SWWC 2023 Master Class Schedule

In her half-day master class, Transform Your Manuscript from Boring to Bad*ss, she’ll help writers diagnose their work to identify exactly what to address in revision, bringing your manuscript from Meh to Magnificent. Her class covers characterization, dialogue, protagonist’s wants and needs, character arc, genre expectations, setting/world building, emotional tone, theme, pacing, showing vs. telling, passive voice—as well as the 3Cs: conflict, choice, and consequence.

In the afternoon, learn how to Build your Platform & Earn a Paycheck: How to Write Personal Essays for Magazines & Newspapers from someone who has done it. Eugene writer Melissa Hart’s articles and essays have appeared in Smithsonian, CNN, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Real Simple, The Advocate, Orion, and many other publications. She’ll guide participants through published personal essays to learn what editors seek in submissions. With in-depth discussions and exercises, writers will learn how to mine their life and their book-length works for surprising ideas and themes, write scene-based personal essays, incorporate research, and approach magazine and newspaper editors with a polished draft.