Writing Seminar Program for Michael A. Stackpole and Aaron Allston (Featuring Timothy Zahn and Alison Richards)
15 Total seminars, each an hour in duration.

To sign up please visit the Dragon*Con Store or contact the Dragon*Con Office @ (404) 669-0773.

Friday (Beginning at 10 AM)

10:00am Seminar 1: Writing a Knock-out Novel (In Ten Rounds or Less).
New York Times bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole looks at the most common problems and missed opportunities that plague beginning writers and their novels projects. With quick, clear and concise examples, he helps you locate potential problems and work around them, so your novel won't sputter and grind to a halt, but will be vibrant and exciting—just the sort of things readers salivate about.

11:30am Seminar 2: Writing Careers in the Post-Paper Era.
New York Times Bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole—the first author to offer fiction on the iPhone/iPod Touch through Apple's Appstore—gives you an up to date look at the digital revolution and explains how you can profit and develop your career. Mike's watched his Internet income from writing steadily increase as readers become more comfortable with reading on a device. If you intend to have a career in writing, this scouting report and practical action plan for the future is a must.

1:00pm Seminar 3: Social Media 101 for Creative People.
You've heard of Facebook and Twitter, but did you know beyond checking on the lives of your friends and stalking celebrities, you can use these, and many other social websites, to help support your career? Social media expert Alison Richards will take you through the tangled jungle of dot.com networking. Learn all about the basics on how to set up professional accounts on these sites, as well as at least another dozen to showcase your work, interact with followers, and create a loyal fan base eager to know all about your next project!

2:30pm Seminar 4: The Art of the Paragraph
New York Times bestselling author Aaron Allston discusses the humble paragraph -- the building block of fiction. Knowing what a paragraph is supposed to accomplish, how long it should be, and the best order in which to present its information would seem to be simple, something writers would understand intuitively. But it's actually not -- it can be devilishly trickly to get right, amazingly simple to get wrong. And creating a series of properly-constructed paragraphs can convince an editor that you're a craftsman worth watching and can convince readers, without them even being aware of it, that you should be all over their wish lists. Allston discusses narrative rhythm, reader comprehension, story energy, and focus on detail, all within the context of our friend, the paragraph.

4:00pm Seminar 5: Description:
Have your descriptive passages become blocks of text that stop your story cold? New York Times bestselling author Aaron Allston discusses techniques to transform those passages into memorable experience that propel your story to its conclusion.

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Saturday (beginning at 10 AM)

10:00am Seminar 6: Finding the story.
New York Times Bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole takes you through a series of exercises that will let you build a story from the barest spark through twists and turns. He'll give you several story recipes and show you how you can work from them to create delightfully complex and engrossing stories.

11:30am Seminar 7: 101 Ideas in an Hour:
Ever wonder where writers get their ideas? Join New York Times bestselling author Timothy Zahn as he guides you and your fellow workshop attendees on the path to creating characters, aliens, magic systems, and societies that you can use as jump-off points for literally hundreds of stories, novels, and even multi-book sagas.

1:00pm Seminar 8: Laying Down Tracks: A Different Way to Write Your Novel
Most people writing their first few novels start with an outline, or just a sense of how the early chapters should progress, and then write straight through to the end. But that's not necessarily the best method for all novelists. In this seminar, New York Times bestselling author Aaron Allston discusses an alternate method of novel writing intended to capitalize on each writer's individual strengths and passions. This method helps bypass some causes of writer's block, invokes 'flow state' writing, and prevents the sort of discouragement that can keep you from finishing your story. If you've ever wondered whether the traditional novel-writing methods are holding you back, come see 'Laying Down Tracks.'

2:30pm Seminar 9: Showing Off Your Manuscript:
New York Times bestselling author Aaron Allston discusses ways to put your fiction before the eyes of others, including advance readers, workshoppers, editors, and agents. We'll also talk about the hazards of showing off your manuscript, including submission mistakes, hurtful reviews, and loss of creative energy.

4:00pm Seminar 10: 21 Days to a Novel. 
New York Times Bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole presents his three week program for preparing yourself to write a novel. This set of 21 exercises is broken down to give you everything from character creation to world building, practical plotting devices, dialogue development and character voice creation tools. This program is a practical, kick-in-the-pants place to start your career.

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Sunday (Beginning at 10 am)

10:00am Seminar 11: Writing a Successful Series.
Series and serial presentations have, since the dawn of storytelling, dominated entertainment.  New York Times Bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole guides you through the intricacies of designing a series from the ground up, with special emphasis on techniques designed to maximize impact in the new era betokened by digital publishing. He also discuss ways to build mysteries and suspense into your work, to keep readers coming back again and again.

11:30am Seminar 12: Plotting.
New York Times Bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole unravels the mysteries of creating compelling plots. A novel is a huge undertaking, written over weeks or months, and the plot has to hold it all together. From creating an outline to maintaining flexibility, this seminar gives you the insider knowledge that will separate you from all of your peers.

1:00pm Seminar 13: Tools for the Editor in us all.
New York Times bestselling author Michael A. Stackpole presents a legion of diagnostic tools that will enable your inner editor to spot the problem areas with your writing; then shows you how to fix them. If you've ever had that nagging sense that something you've written just isn't right, but you can't figure out what, this seminar will set you straight. He'll also point out the times when your editor should and should not be involved in the writing process, just to let everyone who sweats each jot and tittle to cruise on through to the end of their projects.

2:30pm Seminar 14  Talk to Me: Dialogue:
New York Times bestselling author Aaron Allston discusses the art of writing dialogue — to improve characterization, to influence the reader's responses, and to deliver the emotional wallop your story needs.

4:00pm Seminar 15 Unclogging Your Plot:
New York Times bestselling author Aaron Allston describes the Thirteen Deadly Sins that can grind your novel's plot to a halt — how to detect them, understand them, and bulldoze them out of your way.

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