Are you partway through your manuscript and feeling a little lost? Have you completed a first draft and are stuck in revisions, still unsure what your protagonist needs or wants?

Wherever you are in your work in progress, this workshop will help you examine the purpose and role of your beginning, middle and end. Master instructor and award-winning author Leah Henderson will use prompts, questions, texts and exercises to help you develop, reflect upon, and enhance your current project.

Each of our four sessions will focus on four different story elements: the before-the-beginning, the beginning, the middle, and the end. We’ll study what goes into strong opening lines, paragraphs, and scenes as well as what holds a reader’s attention through often murky middles. We’ll examine how to create intentional and memorable endings. We’ll delve into character, setting, pacing, plot, emotion and other key elements that come together at each stage of the writing process to help you create engaging stories.

This workshop is designed to help you understand your story and your characters better in order to help you convey the essence of what it is your story is trying to say. Understanding your story helps you fulfill promises and endear readers from the beginning to the end of your work. Get the clarity and focus you need to help you move your story forward.

You will complete the workshop with:

Knowing what's at the heart of your story
A deeper understanding of your plot, characters, and story
New tips and techniques to enhance your works in progress
A better grasp of what holds a reader's attention
Richer scenes and passages in your work in progress

This workshop is for you if:

You're struggling to get to the heart of your story; you know something is just missing
You’re feeling a little lost with your manuscript
You’re an author in any stage looking to improve your craft
You’re an author looking to hone your skills

Classes will run approximately 90 minutes, and workshop sessions will be recorded if you are unable to attend a session.

Get to the Heart of Your Story