Join us on November 3, 2017 for Write with Pride, a half-day of writer-focused sessions and workshops that focus on the craft of writing as well as publishing and marketing.

Date: Friday, November 3, 2017
Time: 12pm – 5:30pm
Where: Seattle Public Library Central Branch

Registration:

• General Registration: $20
• Supporter Registration*: $25
• Radical Hospitality: $0

*By paying a little extra, supporter registrations help us offer more scholarships and cover venue costs. THANK YOU to everyone who helps us provide more access to these events!

To Register: Register for Write with Pride

Write with Pride Schedule

10am – 11:30am: NaNoWriMo Writing Time (Seattle Central Library, 4th Floor, Room 6)

Working on your NaNoWriMo project? We’ll be hosting an area of the library for you to work. (4th Floor, Room 6)

12pm – 1pm: Write with Pride registration (4th Floor, Room 1)

1pm – 2pm: Opening and Keynote Chat (4F, Room 1)

Join us as we kick off Write with Pride with a special keynote chat with author Nisi Shawl (Everfair, Writing the Other) on what are the ways writers can authentically bring a variety of characters to life in their stories.

2pm – 2:15pm: Break

2:15pm – 3:45pm: WWP Sessions Series 1

• May I Live In Your Bones: Harnessing the Power of Close Psychic Distance (4F, Room 1)
• Interwoven Plots – Romance Plus Danger (4F, Room 2)

3:45pm – 4pm: Break

4pm – 5pm: WWP Sessions Series 2

• Do Your Book Justice (4F, Room 1)
• Line Editing Tips and Tricks (4F, Room 2)
• How to Connect Your Stories with Libraries and the Community (4F, Room 6)

5:15pm – 5:30pm: Workshop Share-Out and Wrap-Up (4F, Room 1)

Write with Pride Session Descriptions:

Do Your Book Justice
4pm – 5pm (4F, Room 1)

Cops, courts, or corrections. Sooner or later, most of our characters are going to come in contact with the criminal justice system. We’ll do a crash course on the U.S. criminal justice system with special emphasis on subjects authors often get wrong–or need to take special care with. We’ll leave with a better idea of how to get our people into and out of trouble, and we’re bound to find a few juicy plot bunnies along the way.

Presenter: Kim Fielding (Author, Rattlesnake, Brute)

How to Connect Your Stories with Libraries and the Community
4pm – 5pm (4F, Room 6)

For those writing outside the “mainstream,” it can be difficult to gain traction and get in front of audiences, especially if your writing focuses on characters or stories that are often marginalized. Whether it’s working with libraries, book stores, or related nonprofit organizations, there are lots of ways that writers can connect to community resources to engage around their work and meet readers and other writers. Using lessons learned from the Read with Pride Northwest initiative, we’ll share tips and recommendation on how to connect your writing to community organizations and increase visibility.

Presenter: Tracy Timmons-Gray (Read with Pride NW)

Interwoven Plots – Romance Plus Danger
2:15pm – 3:45pm (4F, Room 2)

Keeping two (or more) interconnected storylines going can be tricky. Can your characters solve a murder/save the world/pull off a heist and also manage a romance? Which plot resolves? Are HEA’s appropriate for both? Two authors whose work tackles these issues share their approaches

Presenters: MB Austin (Author, Strictly Need to Know) and Sheri Lewis Wohl (Author, She Wolf, Walking through Shadows)

Line Editing Tips and Tricks
4pm – 5pm (4F, Room 2)

In between the psychodrama of developmental workshopping and the rules and regulations of proofreading lies the delightful realm of line editing. In this hour I will demonstrate some of the most common kinds of line edits that can make prose stand out. This workshop is geared toward editors and beta readers (i.e. people who are reading others’ work) but writers interested in self-editing are also welcome.

Presenter: Nicole Kimberling (Editor and Owner, Blind Eye Books; Author, The Bellingham Mysteries, Turnskin)

May I Live In Your Bones: Harnessing the Power of Close Psychic Distance
2:15pm – 3:45pm (4F, Room 1)

What makes the difference between a lukewarm romance and a romantic masterpiece? A breathtaking thriller and a mystery that readers abandon halfway through? You’re tempted to say plot, but equally important is the proper application of psychic distance: the distance between the narrative voice of the story and the characters’ experiences. In this fun, hands-on class, we will define psychic distance and practice techniques for getting closer to our characters. This class will help you craft believable characters, avoid clichés, and write sex scenes that advance plot. It will help you bring emotion, humor, suspense, and most importantly authenticity to the page. If possible, bring a few pages of your own writing to work on in class. Also, if available, bring a camera phone and an action figure for in-class exercises. (Additional action figures will be provided, but you might get stuck with headless Barbie.)

Presenter: Karelia Stetz-Waters (Author, For Good, Something True)