Unlocking the Novelist Within: From Journals to Stories

Sundays 4/27, 5/4, 5/11, 5/18 - 6-730pm

Age Group: 18+

Level: All

This engaging two-hour session builds on your journaling practice. It introduces you to the process of transforming personal reflections and ideas from your journal into the foundation of a novel. You'll take the first step toward crafting your unique story through creative exercises, group discussions, and hands-on activities.

The purpose of this workshop is to guide participants in translating their journaling practice into a creative writing process. By the end of the session, you'll have a clearer understanding of how to use your journal as a springboard for your creative writing, and you'll have started crafting the framework of your unique story.

To make the most of this workshop, participants must bring a written journal entry that explores a theme, idea, or experience they are passionate about. This entry, regardless of its length, will serve as a solid foundation for transforming one's thoughts into the framework of a story. This ensures that participants are prepared to engage in creative activities and begin crafting their novel ideas during this workshop.

We will cover:

How to identify themes, characters, or story ideas from journaling entries.
Basic storytelling elements: character, plot, conflict, and setting.
Techniques to outline and expand a story idea.

By the end of this workshop, participants will have developed a story concept inspired by their journaling, have a simple outline or roadmap for their novel, and the confidence to begin writing their first draft.

Materials to Bring:

Journal or notebook with past entries.
Writing tools (pen/pencil or laptop).
Optional: Sticky notes for brainstorming and storyboarding.

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Note: All workshop participants will have the opportunity to publish at least one work with Write Pittsburgh during the year in which the workshop was taken. Workshop participants will also be invited to share their work publicly either in-person or online at Write Pittsburgh events hosted throughout the year.