Memoir is a deeply challenging genre for any writer seeking to parlay real-life events into a story that connects with total strangers. As Mary Karr observes, “a fiction writer starts with meaning and then manufactures events to represent it; a memoirist starts with events, then derives meaning from them.” Deriving meaning is a lengthy, complex process and not at all obvious to any writer who attempts it.

One big challenge at the outset is figuring out the “container” for your book: Where to begin, where to end, what to include, what to exclude, and how to tell a compelling story about your transformational journey.

This is a tall order! This symposium explores a framework of 10 essential questions to help you make critical choices about your book’s structure and to see the big picture.

This presentation will cover:

• A step-by-step overview of the 10 questions addressing a range of considerations, including your “why” for the book, its point, the archetype shaping your story, nailing your book’s concept, defining the ideal reader, and more.
• Brief analysis of how well-written memoirs are put together.
• A chance to work on one or two of the 10 questions and receive group feedback.

You will learn:

• Strategies for putting your story into a deeper, broader context
• To understand the strengths and weaknesses of your approach to your story
• To recognize common pitfalls of the memoir genre
• Factors to consider when deciding the scope of your story, including the beginning and ending.

Are you ready to take your manuscript from rough draft to ready for an agent?

Join Sara Wigal, Director & Associate Professor of Publishing at Belmont University (a literary agent herself) for a hands-on, two-hour symposium designed specifically for aspiring professional writers who want to sharpen their self-editing skills.

This session will guide you through practical techniques to elevate your prose, tighten your narrative, and prepare your work for submission or publication. Learn how to spot common pitfalls, apply revision strategies used by editors, and develop a personalized editing workflow that empowers you to become your own best critic.

Join in a group editing session for immediate feedback. Whether you're working on fiction, nonfiction, or memoir, this workshop will help you transform your writing with clarity, precision, and confidence.

Writing a novel in first-person seems easy at first. After all, how hard can it be to get inside just one character’s head and stay there? As it turns out, quite hard. To be sure, the first-person perspective is an exciting opportunity to explore your protagonist’s deepest secrets and drives and develop a sympathetic bond with the reader as they get to know your character from the inside. I bet many of our favorite books are told in first-person.

But from a craft perspective, writing in first-person is a potential minefield. Building an interesting and dynamic world full of believable characters can be extra challenging when the reader can only see that world through one set of eyes. Common pitfalls involve an over-reliance on telling rather than showing; not using inner dialogue strategically to build conflict and tension; and accidentally switching out of first-person, which can confuse the reader.

By the end of this presentation, you’ll be armed with a variety of techniques to help you use first-person effectively in a variety of genres and to recognize several pitfalls before you get too far along.

This presentation will cover:

• Determining if first-person is the right POV for your story and genre
• An understanding of how first-person works differently from other POVs
• Hallmarks of great first-person POV work
• Techniques to vary your writing style within first-person
• Real-time writing exercise based on a first-person prompt 

You finished your book. You cried. You celebrated. You swore you'd never look at it again. And then... the feedback arrived.

Welcome to the part of the writing process no one talks about enough: edits—the necessary but often soul-crushing step between “I wrote a book!” and “I wrote a great book.”

In this two-hour virtual workshop, bestselling author and editor Rea Frey (who recently rewrote her entire thriller in two weeks) will walk you through exactly how to approach edits without spiraling into self-doubt, analysis paralysis, or burning your manuscript in a ritual fire.

Using real-life examples and client case studies, Rea will demystify the editorial process and share a repeatable, sanity-saving method to move from raw feedback to a polished, submission-ready draft.

Whether you're staring down an editorial letter, facing beta reader notes, or simply trying to revise your own work with fresh eyes, this workshop will give you the tools, structure, and mindset you need to tackle edits with confidence (and maybe even joy).

You’ll Learn:

• The 5 emotional stages of receiving feedback (and how to move through them)
• How to separate critique from identity
• The difference between micro vs. macro edits—and which to start with
• How to map, re-outline, and restructure your story without losing the heart
• What feedback to take, what to toss, and how to trust your own voice
• How to turn overwhelm into a clear, actionable revision plan

Includes:

• Live Q&A
• Downloadable Revision Framework
• Real-world case studies from Rea’s own editorial experience
• Optional hot seat coaching for brave volunteers

Ideal for:
Writers of all genres who want to strengthen their manuscript and survive the emotional minefield of edits—without giving up on their story (or themselves).

Your story may be full of twists, turns, and action-packed adventure. But the truth is, even in the most plot-driven blockbusters and the most traditional mystery, readers and watchers want to follow a character on an arc. Without that internal arc adding emotional resonance, even the most tightly plotted story can become confusing and forgettable.

In this session, Karen Krumpak will discuss the ways plot affects character and vice versa, making the most of your opening scenes to set up later growth, and enhancing your story by adding a character arc at any stage of the writing process.

In addition to writers looking to add affecting character moments to plot-based stories without bogging down the pace, this presentation will also be useful to writers looking to create as much emotional impact as possible while clearly and concisely detailing their plot in a synopsis.

This presentation will cover:

• Why an internal character arc is essential
• Unique characters vs. a character arc
• Understanding how your character changes (or doesn’t)
• Outlining simplified: a bare bones approach to the internal arc
• Integrating the internal arc with the external, plot-based arc
• Adding internal arcs as B plots and C plots
• Examples of stories that seem to lack a character arc
• Incorporating the internal arc into the synopsis and query letter
• Q&A

What attendees have said ...

Karen presented detailed content and good demonstrative examples of concepts presented. Liked the brief pauses to think about my own characters arc in context of concepts presented. Appreciated the recording as it is difficult to listen to presenter to absorb info and take notes at same time.

The simple exercises we were given gave me a completely different way to arrive at who my character was, based on her imperfect environment and how she navigates it. I had a huge AHA moment, and I can't wait to start writing!

When we have a book idea, we often don't know where to start. We ask, is this idea any good? Is it worth doing? Am I good enough to do it?

In this session, Amy Goldmacher will take you through an interactive process that will get you clear on your book idea so you can write it (or the proposal for it):

• What You Want To Say: You get crystal clear on the core concept that encapsulates what you want to say with this book and develop the content that serves and delights your readers.
• How You Say It: You develop the structure and organization that best serves your work and helps your audiences experience your content powerfully.
• Who Needs To Hear It: You pinpoint your specific audience(s) and determine the best route to reach them that also meets your unique goals and needs.
• How You Talk About It: You describe your book in terms audiences understand it, including agents and publishers as well as your readers.

This session are for any writer, whether you’re writing fiction, nonfiction, or memoir, and whether you’re:

• At the very beginning stage with a great idea—or several—and don’t know where or how to start.
• In the drafting stage.
• Have a complete, revised, and edited manuscript and are ready to seek agents or publishers.

Take a 30,000-foot view of your project and get feedback for improvement. After this session, you will feel confident that your book idea has what it takes to succeed.