Keynote: Friday Evening

Natalie Richards
Brick House Books
Let’s learn the steps of building a Brick House Book! One that starts with a bang, avoids the dreaded sagging middle and wraps up with a finale that will leave readers breathless. It will also help your book stand out in the submission slush pile. Dynamic characters and shocking plot twists are great, but story structure is the glue that holds a book together. Understanding the nuts and bolts of story structure is vital to professional writing and adds the polish for which editors and agents are looking. In this interactive session, we’ll talk about how to construct a solid foundation and frame to let the flashy bits of your story shine even brighter! Richards will provide an overview of the fundamentals of the Three Act Structure, Freytag’s Pyramid, and the Hero’s Journey. She’ll also help participants dive into techniques that can be used while planning and editing, so that Pantsters and Plotters alike can make the most of these renowned structure templates. Come prepared to apply these to a book idea of your own (or to a book or movie you’ve recently enjoyed).

Natalie Richards
The Idea Factory
BRIGHT IDEA: I’VE GOT THIS IDEA: If you ask most writers what question they’re asked most often, many will agree that "Where do you get your ideas?" lands at the top of the list. It isn’t a simple answer because great ideas aren’t just born—they’re created! Whether you have multiple book ideas in the shower or you barely cobble together one idea a year, you’ve got the ingredients for amazing books waiting to be written.
In this hands-on mini-workshop, you’ll learn the steps to develop the kernel of an idea into a future bestseller. Have a fascinating character? A historical event you adore? A plot twist you know they’ll never see coming? Or the rough outline of a three book saga? Bring your ideas—big and small—and put them through some tests. You'll learn to spot pitfalls, polish weak points, and refine a good idea into a book editors will want to publish. Bring your settings, characters, or plot ideas—no matter how rough—and be ready to turn them upside down as Richards leads the group through exercises to evaluate, sharpen, and flesh out the strongest idea possible!