2025 conference intensives

CRAFTING MARKETABLE FICTION

Drawing from years of experience publishing eighteen New York Times bestselling novels, Brandon will talk about the planning that goes into creating a pitch and a story that editors will purchase. He will also examine the elements that must be present for a commercial narrative to delight publishers and readers.

MASTER CHARACTER CONSTRUCTION USING THE VULNERABILITY SEQUENCE

Martine Leavitt says, “Character is plot.” Truer words on writing craft were never spoken. A special kind of magic happens when characters become vulnerable, but nothing provides greater reader fulfillment than seeing this from the story’s emotional antagonist. Using a vulnerability sequence she uncovered in her masters thesis, Melanie will show you specific narrative steps to leverage your emotional antagonist’s story arc for the greatest reader payoff. Dig into why five characters with the same emotional wound can react with five different shields and drive the plot to five different places as a result. Character shields predict their actions, and intentionally choosing a character’s emotional shields will lead to greater integrity between character and the plot. Goodbye to “too stupid to live syndrome,” goodbye to protagonists making out-of-character choices to drive tension in the plot. Hello to organic plots with richer and more devastating conflicts and stakes!