writers workshop in ohio

The 2024 Ohio Writing Workshop

Get Your Writing Published: May 10-11, 2024

Schedule: 2024 Workshop

ONLINE : Writing Day Workshops plans both in-person and virtual/online conferences. The 2024 OWW is an Online Conference , on May 10-11. Online events are easy and awesome, and the virtual events we’ve done thus far have received wonderful feedback . You do not have to be tech-savvy to do this, and understand we are keeping all aspects of a traditional in-person event, including one-on-one agent & editor pitching, which will now be done by Zoom or phone. Learn all details about what it means to have a writers conference online .)

The schedule below is on Eastern time.

THIS YEAR’S SESSIONS & WORKSHOPS (MAY 10-11, 2024):

Friday, may 10, 2024.

9:30 – 10:30: Building a Rejection-Proof Mindset while Querying , taught by Swati Hegde . This class will reveal 4-5 psychologically proven tips to build a rejection-proof mindset, so querying authors can learn how to persevere, take rejection in their stride, and keep going. This session’s instructor was in the query trenches for 5 years pitching six 6 different books before she signed with her agent and got a multi-book deal with Penguin Random House, so she knows a thing or two about keeping your head up through rejection.

10:45 – 11:45: Revision Workshop: How to Tighten your Manuscript and Drop Words Without Cutting Large Passages , taught by Cathie Hedrick-Armstrong . You’ve finally finished what you hoped would be the last edits to your manuscript, only to discover you’re 10K-20K words over the optimal number for your genre. You’ve eliminated everything you can think of without cutting full chapters or large passages. What do you do? Join this workshop to learn how to tighten that manuscript and reduce word count while still maintaining all the important elements you’d hoped to convey and that make your story uniquely yours.

11:45 – 1:15: Break

1:15 – 2:30: What Agents are Looking for in a Query Letter , taught by Haley Casey . Putting the querying process in perspective as an agent, and sharing some general rules, structure, and recommendations for which parts of the submission need more time and focus than others.

2:45 – 3:45: The Heart of Your Story: How to Align Character Arcs with Story Structure , taught by Sabine Berlin . Just like your heart pumps life-giving blood throughout your body, your story’s heart pumps purpose through your entire narrative, bringing it to life and keeping it healthy. So what is this magical element that’s central to any great story? Character transformation. This course will help you find the heart of your story and understand how to weave in a healthy heartbeat from chapter one to the end.

4:00 – 5:00: Networking for Writers , taught by Sarah Fisk . Networking is a great way to learn about the industry, stay motivated, and form connections that will enrich your career. The word may strike fear into writers’ hearts, but networking should also be fun and natural. Sarah will provide tips on effective networking, both online and in-person, to help you take your writing career to the next level.

Saturday, May 11, 2024

9:30 – 10:30: The Top 5 Mistakes Writers Make in Early Drafts , taught by Joel Brigham . Aspiring and seasoned writers alike will benefit from a deep dive into the common pitfalls that often plague early drafts. This session will guide you through practical strategies to identify and avoid these mistakes, helping you elevate your writing and ensure readers and agents connect with your manuscript immediately. You only get one chance at a first impression, and this session will ensure that your first impression is a good one!

10:45 – 11:45: Start Strong: How to Get an Agent’s Attention with the First 50 Pages of your Novel , taught by Andrea Hurst.  To compete in today’s publishing marketplace, your manuscript must catch an agent’s interest almost from the very first page. In this session we will explore strategies to establish strong firsts – first line, first page, and first 50 pages through creating engaging characters, voice and tone, and building tension to keep the reader turning the pages. Whether you’re a seasoned writer seeking to refine your opening or a newcomer on your literary journey, this class will offer tools to craft a compelling beginning to catch and keep an agent’s attention.

1:15 – 2:30: “Writers Got Talent”—a Page 1 Critique Fest , with participating literary agents and editors. In the vein of “American Idol” or “America’s Got Talent,” this is a chance to get your first page read (anonymously — no bylines given) with attending agents commenting on what was liked or not liked about the submission. Get expert feedback on your incredibly important first page, and know if your writing has what it needs to keep readers’ attention. (All attendees are welcome to bring pages to the event for this session, and we will choose pages at random for the workshop for as long as time lasts. All submissions should be novels or memoir—no prescriptive nonfiction or picture books, please. Do not send your pages in advance. You will bring printed copies with you, and instructions will be sent out approximately one week before the event.)

2:45 – 3:45: Open Agent Q&A Panel. Several attending literary agents will open themselves up to open Q&A from OWW attendees. Bring your questions and get them answered in this popular session.

4:00 – 5:00: Publishing Contracts 101, taught by Rebecca Matte . Before becoming a literary agent, instructor/agent Rebecca Matte worked as an attorney in several prominent NYC law firms in both intellectual property and commercial litigation. This seminar goes over common contract structure, provisions, and pitfalls, as well as demystifying some of the more legalistic language that seriously implicates authors. Finally, the class will review several simple ways to turn contract language in an author’s favor should they not otherwise have representation.

* * * * * * * * *

BONUS CLASSES:

Classes are recorded (and this is amazing news)! With an in-person conference, attendees would miss snippets of classes because they leave the classroom to pitch, or make a phone call, or anything else. But the 10 classes happening May 10-11, 2024 are all recorded , which means we will send the days’ recording following the event. You can watch classes as many times as you want during the next six months. This is an exciting new element that we couldn’t include before. Also, we will be sending out all handouts for all classes to attendees in advance.

Lastly, having this new technology allows us WDW faculty members to pre-record sessions, too—meaning we will actually send attendees many extra FREE classes as part of their attendance. In addition to getting the weekend’s 10 classes sent to you to watch over and over again, we will also send you at least 10 more FREE classes on the side, for attending in 2024:

• “Legal Issues Writers Should Consider,” taught at our Chesapeake Writing Workshop
• “Writing and Selling Fiction vs. Nonfiction,” taught at our Boston Writing Workshop
• “How to Think Like a Developmental Editor,” taught at our Kansas City Writing Workshop
• “Standing Out in a Twitter/Online Pitch Event,” taught at our Florida Writing Workshop
• “Visual Thinking for Picture Book Writers,” taught at our Tennessee Writing Workshop
• “Your Novel Could Be a Movie: Adapting a Book to Film,” taught at our Writing Workshop of San Francisco
• “How to Sell Nonfiction: Demystifying the Nonfiction Book Proposal,” taugh at our Carolina Writing Workshop
• “ Creating Strong Compelling Female Characters,” taugh at our Atlanta Writing Workshop
• “Writers Got Talent—a Page 1 Critique Fest,” an agent panel from our Florida Writing Workshop
• “Ask an Agent Anything: Open Agent Q&A Panel,” an agent panel from our Writing Workshop of San Francisco

Saturday, May 4, 2024, 9am-4pm

Fawcett Center at The Ohio State University.

Register Today

See the complete list of sessions here . 

Meet our Keynote. 

Danika Bloom is a USA Today bestselling romance author who spent over twenty years as a technical ghost-writer before Indie-publishing her first novel in 2016. She credits her success—and happiness!—on the friendships she's made in the author community. Danika splits her days between writing happily ever afters and supporting new authors to reach their writing and publishing goals.

Includes keynote, panel on AI, breakout sessions  , continental breakfast and lunch. Discounts are available for members, so be sure if you're a member to be logged in before registering. 

Offering special discount to OWA Members!

Patron Members - 40% off  - 96$

Writer Members- 25% off - $120

Supporting Members - 7% off - $148.80

Learn more about Membership here . 

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