Write On! Workshop

Stephens College, Helis Communication Center
1405 E. Broadway, Columbia, MO

SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2024

OPENING PRESENTATION, 10-11 am

The First Page Rodeo [CLOSED FOR SUBMISSIONS]

Winning Entries

• Signe Cohen

• Stefanie Epier

• Laura Herbst

• Joe Marshall

• Deni Cary Phillips

Unbound Book Festival’s Write On invites YOU to submit the first page of an unpublished novel for review/critique by a panel of experts. The first page of any novel must do so many things – it should establish voice, it should create tension and excitement, and most of all, it should make the reader want to keep reading. So… if you have an unpublished novel lying around in a drawer somewhere, or if you’ve always dreamed of putting pen to paper, or you’ve wondered what a publishing professional would make of your work – well, now’s your chance to find out.

All writers are invited to submit the first page (only the first page) of their unpublished novel for consideration. A panel of judges will choose five winning entries. These will be posted to the festival website ahead of the event, and then will be discussed and evaluated in public by a panel of industry experts during Write On’s opening presentation.

BLOCK ONE WORKSHOPS, 11:15 a.m. -12:45 p.m.

Truth-Telling Through Poetry

This workshop will help you to take an important pause out of your life to put pen to paper and write the poem that’s living inside you. We’ll do that by reading contemporary poets, journaling about our own personal vision, discussing tools needed to create imagery, form, and rhythm, and guided writing exercises. Through this process, you will create your own poem that is reflective of your own sense of truth about the world and your own unique poet’s voice. Led by Nancy White 

How To Structure A Novel Before You Even Start Writing It 

 Structure is to a novel like a skeleton is to a human. It supports whatever story you want to tell and keeps readers invested in the outcome. This workshop will delve into how to build that skeleton, considering the following topics: * Not writing to the market, but writing to the things that haunt or obsess you; * Figuring out the question the novel is asking—and answering; * Figuring out the premise or elevator pitch; * the Wants and needs Bible for a deeper story; *Character arcs, moral choices and reversals. Led by Caroline Leavitt. 

BLOCK TWO WORKSHOPS, 1:15 - 2:45 p.m.

On Endings: How To Make Sure Your Story Leaves Them Both Satisfied And Wanting More  

So often we get to an end of a film or a book and we think....so what? How can you avoid this? How can you make sure audiences come away from your project feeling that the story had meaning, that it had perspective, that it had something to say? This craft talk will explore a number of techniques to make sure your work lands: Creating high stakes; identifying the opposing philosophies of your protagonist and your antagonist; and nailing the ending, so the book hits your inner and outer arcs, and your audience is left with a feeling they can neither describe nor forget. Led by Mark Cecil. 

Play On: Introduction to 10-Minute Playwriting 

This workshop will guide you through the process of creating the structure of your own play--including selecting a theme, drawing up character ideas, and designing a basic storyline. This workshop will allow you, through guided writing exercises, to see into the past and present of a main character. You will create a monologue from that character’s voice; you will envision the place and time where this character is; and you will discover the basic framework of your 10-minute storyline. Led by Nancy White 

CONCLUSION, 3 - 4 p.m.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Publishing (Or Writing) But Were Afraid to Ask

Moderated by author and festival director Alex George, this panel of experts will convene for a free-form general Q & A session to answer your questions on both the craft and the business of writing. Come with your questions! This event is free and open to the public and does not require pre-registration.

Full Schedule

9:15-9:50 a.m. — Check-in begins at Stephens College Helis Communication Center  

10:00-11:00 a.m. — First Page Rodeo  

11:15 a.m.-12:45 p.m. — Block One Workshops.  

12:45-1:15 p.m. — The group will break for lunch, and you are free to bring your own. Stars Cafe will be open with a limited drink and snack menu.  

1:15-2:45 p.m. — Block Two Workshops.  

3:00-4:00 p.m. — The day will conclude with the panel discussion. This session is free and open to the public. 

The Workshop Leaders

Mark Cecil is an author, journalist and host of The Thoughtful Bro show, for which he conducts author interviews with an eclectic roster of award winning and bestselling writers. He has written for The Millions, Reuters and Embark Literary Journal, among other publications. He is Head of Strategy for A Mighty Blaze and he has taught writing at Grub Street and The Writers Loft. His newly published debut novel, Bunyan and Henry, Or, The Beautiful Destiny is out now from Pantheon Books. 

Caroline Leavitt is the New York Times Bestselling author of Pictures of You, Cruel Beautiful World, Is This Tomorrow and nine other novels, many of which were Indie Next Picks, on Best of the Year Lists, optioned for film and translated into dozens of languages. Her new novel, Days of Wonder, was a pre-order bestseller, and on Most Anticipated Lists from Zibby Media, Read with Jenna, Thoughts From a Podcast, and She Reads. A New York Foundation of the Arts Fellow, she was also longlisted for the Maine Readers Prize, the winner of a Goldenberg Fiction Prize, and a finalist in the Sundance Screenwriters Lab for both pilot and feature films. She currently has a film shopping agreement from Rohmn/Feifer Entertainment for Days of Wonder, and her previous novel Cruel Beautiful World by another production company. A blog/columnist for Psychology Today, she is also a book critic for People and AARP's The Ethel Magazine. and her writing has appeared in the New York Times "Modern Love," New York Magazine, Salon, The Daily Beast, The Millions, the Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and more. She is the proud co-founder of A Mighty Blaze. 

Nancy Bailey White, from Columbia, Missouri, taught Creative Writing at Hickman High School (2006-2023). Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, where she was the Chairperson of the Creative Writing Department at the School for the Creative and Performing Arts (1986-2005).  Her plays Still As Rain, Birds of a Feather, Severed Strings, and a musical The Book of Five Rings have been produced in university and professional theater settings across the country.  An excerpt from Still As Rain was used in Laura Seftel’s book Grief Unseen: Healing Loss through the Arts. Her musical, The Book of Five Rings, toured Japan as a part of the City of Cincinnati’s Sister City arts exchange program.  Nancy was faculty advisor for eight years to the nationally awarded literary arts magazine Hickman Review.  In 2010, Nancy began Hickman High School’s monthly Kewpie Poetry Slam.  Born from these events, a poetry team was established which competed in the Chicago-based Louder Than a Bomb Missouri poetry contest.  In 2019, Hickman’s  Louder Than a Bomb team was selected to perform at the National Brave New Voices in Las Vegas, NV. Along with her creative writing teaching, her newest project, COMO Young Writers, debuted during the 2022 Unbound Book Festival.   Nancy is happily married and the proud parent of 26-year-old Jazz.