For the past few years I’ve been running the ArmadilloCon Writers’ Workshop, and in the years before I was teaching it, I was a student in it. The first chapters of The Thorn of Dentonhill, A Murder of Mages and The Holver Alley Crew all were workshopped there, and I believe it’s an incredibly valuable resource, especially for the cost. Plus, it’s a great SFF-Lit focused con, especially for prospective writers wanting to turn professional. This year Rebecca Schwarz is taking the reins of the workshop, and she’s going to do a fantastic job. Check it out.
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The ArmadilloCon Writers’ Workshop has become a major event for aspiring SF/F writers. It meets on Friday morning before the convention opens, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The curriculum is designed for beginning and intermediate students. Workshop participants will have their work critiqued by instructors who are professional editors and writers working in the field today.
The morning panel sessions will cover a wide range of topics from managing craft elements such as style, plot, theme, and characterization to the dos and don’ts of preparing your work for professional markets and different approaches to publication (e.g. traditional vs. independent). During the afternoon breakout sessions, participants work together in small groups along with two instructors to exchange critiques in the Milford style. Each participant will receive a personal, in-depth critique of their work from both the instructors and their peers. Learning to receive – and to give – a meaningful critique of a work in progress is an invaluable skill for writers who would like to better assess and improve their own writing.
The ArmadilloCon Writers Workshop is committed to diversity
Diversity is vital to speculative fiction. A genre centered on exploration and encountering the Other must include voices and visions from writers, readers and thinkers of all kinds. For this reason, the ArmadilloCon Writers’ Workshop actively seeks to include students, faculty, visiting scholars, and volunteers from a variety of backgrounds including, but not limited to: race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, economic status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, and ability.
This year we are pleased to offer a limited number of sponsored seats to writers of color. If you would like to be considered for a sponsored seat please complete and submit this form. If you have any questions contact the workshop coordinator at armadilloconwritersworkshop@gmail.com.
How to Enroll
Pay the workshop fee, $90.00, which includes the full ArmadilloCon convention membership.
Submit your original, unpublished work of science fiction, fantasy, or horror fiction. Maximum length 5,000 words.
Manuscript Deadline: Sunday June 11, 11:59:59 p.m.
Instructors
Nisi Shawl
Trevor Quachri
Don Webb
Martha Wells
Nicky Drayden
D. L. Young
Christopher Brown
E. J. Fischer
Jessica Reisman
Marshall Ryan Maresca
Stina Leicht
Rebecca Schwarz (Workshop Leader)