Escape the Plot Forest -- The Plotting Summit

Thank you! I will be honest: my heart sinks when I see a contact form on a website. But I will attempt it :slight_smile:

Damon Suede is engaging and talks about characterization and plot. Also, you could ask him how his long awaited book “Characterization” is coming.

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Great pick — I just asked him! #waiting

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If you are looking for a speaker/presenter geared toward the romance genre, you might try Gwen Hayes. She wrote Romancing the Beat, which is a great overview of plotting and pacing romance novels. It’s one of my favorites. She fun and engaging.

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I understand that feeling completely.

This reminds me that I was going to propose Kris Kennedy at the Romance Writing Lab. I discovered her by being invited to her Romance Writing Summit last year.

Even as a non-romance writer, I learn so much from her newsletter articles. And I filled a good part of a notebook from her summit speakers. She participated as the presenter in several herself, not just as the interviewer. Having run a summit herself, she might also have some advice to help with the process and execution.

Here is the contact information I have from the newsletter:

Email: contact@romancewritinglab.com

Address:
Romance Writing Lab
2950 NW 29th Ave STE A622856, Portland
OR 97210 United States

And, of course, there is the form on her website contact page that I linked above. Sorry, Daniel. I know how much you love those. :white_heart:


She doesn’t send out her newsletter very often but each one is very meaty in content about a writing topic. My favorite among them so far is the one about Thankfulness and Character Arcs. Here is an excerpt:


Thankfulness & Character Arcs

People in the U.S. recently celebrated Thanksgiving. I hope yours was full of goodness with only minor &/or fun family drama.

I thought I’d share a short & sweet strategy (say that five times fast) on how you can use thankfulness to craft or clarify a character arc.

Simply ask this question at two different times in your story, and ensure the answers are different :

What is your protagonist thankful for on Page One?

What are they thankful for on Page ‘The End’?


She goes on to explain what asking this question might look like at those two points and two other points in the story. One of those is the Dark/All is Lost Moment where she suggests this is when the character is put in a position to realize what really matters and what they should really be thankful about.

Edit: Some formatting.

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Gwen Hayes would be great. So far – contact form on website – and it’s the ultimate form – it doesn’t actually accept messages!

But I’ve signed up to her newsletter and will try another way. Keep the recommendations coming!

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Mark Spencer has said yes! Hooray! Thank you for the recommendation! Keep them coming.

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Tim has said yes! Hooray!

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PS If you are curious what the summit will look like when it’s ready, take a look at the previous summit my wife and I hosted:

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Danielw her email address is listed on her Facebook “About” page as gwen@gwenhayes.com.

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Asked! The email is sent.

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James Scott Bell would be a great choice for the mystery/suspense/thriller genre. He is a prolific writer and an excellent speaker. He wrote a book on plotting, Write Your Novel From the Middle, which is eyeopening and enlightening. He has a YouTube channel, and there’s an interview on Writing Discipline and Mindset, and he blogs every Sunday on https://killzoneblog.com/author/jimbell. He can also be found on Twitter @jamesscottbell and his website is here.

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He’s invited! Waiting to hear back.

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I’ve taken a bunch of her courses on Udemy. Love her!

She says she’s taking a year off teaching. Next year, then!

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Are you still looking for more suggestions for summit presenters?

I am watching a Reedsy writing webinar featuring Michelle Schusterman. She is speaking about writing and publishing Middle Grade books. I am finding her to be an exceptional speaker and knowledgeable.

Her contact info:
Website: https://www.michelleschusterman.com/ (with contact form, sorry)

Email: schustermanworkshop@gmail.com

YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/c/MichelleSchustermanAuthor/featured

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/michelleschusterman/

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Keep them coming! Not everyone is saying yes, so more suggestions are appreciated.

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Just asked her! Fingers crossed — she looks great.

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James is, sadly, taking some time off from speaking. :frowning:

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