WriteAngles Conference

Agents in Conversation – Moderator: Jacqueline Sheehan, Agents: Lauren Scovel and Jeff Herman

This is not a formal panel, but rather, a quasi-workshop in which people could come with their questions and engage in informal conversation.

This generative workshop invites writers to explore the art of ekphrasis—writing that responds to or transforms a visual artwork. Participants will learn to use images as catalysts for fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. Using the Amherst Writers & Artists approach to writing, participants will have the opportunity to share their work with the group and receive feedback.

Elizabeth Levine, M.A., M.P.H., M.F.A., Straw Dog Writer’s Guild Member

Have you been writing your book for a long time, but still suspect there is a vital story buried underneath, one that you can't quite grasp? Using metaphor as a compass, generative revision as excavation, and form as possibility, we'll uncover the hidden architecture of your material - the deeper story that's been trying to emerge all along. 

Even in speculative fiction, some things are best left to the imagination. One of the easiest ways to kill a reader’s enjoyment of the plot is by excessively telling the reader what will happen next. This session will focus on how to avoid infodumping in fantasy, sci-fi, and horror, how to integrate worldbuilding and important details with the plot, and how to identify when and where to give your readers more/less information.

Ghosts and hauntings are the most common tropes in the horror genre. From Casper the Friendly Ghost to The Bent Kneck Lady from the Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House, inspired by Shirley Jackson’s novel of the same title, ghosts help us imagine and understand Life after Death. Ghosts are metaphors for grief, loss, guilt, and the past as well. In Toni Morrison’s 1987 novel, Beloved, the ghost named Beloved represents the psychological aftermath of slavery. Sethe is haunted by the trauma of her past and the murder of her daughter; her grief, loss, and guilt materializes into Beloved. Ghosts aren’t only visual apparitions they can also manifest as memories and scars. As for hauntings, they’re a bit different. A haunting is when a ghost or spirit attaches itself to a physical object or place for example it could be a mansion like in Haunted Mansion (2003), a hotel like in The Shining (1980), or a doll like Annabell. Metaphorically, hauntings refers to something that lingers emotionally and psychologically. In this generative and interactive workshop we’ll read and briefly discuss excerpts from popular ghost stories and hauntings, then write in response to prompts designed to explore grief, guilt, and other things that linger at the back of our minds.

This practical, myth-busting workshop shows writers how to get their books out of their laptops and into the hands of the readers who are waiting for them. We’ll cut through publishing confusion, compare real-world options, and map the next smart steps toward publication.