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SUMMARY:WEBINAR | The Dreaded 'So What?’: How to Build Stakes That Make Readers Care
DESCRIPTION:When nothing feels at risk\, readers stop caring. Learn how to build compelling stakes that keep readers turning pages.\n\n\n\nfor Personal Essay and Memoir \n\n\n\nLow stakes are the #1 reason personal narratives get rejected. As writers\, we’re faced with a dreaded question: So what? How do we get a stranger to care about our lives—and why should they? How do we encourage readers with short attention spans to keep turning pages? \n\n\n\nLearn 5 key tools for building tension and emotional stakes in personal narratives. Using works by writers like Natasha Trethewey\, Kristen Iversen\, and Alex Marzano-Lesnevich\, we’ll crack the code on how nonfiction writers build high stakes and sustain them throughout their narratives. Then we’ll apply these techniques to your own manuscript through hands-on exercises: defining internal and external stakes\, creating obstacles that keep readers engaged\, using strategic time shifts to build suspense\, and more. \n\n\n\nYou’ll leave with a complete toolkit for building and sustaining stakes that keep readers engaged from start to finish. \n\n\n\nCan’t make it live? No worries—a replay will be available to all registrants. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn this webinar\, you will:\n\n\n\n\nLEARN 5 tools for ramping up the stakes in your memoir or personal essay\, making readers feel instantly invested \n\n\n\nEXPLORE how nonfiction writers use stakes & suspense to keep readers turning pages \n\n\n\nAPPLY new stakes-building techniques to your own narratives\n\n\n\nBUILD a toolkit of strategies for defining stakes\, seeding conflicts\, and building suspense\, to make your pages stand out to agents\, editors\, and readers\n\n\n\n\nThis webinar is ideal for writers at any level who:\n\n\n\n\nWant to ramp up the emotional stakes & tension in their story \n\n\n\nAre getting rejections and need tools for making their work more compelling and high-stakes\n\n\n\nAre struggling to identify the larger “so what?” of their personal story\n\n\n\n\nClosed captioning is available. ✔All registrants receive the recording. ✔ \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nABOUT YOUR PRESENTER\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nKATIE BANNON is a writer\, editor\, and educator whose work has appeared in The Washington Post\, The Rumpus\, ELLE Magazine\, Narratively\, and more. Her memoir manuscript\, which charts her journey as a compulsive hair puller\, was a finalist for the Permafrost Nonfiction Book Prize. A graduate of GrubStreet’s Memoir Incubator\, she holds an MFA in creative nonfiction from Emerson College. She loves helping memoirists and essayists tell their most vulnerable\, taboo stories. She lives in Central Massachusetts with her partner and two cats. \n\n\n\nQuestions? Please email Info@writingcraft.com \n\n\n\nFULL REFUNDS ARE AVAILABLE before the replay is sent out. For a refund\, EMAIL us at info@WritingCraft.com. Canceling your Zoom invite will not initiate this process. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRegistration Info\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEvent Organizer\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLocation
URL:https://writingcraft.com/event/the-dreaded-so-what/
LOCATION:Zoom
CATEGORIES:Webinars
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DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20250828T110000
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DTSTAMP:20260507T172612
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LAST-MODIFIED:20250819T232947Z
UID:10000049-1756378800-1758196800@writingcraft.com
SUMMARY:FREE WEBINAR | Weekly Meetup: Working Through The Artist's Way 
DESCRIPTION:Creativity calls for intention and connection. Let’s show up together.\n\n\n\nfor All Writers and Creative Types \n\n\n\nYou’ve probably heard of The Artist’s Way—maybe it’s on your shelf\, maybe you’ve cracked it open once or twice\, maybe you’ve promised yourself you’ll return to it “someday.” Well\, here’s your chance! We’re gathering for a chill\, no-cost\, weekly meetup to work through the first four chapters. That’s it. No grand declarations. Just four weeks of showing up for one hour on Zoom to be writers in community. \n\n\n\nWe’ll talk about morning pages (whether you’re doing them or just dodging them)\, artist dates (how to make them happen and where you might take yourself)\, and the strange\, wonderful ways creativity starts to wake up when we give it a little room. \n\n\n\nWe’ll ask questions. Share ideas. Probably write a little.  \n\n\n\nIt’s not a class\, not a critique group\, not therapy—just people committing (again or for the first time) to bringing writing and creativity back into their routine. You don’t even need to consider yourself “a writer.” If you’re drawn to the creative practice\, you’re welcome to join. \n\n\n\nWe recommend borrowing The Artist’s Way from your local library and reading the first chapter\, “Recovering a Sense of Safety\,” before our first meetup. If you’d prefer your own copy\, we suggest this edition: The Artist’s Way: 25th Anniversary Edition by Julia Cameron. There’s also a companion workbook—but it’s completely optional. One note: Julia Cameron talks a lot about spirituality and the idea of a creative force greater than ourselves. You don’t have to subscribe to that\, but if it’s a turnoff\, this might not be your jam. That said\, it’s free and friendly\, and you’re welcome to pop in and see how it feels. \n\n\n\nCan’t make every session? No worries—join us the following week. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nIn this webinar\, you will:\n\n\n\n\nEXPLORE the first four chapters of The Artist’s Way\n\n\n\nBUILD momentum with weekly creative check-ins\n\n\n\nFIND support and CONNECTION with other writers and creative types\n\n\n\nDISCOVER practical ideas for tackling resistance\n\n\n\nWRITE together in a low-stakes space\n\n\n\nREFLECT on the link between creativity and habit\n\n\n\nBE INSPIRED to keep going—even after the four weeks are up\n\n\n\n\nThis webinar is ideal for those who:\n\n\n\n\nAre feeling stuck\, stalled\, or disconnected from their work\n\n\n\nWant to rebuild (or build) a sustainable creative habit\n\n\n\nAre curious about the practices of The Artist’s Way\n\n\n\nNeed a gentle nudge to reengage with morning pages or artist dates\n\n\n\nCrave creative conversation\n\n\n\nAre seeking inspiration\, not necessarily instruction\n\n\n\nWant to explore their ideas without the pressure or need for perfection\n\n\n\n\nClosed captioning is available. ✔All registrants receive the recording. ✔ \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nABOUT YOUR PRESENTER\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nSHARLA YATES is the program director of CRAFT TALKS\, a webinar series for writers on writing\, and the former director of education at the Creative Nonfiction Foundation\, where she led a robust weekly webinar series and online writing program. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of Pittsburgh and is a multi-genre writer and experienced instructor. \n\n\n\nSharla is the author of the poetry chapbook What I Would Say if We Were to Drown Tonight (Stranded Oak Press\, 2017). Her nonfiction essay “Address” was a finalist for the 2015 Columbia Journal Writing Contest and the 2016 Penelope Niven Creative Nonfiction Award and was published by Short Reads. She also co-hosts The Writers Bridge\, a free monthly platform-building series for writers\, alongside Allison K Williams. \n\n\n\nQuestions? Please email Info@writingcraft.com \n\n\n\n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nRegistration Info\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nEvent Organizer\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\nLocation
URL:https://writingcraft.com/event/free-weekly-meetup/
LOCATION:Zoom
CATEGORIES:Webinars
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