Writing Workshops Worth Going to with Shannon Waite

I'm excited to share that in honor of Oakland University's 'Write More November,' I will be leading two workshops on campus (in Rochester, Michigan) this November! During these two workshops, participants will discuss examples of transgressive stories&characters and nontraditional forms, and then begin planning their own characters and forms. If this sounds interesting to you (and it should!), come join me (:

✨ Create Devastating Characters Fit for Transgressive Fiction - Monday, November 3rd, 4:00pm-6:00pm in the Oakland Center, Ambassador Room B

✨ Getting Creative with Form - Wednesday, November 19th, 4:00pm-6:00pm in the Oakland Center, Meeting Room 127

Create Devastating Characters Fit for Transgressive Fiction
Stripping the human experience is normal in literature - but how do you transform personal angst and surrounding social unrest into the characters and stories that do that? This session identifies authors who’ve historically used their writing to tear society open to expose its guts, and then guides you in creating your own complex characters who are ready to take on the unjust world. You will consider norms to challenge, secrets to expose, and details so personal that the characters you start planning will feel deeply real; characters who are hungry for an original story that lifts smothered voices and exposes the often-quiet truths of our world.

Getting Creative with Form
The act of storytelling is timeless, as is the way that most stories have been told. Prose with regular paragraphs and a linear plot that everyone expects is traditional and stands the test of time, but what if you could shake that up and create more impact? More engagement? More built-in guidance for your writing process? In this session, we'll look at examples of nontraditional forms and how they, instead, can also be used to tell well-developed, but unique, stories. After thinking about creative ways to present your characters and plots, you'll walk away with a plan for something new that you’ve made imaginatively your own.