in the footsteps of the authors you most admire. After all, as they say: You can only write as well as you can read.
Instructor: Christopher Mohar
Interactive Storytelling for Online Platforms
Friday, 3-4:15
What you experience in Web sites, online learning, videogames, interactive fiction, and role-playing games is interactive storytelling. As an interactive writer, you can go beyond hoping for emails from fans to inviting your audience to join you as story co-creators. This session can help you create story paths in a way that can enrich how you approach any writing format. We’ll also look at some of the markets, careers, and resources for those who want to pursue these options further.
Instructor: Mike Kern
Saturday AM
Local Presses/Publishers Panel
Saturday, 8:30-9:30
We’ve invited the managing editors of a group of local publishers to discuss the current state of publishing. Within the world of traditional, self, and digital publishing, there lies the local publisher niche. Learn how you may be able to find a home for your manuscripts and book proposals through your friendly local publisher. Each publisher will remain at the conference throughout the day on Saturday. They will share their current titles with us and be open to hearing from you, the Writers’ Institute attendees. Stop by and introduce yourself anytime Saturday 9:35-5:30.
Creating, Designing and Producing DIY books from Zines to POD
Saturday, 9:35-11
The ease and accessibility of creating books online gives writers and visual artists new and more direct venues for communicating concepts and imagery to niche audiences. Where once mainstream publishers were the gatekeepers of what was published and what was not, new online platforms enable users to design, sequence, produce, and distribute books themselves without a major cash outlay. Historic examples of obscure and iconic books will be presented to provide context for contemporary developments. Alternately, DIY books can be distributed using Web 2.0 and social networking platforms and at exhibitions, readings, and other gatherings for little or no cost to the author while providing an opportunity to build audience and get a response to creative work.
Instructors: Julie Shimon and Johnie Lindemann
Short Story Magic—Power Tools for Today’s Fiction Writers
Saturday, 9:35-11
This workshop is for those intrigued by this challenging form that can portray so much, so quickly. The short story is experiencing new popularity today and its techniques are an excellent jumping off point to novels, screenplays and popular biographies. We’ll begin by looking at the source of story energy (the art of engaging readers) and story design (plot concept and its various forms). Then, while writing individually and working on a story together, we’ll apply techniques of beat, scene, sequence and discovery. Through a close reading of some contemporary examples, we’ll explore how the use of turning point, emotional dynamics and setups/payoffs to effectively order and link scenes so they build to crisis, climax and, ultimately, revelation for the reader.
Instructor: John (Jack) Lehman
Getting Personal: Writing Erotic Fiction
Saturday, 9:35-11
Anais Nin and 50 Shades of Grey: Erotic fiction is not only profitable but also a good way to figure out your own voice as a writer. This workshop will be part discussion, part writing exercises, part self-discovery, and all about getting more intimate with your own work. We’ll talk about the phenomenon, do some timed writing exercises designed to help you uncover your own patterns, then do some exercises to help you figure out how to bring your inner best to the consumer market.
Instructor: Killian Heilsberg
What Do You Do, In-House Publishing Publicist Danielle Jackson?
Saturday, 9:35-11
Here’s an opportunity to find out what an in-house publicist actually does. Danielle Jackson is a senior publicist for Sourcebooks, a Naperville-based independent publisher. She’s here for authors to pick her brain about promoting and marketing their books, and making the best use of an in-house publicist. She’ll share her insights on what works and what doesn’t—and might even share a few insider tips on how to best utilize your in-house publicist. Bring your questions, and she’ll answer them!
Instructor: Danielle Jackson
Understanding the Trends While Writing Children’s/YA Timeless Literature
Saturday, 11:15-12:15
We all want to be relevant in the ever changing publishing industry, but once you realize a trend, you’ve missed your chance to write it. This class focuses on understanding trends in a way that you can manipulate them and make them your own unique genre. Agent Bree Odgen uses genre specific books and talks about ways one might make that trend their own.
Instructor: Bree Ogden (Agent)
The Trail of Breadcrumbs: How to Find the Way Back Home
Saturday, 11:15-12:15
When we have a personal attachment to a place, it’s easy to overlook its most immediate details. In this workshop, we’ll discuss the details of place and participate in writing exercises that lead us back to the places we know so well and discover what makes what is familiar to us unique to a reader. By exploring the senses, we’ll scour our memories for the most intimate details of place. This interactive workshop is perfect for writers working on a memoir, writing poetry, or trying to incorporate a richer sense of place into their fiction.
Instructor: Angela Voras-Hills
Plotting the Plot
Saturday, 11:15-12:15
You’ve got an idea for a great book—so what comes next? Hemingway wrote that “the hard part about writing a novel is finishing it.” Author Tanya Chernov shares both the fundamentals and the subtle nuances of getting from the first page to the finish line. Learn how to avoid the common pitfalls that can stall your progress and defeat your book. Whatever type of writer you are and whatever genre you write, creating even the simplest outline to follow can save you an enormous amount of time revision. Develop practical tools for cultivating a plot, theme, and outline that will take you from point A to point B without destroying the natural creative process or losing your way.
Instructor: Tanya Chernov
Tweet Me, Like Me, Buy Me: Using Social Media to Create Your Platform
Saturday, 11:15-12:15
One out of eight minutes spent on the Internet is spent on social media. If you want to reach a bigger audience, then you need to be involved in the social media conversation. This class walks you through the basics of creating a space for yourself on Twitter and Facebook. We will discuss etiquette when working with social media and outlines ways to increase your following. The Internet is ripe with potential readers; this class will show you how to find, reach, and engage them.
Instructor: Kimberly Aime, @BdgerGrl
Saturday PM
Book Signing Event (Treats will be available)
Saturday, 1:15-2:00
Our speakers, agents, and publishers will be on hand to sign and sell their books. Show your support for our writers!
Earning Your Artistic Stripes
Saturday, 2:15-3:15
Critique is one of the most important ways for writers to hear how their writing succeeds or fails, and writers must revise ad nauseum and often with very little notice. Author Tanya Chernov shares her story of working with agents, readers, and editors alike to make her book the best it could be. From her first draft to the 100th, from early mornings to all-nighters, the journey was exhilarating, exhausting and ultimately vital to the manuscript’s quality. Learn how to develop that thick skin every writer must possess, as well as how to navigate the many twists and turns you'll come across on your way to earning those authorial stripes.
Instructor: Tanya Chernov
Write Where You Don’t Know
Saturday, 2:15-3:15
Part of the pleasure of reading is visiting a place you’ve never been—yet writing about a place you’ve never been seems daunting. We’ll read examples of fiction with an emphasis on place and discuss how to write about unfamiliar places with authority. After considering which details are necessary, we’ll look into research tools and method for collecting enough information to bring a foreign place to life for readers.
Instructor: Angela Voras-Hills
Your Life as Story—Exploring Autobiographical Writing in All Its Forms
Saturday, 2:15-3:15
Certain stories lend themselves to certain forms. Traditional autobiographies are usually told in chronological order, covering one’s entire life story, while traditional memoirists generally zero in on a slice of life, or a specific event in one’s life history. Now, there’s a new kid on the block, often called New Autobiography, and this includes the increasingly popular literary memoirs or fictionalized memoirs. These newer rapidly evolving autobiographical forms allow writers the freedom to mix fiction with their facts. But no matter what story you want to tell, the critical distinction for all autobiographical writers is how to define the “truth.” And as an autobiographical writer, your crucial choice then becomes: Which genre best serves your story? What is your stories highest and best and most effective form? Today, it is not uncommon to find life stories being written in a myriad of different genres. Check out Alison Bechdel’s graphic novel, Fun Home: A Family Tradgicomic, or the savvy, 85-year-old writer Esther C. Gropper’s fictionalized memoir Not Far From the Tree. Esther mined emails with her three granddaughters for inspiration. Then there’s Maxine Hong Kingston’s Women Warriors, who wrote a memoir where she made up ancestors to help tell her story. Learn about the sometimes tough decisions that autobiographical writers must make, the importance of being true to your genre and most importantly, where your life story fits in the rapidly evolving memoir continuum.
Instructor: Bridget Birdsall
Setting as a Character
Saturday, 2:15-3:15
The setting is both the foundation of a story and the guide of the protagonist’s journey. How the characters interact with the setting and how the place shapes the characters and their journey are vital elements of a story. Keeping this in mind, in this class we will examine setting in a broad sense—as a physical place, as a historical moment, and as a cultural milieu. We will discuss how setting provides motivation and action to bring characters to life and to make their struggles believable. We will also look at how it creates emotional responses from the readers and elicits their empathy. Finally, we will explore how setting lends a unique voice to a story and centers it. In this class, we will do select readings and two writing exercises.
Instructor: Kashmira Sheth
Sane People Writing the Insane: Keeping the Darkness on the Page
Saturday, 3:25-4:25
Too many writers of disturbing subject matter have allowed their material to consume their mental states, but author Tanya Chernov shows you that this need not be the case. The art world tends to fetishize dysfunction. Dark subject matter is an emerging market, and there is a lack of dialogue about how to function within this problematic style in a positive way. This workshop will explore the consequences of succumbing to the darkness we create, and explain concrete, immediately applicable craft techniques to help writers maintain sanity while probing the very darkest of content. Addresses both fiction and nonfiction.
Instructor: Tanya Chernov
Lit Mags, Online Rags and Other Places That Want Your Work
Saturday, 3:25-4:25
Right now, there are hundreds upon hundreds of small publishers looking for your poems, short stories, nonfiction essays, and novel manuscripts—and with the increasing popularity of digital publishing, there are getting to be more places to publish every day. With so many options, who can blame you if you don’t know where to start? Let us help you navigate the sea of words. We’ll explain the different types of literary magazines out there, what they’re looking for, and the practical ins and outs of sending out your work for publication. If you’ve got a drawer full of finished manuscripts and don’t know what to do with them, this is a session that you can’t afford miss.
Instructor: Christopher Mohar
Researching and Querying Agents
Saturday, 4:30-5:30
Aimed at demystifying the process of landing an agent, all while building up a wealth of knowledge to head you in the right direction once the querying commences! Ideal for writers who are at the impasse of having a completed manuscript but feel immobilized by the notion of querying agents. The truth is, researching and querying agents is an art form. It takes time and effort and a lot of know-how. Receive vital information and technical critiques from an agent who has seen numerous query blunders and successes.
Instructor: Agent Bree Ogden
What to Look for in a Rights Agreement
Saturday, 4:30-5:30
It’s a dream come true—a producer wants to option your book or script! Or better yet—a publisher or a studio wants to buy it! But how do you know a great deal from a snow job? These are issues writers deal with every day, so it helps to have some knowledge. Learn what your options are when dealing with everyone from cash-flush studios to independent producers who want a free option. We’ll cover standard option agreements in detail so you’ll know what to look for in a contract—and what to look for in an agent, manager, or attorney who can help you.
Instructor: Jeff Kurz
Active Involvement: Improvisation for Writers
Saturday, 4:30-5:30
Creating well-rounded characters is vital for good fiction. This workshop is designed to not only look at how to create the characters but also how to think like them. It can be easy to forget the people in our books are living, breathing beings, and through creative improvisational play we will explore how to remind ourselves the people we create also move and think on their feet.
Instructor: Killian Heilsberg
Dos and Don’ts of Self-Promotion
Saturday, 4:30-5:30
Long gone are the days of simply publishing a book and having it sent to bookstores! Many writers now find themselves donning additional hats—promoter, marketer, blogger. There are pros and cons to promoting yourself, and it can be incredibly overwhelming to know what to do, and what not to do while spreading the word about your book. Join Sourcebooks senior publicist Danielle Jackson for tips on the things every author needs to before their publication date, what to do while a book is in stores and after the initial boom slows down, and also, things authors should avoid. With hard work, perseverance and a level head, self-promotion can lead to creating lasting relationships with readers, and lead to book sales, making incredible impact.
Instructor: Danielle Jackson
Make Good Writing Great: Six Steps to Real Success with Fiction or Creative Non-Fiction
Saturday, 4:30-5:30
Whether you’re new at writing or a published professional, interested in fiction or non-fiction, John Lehman’s innovative, six-step method will start you well on the way to producing the kinds of stories, articles and books you, yourself, love to read. You’ll learn how to take greater risks by probing the conflict beneath the surface and how to incorporate techniques from acting and film editing into the process of writing in order to achieve a heightened reality and dramatically increase reader involvement. One former participant stated, “It’s a whole new approach to writing. After years of being dissatisfied with my work, I’m now back at it and feeling a new kind of power in what I produce.”
Instructor: John (Jack) Lehman
Sunday AM
The Traditional Publishing Process: The Author, Agent and Publisher of A Real Emotional Girl Take You from First Draft to Release Day and Beyond
Sunday, 9-10:15
This panel explores the different viewpoints involved in publishing a book through a New York press. Each panelist will take you through their personal experiences that collectively led to the successful publication of a local debut memoir in the mainstream market. Topics covered include the role of an agent, what a traditional publisher does for a book, and what is demanded of the writer throughout the life of the book. Q&A session follows.
Panel: Gordon Warnock, Tanya Chernov, and Julie Matysik
Moving Beyond Print: Selling Your Work Within Other Platforms
Sunday, 10:30-11:45
The final panel session of the 2013 Writers’ Conference explores new school publishing. As a writer, you have many different options for your manuscript’s next steps. Instead of a publisher you may sell your manuscript directly to a network, studio, or website. Additionally, your self and e-book publishing could lead to many other distribution options along the journey. Join our expert agents, Hollywood execs, and publicist and discover new opportunities that are available to you.
Panel: Marilyn Atlas, Gordon Warnock, Jeff Kurz, Ken Miyamoto, and Danielle Jackson