Paid Subscriber Benefit: Choose the September Craft Lecture!
Hello friends! As promised, I’ll be giving another Zoom craft lecture for paying subscribers, on September 9, 2025, at 7pm ET. (If you can’t attend live, a recording will also be made available.) Below is a survey asking you to choose from three possible topics, open to all paid subscribers. The poll is open for the next week. Majority rules, but if we don’t get to your choice in June, perhaps we will next time!
A quick description of each:
“Writing Better Scenes”: Whether you're writing novels, memoir and other narrative nonfiction, or short stories, the scene is the basic unit of plot. In this craft talk, I’ll will share how to ensure meaningful actions and choices appear in every scene, creating emotional, moral, and intellectual changes that will help propel your stories and keep readers engaged.
“Narrative Structures and Plot Shapes:” In this craft talk, we’ll identify and detail successful storytelling structures, drawing on novels, film, drama, and other mediums. We'll look at a variety of ways that stories can be designed and arranged for maximum impact, using these traditional structures and genre expectations to help guide our own narrative decisions.
“Querying Agents and Publishers”: An overview of the publishing process from start to finish, including specific tips on finding agents, writing query letters, and otherwise approaching publishers.
Here’s the poll: