IN PERSON!

I’m on faculty at this year’s Write on the Sound conference in Edmonds, WA. My sessions:

Saturday October 5, 2024, 4:15 PM:
Narrative Structure: Off-Kiltering and Crossing Lines - This session will explore the possibility that narrative movement originates in the shifting balance and Friction of opposing forces. What is the border between two opposites? When borders are breached, we cannot move backwards—the essence of the causal plot. Key points reviewed are: A method for creating narrative shape without resorting to 3-act or other Western story designs; a way to find the narrative shape organically in the story and its characters/images, by looking at what is already on the page; and examples of strong models to read for inspiration, including craft texts.

Sunday, October 6, 2024, 11:00 AM:
Rendering Time in Fiction and Memoir - One of the gifts of the page is that we can slow down or speed up the perception of time, jump into the past and future, or nest moments within other moments. This session will explore three components of time in fiction and memoir: chronology, pacing, and urgency. Key points include: Understanding the feeling of time created in the reader as a way to modulate emotion; the difference between a trite flashback and a moment in the past that is integral to the story; and a review of strong models to read for inspiration, including craft texts.

IN ADDITION, I’m doing one-on-one manuscript consultations for prose writers.