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2021 WFWA Workshops
Make Peace with Your Inner Critic w/ Kerry SchaferJuly 12-21, 2021 $65 for WFWA Members Make Peace with Your Inner Critic employs powerful transformational techniques to help you form an alliance with your inner critic, find your focus, heal from burnout, make peace with your writing career, and create a writing life you love. This is an interactive training that will teach you to recognize and counteract the pervasive (and often sneaky) fear that lies behind destructive self-talk, procrastination, problems with focus, burnout, envy, and almost everything that steals the joy from your creative life.
April 12-23, 2021 MASTERY LEVEL VOICE Voice is a concept with many meanings, but to make it practical begin with a question: Who is telling the story? Whether it is a character in the story or an observer outside of it, the words and manner of narration are, essentially, the voice. First-person novels might seem to have a voice by default, but is that voice distinctive? Third-person allows a perspective with range, but does that voice bring us tightly inside characters? Control and strong use of point of view are necessary components of voice. But POV on what? How much is too much? Learn the secret art of gripping readers in this hands-on workshop with longtime WFWA instructor Donald Maass. WOW Media Training w/Melissa DybwadMarch 8-22, 2021 Writers of the World Media Training Being on camera and being interviewed is not something that many writers have experienced or have had an opportunity to practice. We are understandably nervous and not as at ease. Wow Media Training creates a practice and training space for you to polish your media skills from the comfort of your own home. It also covers the gap for authors who are acting as their own publicists. This class is very timely for the world we’re living in now, with everything being done virtually on Zoom, and will allow you to become more confident, polished, and camera-ready. Agent Pitch ReviewMarch 22-April 2, 2021 The March 2021 Agent Pitch Event, is an opportunity to submit your pitch to approximately 20 agents who are seeking women's fiction manuscripts. What agents are looking forAgents participating in this event are looking specifically for women's fiction, so all pitches must include the protagonist's emotional journey. To facilitate agents' perusal of pitches, hard-working WFWA volunteers must individually remove posts from other genres. The volunteers are excited to help you, but please be respectful of their time and energy by including your protagonist's emotional journey right from the start during Prepare Your Pitch Week. Members who have participated in this event in the past received significantly more agent requests during the corresponding Agent Pitch Event. Stronger individual pitches result in more agent interest for all WFWA members. Questions? Email us at [email protected]. Prepare Your PitchFebruary 10-25, 2021 Is your pitch clear? Is it engaging? Is it likely to make an agent want to request your manuscript for review and possible representation? Prepare Your Pitch can serve as a stand-alone workshop: You will probably both strengthen your pitch and also your understanding of your character's emotional arc. In addition, Prepare Your Pitch can be the first step toward the Agent Pitch Event, described below. This peer-review event is designed to provide participants with feedback from fellow writers regarding their 50-word pitch. Expect to give and receive lots of feedback during this time. Participants have a week to post their pitches followed by a comment period. Format
Participants will be placed into groups by sub-genre. You will be expected to provide feedback on the pitches of those in your group. In return, you’ll get feedback on your pitch from others. Comments on any pitch throughout the forum are also encouraged. Time commitmentThis event is free to members. Please note, though, that this event requires a significant time investment. Sign up only if you have ample time to participate, and block out the time on your calendar! Expect to invest a minimum of one hour per day to give and respond to feedback. Almost all participants find that the time investment is worth it. Content of pitchIn keeping with WFWA's mission, your pitch must be for a WOMEN'S FICTION manuscript - that is, your protagonist’s emotional journey must drive the plot. Note: This requirement will prepare you for the March 2021 Agent Pitch Event, in which all pitches must include the protagonist's emotional journey (see below). Please see examples of pitches that received multiple agent requests in previous WFWA Agent Pitch events. ProtagonistsProtagonists for manuscripts in both the February and March events must be nineteen years old or older, as agents generally consider manuscripts with younger protagonists to be Young Adult. Resources Want to plan ahead to get the most out of the event? Get started now with the WFWA Prepare Your Pitch resource list. Additional informationPrepare Your Pitch Week happens once or twice per calendar year. You may participate in this and future Prepare Your Pitch weeks even if you are not ready to participate in the Agent Pitch Event. If you want to participate in the Agent Pitch Event, you are required to participate in a recent Prepare Your Pitch Week first. Completion of this event does not automatically mean you are registered for an Agent Pitch Event. You must register for that event separately.
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