|  Course and Instructor Information This year's West Texas Writers' Academy boasts a wide range of subjects from renowned instructors. Participants will enjoy a casual breakfast seminar with Tim Lewis every morning then break out into their specific subject area for in-depth instruction all week. In the afternoon, writers can expect fun seminars from accomplished authors and an editor. Morning Seminar
Rise Out of the Slush Pile and Shine
Tim Lewis, co-director of WTWA and Random House Publishing's upcoming star. Designed from personal experience, this eye-opening workshop will cover the tools and techniques needed to land your manuscript on an agent’s or editor’s desk. Topics may include: critique, hook/high concept, logline, first line, plot/synopsis, query, conference strategy, faculty panel Q & A.
Week-long courses
Screenwriting Structure for Novelists
Alexandra Sokoloff, bestselling suspense author/screenwriter, Thriller Award winner and Anthony Award and Bram Stoker Award nominee. Screenwriting is a specialized storytelling form that provides easily adaptable techniques for strong novels. Writers will work through their own stories using the Three-Act, Eight Sequence structure, with special attention to pacing/suspense, character arc/drive, visual storytelling, and maximum emotional impact, no matter what the genre. Advanced Novel Writing
Margie Lawson, Writing Coach for over 20 Published Authors YA and Beyond: Intermediate Writing for Young Adult & Adult Fiction
Jennifer Archer, Multi-published author, Romance Writers of America's Rita award nominee, and selected by the Texas Library Association for their Taysha High School reading list and the Spirit of Texas Reading Program for middle schools. This course is designed for students wishing to build on their basic understanding of writing fundamentals and take the next step in developing a story idea. Attention will be given to the differences between writing for the adult and young adult markets. Writing Your Life Story
Dr. Mike Bellah, is a newspaper columnist, author and professor of English at Amarillo College. He has written three works of nonfiction, including the 2011 memoir, bicycling through the Midlife Crisis.
Mike's class will look at writing and selling what Lee Gutkind calls the “Literature of Reality.” The session will include both theory and hands-on practice in everything from blogs and journals to full-length memoirs.
Afternoon Seminars
A Writer's Life
Jodi Thomas, founder and co-director of WTWA and New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Mining the Mind of an Editor
Hilary Sares, Editor The Art and Option of Self Publishing
Alexandra Sokoloff, published author and screen writer, and nominee for both a Bram Stoker Award (horror) and an Anthony Award (mystery). Writers' Roundup Keynote Speaker
Linda Castillo, New York Times Best Selling Author
Professional Critiques
DeWanna Pace, multi-published, award winning author/editor, will provide an in-depth personal critique to interested students. For an additional fee of $35.00, a written evaluation of a partial manuscript will be provided during the academy week. Students may submit the first 35 double-spaced pages (hardcopy only) to the Office of Continuing Education, postmarked by May 11. A synopsis and prologue may also be included, but the total number of pages to be critiqued should not exceed 35. Please follow the manuscript guidelines. There is a limit of 30 submissions, with each student limited to one partial manuscript. Separate payment for this service is to be made at the time pages are submitted.
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