Spring Workshop: How to Write Great Dialogue

May 16, 2018 | 15:45 p.m. – 6:45 p.m.
Pitkin County Library in Aspen

Learn the essentials of crafting compelling dialogue in a one-hour workshop presented by award-winning novelist Tiffany Quay Tyson, who will join us via Skype from Denver, where she teaches at Lighthouse Writers Workshop. The session will include lots of practical advice as well as hands-on exercises.

Free

Agent/Editor Consultations at Summer Words

June 19-21, 2018 | Individual afternoon appointments
The Gant in Aspen

Featuring representatives from the top publishing houses and literary agencies. Each spring, AWN members receive information on how to sign up for a private consultation and how to submit their work.

Free

Publishing Talk with Novelist Amy Meyerson

July 19, 2018 | 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.
Bookbinders in Basalt

Novelist Amy Meyerson will discuss everything you need to know about what happens after you finish writing your book–but before it’s published. She’ll talk about what’s it like to work with an agent + editor and how to market a book as a first-time author, among other topics.

Fiction Writing Workshop with Daryl Gregory

October 13, 2018 | 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Pitkin County Library in Aspen

Award-winning author Daryl Gregory’s college acting teacher once told him that you can’t play running from a bear—you can only run to what’s going to save you: the tree, the shotgun or that spot just past your slower brother Louie. In this workshop you’ll learn how to create compelling stories by focusing on the essence of drama: characters who want something specific and fail to get it–or realize it’s not what they needed after all. Through exercises and discussion you’ll learn practical techniques for creating dynamic plots, believable characters and scenes that matter.

Free

How to Promote Your Writing

February 28, 2019 | 5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m
Basalt Region Library

Elizabeth Anderson, senior marketing manager at publisher Houghton Mifflin, will discuss, via Skype, what authors need to know to effectively promote their work and get their writing noticed. Also, social media pro, Melissa Wisenbaker of PROMO Communications will share tips for navigating the world of Twitter and Instagram and launching a successful social media campaign.

Practice Your Pitch

May 21, 2019 | 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Aspen Institute Campus

This session is for anyone who’s interested in the art of talking about and selling a book, whether you’re just beginning to think about the publishing industry or want to meet with an agent at Summer Words this June. Members discuss tips for crafting and delivering the right message, while also taking the opportunity to practice their own pitches with Aspen Words Executive Director Adrienne Brodeurand local author Scott Laser.

Free

Agent/Editor Consultations at Summer Words

June 18-20, 2019 | Individual afternoon appointments
The Gant in Aspen

Featuring representatives from the top publishing houses and literary agencies. Each spring, AWN members receive information on how to sign up for a private consultation and how to submit their work.

Free

How to Write a Page-Turner: A Workshop for Fiction, Memoir + Narrative Nonfiction Writers

October 19, 2019 | 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Red Brick Center for the Arts

High tension is probably the No. 1 reason readers keep reading. Whether you’re writing fiction, memoir or narrative nonfiction, if you can keep your reader on the edge of his or her seat by creating and maintaining tension throughout scene after scene, that reader will stay up way too late reading your book and tell all his friends to go out and buy it. In this workshop, we’ll delve into the interplay of all the elements that raise tension and create conflict and explore how to craft your story to capitalize on each within scenes as well as across your entire plotline. The workshop will include short readings, craft discussion and lots of writing prompts.

Special price for Aspen Writers’ Network members: $40. Non-members: $95.

Registration is closed and the workshop is at capacity. Please email Ellie Scott to be added to the waitlist.

Free

Writing is Rewriting (Virtual Workshop)

May 11, 2020 | 6-8:30 p.m. MT
Zoom

Are you lost in the hazy fog of revision? Not sure what to do next? Have you been cutting and pasting, rewriting and moving things around and moving them back? It’s easy to get caught in addressing surface problems rather than evaluating the backbone of the story from a crafting standpoint. The most difficult part of writing is often revisions. In this spring workshop, Rachel Weaver (“Point of Direction”) will discuss concrete stages of revision, help you figure out where you are and what’s next, and discuss solid techniques to make your revisions as efficient and effective as possible. You will leave class with a long checklist of things you’ve done, and things you’ve got left to do.

Free

The Life of a Book (Virtual Panel)

Tuesday, June 9 | 5:30-6:30 p.m. MT

It takes a village to publish a book. This presentation will offer a behind-the-scenes look at everything that goes into turning a manuscript into a book — from the acquisition process to selecting a cover, distribution channels and the thousand other decisions that are essential to publishing a book. Presenters: Becky Saikia-Wilson, SVP, trade associate publisher at Houghton Mifflin Harcourt  + Lauren Wein, editorial director at Avid Reader Press.

Free

Personal Essay Workshop (Virtual Workshop)

Tuesdays, September 22 & September 29
both days 6-7:30 p.m. MT

Led by award-winning author Marcelo Hernandez Castillo, this generative workshop explored the powerful possibilities of memory, experience and reflection inherent in the personal essay. Through a close study of traditional and more experimental expressions of narrative, participants worked towards creating and workshopping original work that was nuanced, complex and effectively written. The group looked at work from writers like Maggie Nelson, Rebecca Solnit, Gloria Anzaldúa and others for inspiration. Participants were asked to look closely at their own lives to find the tremendous potential hidden in their stories.

Free