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SCHEDULE

9:00: Registration

9:15: Meet Greet Introduction (Michael A. Ventrella)

9:30: Beyond the First (or Nth) Draft (Sally Wiener Grotta): You’ve written your story, but it needs at least one more edit to make sure your characters, plot, and dialog are dynamic, and your prose sings. However, catching your own writing tics, plot holes, trite descriptions, or other problems requires forcing yourself to see your work anew. In this workshop, you’ll experiment with a variety of tips, tricks and processes for editing your story with fresh eyes, to make it the best it can be. Bring your own manuscript or use samples that will be provided.

10:30: Break

10:45: Utilizing the Tropes (Karen Heuler): The basis of a famous story or tale is to give yourself a springboard for your own ideas. Take a fairy tale, for instance—it has certain recognizable features that can form a helpful structure. Or think of “Metamorphosis” by Kafka and pick up on what makes it so compelling—the immediate acceptance of the impossible. Raymond Chandler once said that when he got stuck in a story, he’d just have some guys come through the door with guns. It’s not a bad thing to surprise yourself. We’ll consider what to learn from what you’ve read in order to make your own stories freer, do a few quick exercises to finish for later, and attempt to break out of our own predictability.

11:45: Lunch [Please bring a bag lunch and drink; there is a grocery store next door, a coffee shop with snacks in the library, and other fast food places nearby]

12:45: Editing Your Own Work (Roseann Brooks): Using the Think(Write)-Pair-Share process, attendees will write and polish a paragraph using freewriting, developmental editing, copyediting, and proofreading techniques, learning to hone these skills as a baseline before contacting a professional. Each attendee will share work with other attendees, if desired, discussing what questions to ask during these writing/editing stages.

1:45: Break

2:00: Pitching to Markets to sell Essays or Stories (Victoria Marie Lees): Three main questions need to be answered when pitching fiction and nonfiction to markets. Victoria Marie Lees will assist participants in answering these questions and drafting pitch letters for their fiction and nonfiction.

3:00: Break

3:15: Question & Answer Panel

ABOUT THE PRESENTERS

Roseann McGrath Brooks is the author of the Vacation Friends Romance series, currently comprising four sweet, inspirational romance novels. As a member of the Pocono Liars Club, she contributed a short story to the anthology The Lies We Tell Others. She’s a college writing tutor and retired editor, with a not-so-secret obsession with grammar. She has a BA in English and French and an MA in Humanities. Visit her at www.roseannmcgrathbrooksauthor.com.

Sally Wiener Grotta (she/her) is an award-winning writer, photographer, podcaster, and speaker. The author of numerous books, the two most recent are Of Being Woman, a collection of feminist science fiction (NobleFusion Press) and Daughters of Eve, an essay collection (Bayit Publishing). Her hundreds of stories and essays have appeared in scores of publications. Having traveled as a journalist on assignment throughout the world, covering a wide diversity of cultures and endeavors, her works are filled with wonder and appreciation for human potential, tempered by a healthy dose of common sense. As a speaker, Sally uses her wide-ranging experiences to inspire her audiences to ask themselves questions they might not have considered previously, to listen to one another with respect, and to celebrate creative challenges. Sally is a member of The Authors Guild and SFWA. (SallyWienerGrotta.com and SallyWienerGrotta.Substack.com)

Karen Heuler’s stories have appeared in over 150 literary and speculative magazines. Her newest novel is The Splendid City (Angry Robot Books), a political satire with a ridiculous cat and a state seceding from the U.S., and her latest story collection is A Slice of the Dark from Fairwood Press. Her stories have appeared in Asimov’s, Fantasy & Science Fiction, Reactor, et al. She has received an O. Henry award, been a finalist for the Iowa short fiction award, the Bellwether award, the Shirley Jackson award for short fiction (twice), and others. She lives on a lake in a forest, but there’s sadly no magical animals. Her web page is www.karenheuler.com

Victoria Marie Lees is an award-winning poet and author. She has published in Chicken Soup for the Soul, Business Insider, and national magazines and anthologies. She leads writing workshops at libraries on various topics in fiction, memoir, and poetry. She also helps beginning writers, one-on-one, to hone their skills. Her memoir, Determination: A Mother of Five Conquers College released recently. Learn more about Victoria at her website: https://www.victoriamarielees.com/.

Michael A. Ventrella is a Stroudsburg writer with half a dozen novels, including Big Stick and Bloodsuckers: A Vampire Runs for President. He’s edited more than a dozen anthologies, including the Baker Street Irregulars anthologies (co-edited with New York Times Bestselling author Jonathan Maberry); Three Time Travelers Walk Into…, and Release the Virgins. His short stories have appeared in other anthologies and magazines. He’s also written nonfiction books about the US Constitution, The Beatles, and the Monkees. His latest book (Learn From My Mistakes) is full of advice for aspiring writers. At his web page (MichaelAVentrella.com), he interviews authors and editors and gives advice for the starting writer. In his spare time, he is a lawyer.