November Monthly Meeting
Saturday, Nov. 16, 1 p.m. PT on Zoom
The fact is that anybody who has survived his childhood has enough information about life to last him the rest of his days.
- Flannery O’Connor
Mysteries are built on the past traumas that shape our characters. But what are some ways we can use this information to prevent the dreaded backstory dump?
We’ll look at examples from fan favorites like Longmire by Craig Johnson, Mick Herron’s Slow Horses and Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad series for guidance.
Join us as we examine how scar and secret tropes are used to create multidimensional characters. We’ll also discuss how various subgenre expectations will shape your most page turning story.
At the end of this workshop, participants will be leave with tools to identify and employ fundamental mystery tropes such as forced proximity and ticking time bombs, in addition to scars and secrets.
Jennifer Hilt is a USA Today Bestselling author of The Trope Thesaurus: An Author Resource, a five book series. She has written twenty-four books across four pen names plus her urban fantasy trilogy: The Undead Detective. She works as a plotter and concept creator. As a frequent podcast guest, she has appeared on Joanna Penn's The Creative Penn, Bryan Cohen's Sell More Books, Matty Dalrymple's The Indy Author Podcast, and Kobo's Live Writing Life among many others. She teaches authors about story development in workshops and classes across the US.
With degrees in linguistics and literature, Jennifer loves collecting dictionaries in unfamiliar languages, binges scandi-noir series, and shouts out tropes from the comfort of her couch. Visit www.jenniferhilt.com for her events, classes and workshops information.
Click here to register
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