Writer's Lab

March is Women’s History Month, and we know a lot of you out there have a story of your own to share with the world. If you’re not sure how to get your memories out of your head and onto paper, check out this great workshop for the techniques you need! 

Do you have an ebook looking for a wider audience? Would you like to get your book into the library but you don’t have a print version? Check out the Indie Author Project for ways to get your book into the hands of more readers!

Do you have a completed book just waiting to make its debut in the world? Do you need some help turning that book into a file that you can publish? Check out Pressbooks, a service offered for free with your library card that gives you a book formatted perfectly for your favorite publishing service.

National Novel Writing Month is just around the corner! Whether you’re an eager Wrimo, stocking up on snacks, water, and writing tips to see you through your 1667-word days, or a curious aspiring writer, wondering what you can really accomplish in a month of writing, our October Writer’s Lab workshops have you covered!

Have you always wanted to write and/or draw comics? Are you interested in partnering with an artist to form a creative team to craft a graphic narrative? Learn some key lessons in creating your own comics with artist and educator James Greene in this three-part workshop. Exploit the real-estate of the blank page while yielding to the collaborative virtues of words and pictures where image is text, too.

Are you interested in writing poetry, but don't know where to start? Have you started, but you don't know where to go from there? Join Dr. Laura Minor, an award-winning poet and poetry educator, for a three-week workshop series on the basics of poetry. This series includes hands-on work in generating ideas and revising drafts, as well as a discussion of the process of submitting and publishing poetry.

You’ve got a great story. You’ve made your characters complex. You’ve put everything on the page, with a great fantasy world or a murder mystery hook (or both!), and your word count comes in at a tight short story or novella length. Now what? Author and PseudoPod associate editor M. M. Schill will tell you how to make your short fiction shine above the rest and how to sell it to the right publications.

Complex Characters, award-winning author Nikesha Elise Williams will help you make your characters more compelling in two virtual sessions and a final virtual workshop.

This character study is for writers who want to dig beyond the surface of common tropes and give their characters depth that make them feel like real people. People who are flawed, insecure, incomplete, and blind to their own behavior.

Writer's Lab is going to the big screen! Get to know our newest Writer's Lab instructor, screenwriter Sharon Y. Cobb in our Five Questions with Sharon Y. Cobb. Then, be a part of Writer’s Lab: Screenwriting 101 with Sharon on Sat., Oct. 17, 24, & 31, 10 a.m. - noon.

Learning to write a well-crafted novel or short story can take years of practice, but an understanding of the basic techniques of storytelling can quickly flatten the learning curve. Storytelling 101 is for both beginning writers and more advanced pros looking for new insights. Award-winning author Vic DiGenti leads writers in three virtual sessions based on the popular Novel in A Day workshop designed to provide writers with the tools needed to successfully craft their own novel.