In 2024, we are offering two separate quarterly webinar series to AWC members. Each series is $50 and will grant you live online access via Zoom on the date of each quarterly webinar as well as a link to the recording for each one, in case you're unable to attend the live presentation or want to watch it again. Each recording will be retained online, so if you register after one or more of the webinars are held, you will still be able to view the ones you missed. You will also receive any handout(s) created for each webinar in the series.
The $50 cost for each series will help to pay for the speaker's honorarium as well as contribute to the Atlanta Writers Club's reserve for scholarships, support of literary activities, and our building fund.
If you are not yet an Atlanta Writers Club member but want to register for one or both webinar series, you will have the option to add AWC membership to your total. You will then also be able to attend our monthly in-person meetings at no charge, participate in our critique groups, enter our contests, and register for periodic standalone online workshops offered free to members.
LORIN OBERWEGER is a highly sought-after independent book editor and ghostwriter with almost thirty years’ experience in publishing. Her company, Free Expressions, offers intensive, deep craft workshops nationwide. She’s also known for her one-on-one Story Mastermind session for writers of all genres of fiction and creative nonfiction. In 2023, Lorin's webinars for the AWC were consistently the most popular online educational experiences we offered.
Lorin’s students and clients have been published by HarperCollins, Penguin Random House, Scholastic, Simon and Schuster, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Disney, and many other presses. They have also gained representation with some of the industry’s leading literary agents and several have had work optioned for film and television.
An award-winning author, Lorin has co-written and ghostwritten eight books, several for New York Times bestselling authors of fiction and nonfiction. Her work, commissioned by major publishers, has received glowing notices from the New York Times, Kirkus Reviews, NPR, and others. Her latest co-author credit is THANK YOU FOR COMING TO MY TED TALK, written with Chris Anderson, director of TED Conferences.
With bestselling author Veronica Rossi, Lorin is the author of the New Adult books, BOOMERANG, REBOUND, and BOUNCE, published by Harper/William Morrow under the pen name Noelle August. The novels were praised by Publishers Weekly and Library Journal, among others, and BOOMERANG was chosen as a “new and notable” selection for Target Stores across the US.
February 21, 2024 at 7 pm Eastern: What the Heck Is Agency?
You’ve likely heard the term used by agents, editors, or critique group members, but what—exactly—is character agency? Why is it critical, and how do you make sure your protagonist and other character demonstrate it? If your character starts out as a reluctant figure, one to whom events are happening, how can you find ways to signal that character’s strength and motivation to the reader? As always, come prepared to work and make important discoveries along the way.
May 22, 2024 at 7 pm Eastern: Emotional Storytelling and Deep Point of View
More than any other way to experience art, reading is a deeply empathetic experience. We read to FEEL, to experience an emotional journey on the part of a character who is able to right wrongs with which we also struggle or, at least, to which we can also relate. In this hands-on webinar, Lorin will take you through techniques to help you create a rich emotional experience for your reader. We’ll explore ways to: anchor your story in a strong, keenly felt premise; craft an immersive viewpoint; bring real personality to your narrative voice; stir reader emotions with simple descriptive details; and much more.
August 21, 2024 at 7 pm Eastern: Keeping the Wind in Your Sails: How to Give, Get, and Work with Feedback
In this hands-on workshop, we’ll discuss: how and where to find trustworthy critique partners; how to take charge of the critique process; what questions to ask during each phase of the drafting process; how to sort through and prioritize feedback; and how to stay attuned to our “non-negotiables,” ensuring that we keep in touch with the hearts and souls of our stories in a way that helps us maintain momentum and belief in our work.
November 20, 2024 at 7 pm Eastern: Reimagining Revision
It’s been said that a story comes to life in revision, but that critical step can feel overwhelming or be conducted in a way that is superficial, focusing on line-level issues while overlooking critical issues of plot, story development, world-building, pacing, and more. In this workshop, we’ll tackle the “inverted pyramid” model of revision, talk about how to build the most structurally sound and meaningful stories we can while focusing on one element at a time, and how to become fearless in taking apart and reconstructing portions of your story, as needed.
DIANE CALLAHAN is the Fiction Editor for Consequence, an international literary journal that addresses the realities of war and geopolitical violence through literature and visual art. She is also the managing editor at Story Garden Publishing, a collaborative writing venture with fellow authors Jordan Riley Swan and Hero Bowen. Together, they plot, write, and edit novels in various genres, from comedies and romances to fantasy novels and fairy-tale retellings. Wish Hunter is the first project Diane designed for Story Garden; it's an urban fantasy trilogy about the dark underworld of stealing wishes that’s set in Savannah, Georgia.She has been a full-time developmental editor for over six years, critiquing fantasy, science fiction, literary, middle grade, thriller, and romance novels. Prior to Story Garden, she worked for three years as a developmental editor and plot outliner for a best-selling indie publisher under an NDA, overseeing the production of thirty novels across four series. She also wrote and edited interactive fiction games for Talented, an e-learning platform for universities and business leadership.
Diane aims to consume at least fifty books per year, many of which become fodder for analysis on her YouTube channel, Quotidian Writer.
March 28, 2024 at 7 pm Eastern: Crafting a Compelling Short Story
There are as many ways to write a short story as there are to decorate a cake. However, compelling short stories often share similar ingredients, including an interesting dilemma, a narrowed scope, and a strong payoff. In this interactive workshop, we’ll explore how to draft a short story from the ground up, analyzing excerpts from short stories across genres. We’ll also touch on how to submit short stories for publication as well as common reasons stories are rejected. I’ll bring my perspective as a fiction editor for a literary magazine and author of short fiction.
June 27, 2024 at 7 pm Eastern: Finding Your Narrative Voice
Most writers lament not having a stronger narrative voice. In reality, all writers have unique patterns of communicating as well as interesting themes they gravitate toward across stories. It’s simply a matter of identifying the core elements of your own style. Through that self-awareness, you can learn how to control your narrative voice and adapt it to the story’s tone and character perspective. Here, we’ll use a combination of writing exercises and collaborative breakout rooms to refine our individual narrative voices.
September 26, 2024 at 7 pm Eastern: Sharpening Your Prose on a Sentence Level
Copy editing is the art of fine-tuning each sentence so that the whole piece sings. We’ll pinpoint ways to heighten the intended effect of your prose through eliminating common filler words and replacing weak phrasing with precise diction. This workshop is a place to ask all your burning questions about nitty-gritty grammatical rules. In addition, participants are encouraged to discuss the pros and cons of different stylistic choices, as “good prose” isn’t black and white. The goal is to keep your reader engaged from sentence to sentence by smoothening out any road bumps that could interrupt their reading journey. With interactive writing and editing exercises, you’ll walk away feeling more confident in your ability to self-edit your work.
December 12, 2024 at 7 pm Eastern: Blending Genres to Create Fresh Stories
Whether you’re merging sci-fi with historical fiction or adding a dash of fantasy to a contemporary story, blending genres is a way to reinvigorate stale ideas. A number of acclaimed authors have pushed the boundaries of different genres boxes, including Octavia Butler, David Mitchell, Susanna Clarke, Emily St. John Mandel, Toni Morrison, China Miéville, and Stephen King. We’ll examine these authors and more to uncover strategies and pitfalls in crafting genre-blending stories. Participants will be invited to share their own concepts and receive feedback.
To select either or both quarterly webinar series, please complete the fields below then click the SUBMIT button for payment by credit/debit card.
- For AWC members only
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