2021 Fantasy Writer's Week - February 22 through 26

Are you a writer of fantasy fiction, or would you like to be? ProWritingAid’s first ever Fantasy Writer's Week will be jam-packed with free events for fantasy authors. I've already registered.

Full transparency; my blog is a ProWritingAid affiliate (i.e., I receive a commission on purchases via this site). I've used ProWritingAid for years, and endorse it, but this isn't a sales pitch, rather a chance to take advantage of a great, free, learning opportunity for fantasy writers.

With live sessions from bestselling fantasy writers TJ Klune, Angela J. Ford, David Farland and Stephanie BwaBwa, a world-building workshop, and a complete World Anvil software walkthrough, you don't want to miss this event!

Fantasy Writer's Week kicks off on February 22 and runs until February 26. If you can't make it live, all the sessions will be available via replay, so you can sign up and watch the sessions when it's convenient.

Register for this free event here: https://prowritingaid.com/art/1571/fantasy-writer-s-week-at-prowritingaid.aspx?afid=2406

Details about the individual events:

Writing Wonder—How to Create a Fantasy World and Magical Systems

Feb 22 (2 PM ET / 7 PM UK)

Presenter: Bestselling fantasy author, Dave Farland

Dave will be talking about what "wonder" literature is and how you can create a sense of wonder in your own fantasy novel. He'll show you how bestselling authors combine wonder with other emotions, like romance and adventure, to create the most successful fantasy novels out there. 

World-Building 101: Training and Q&A

Feb 23 (12 PM ET / 5 PM UK)

Presenters: World Anvil founders, Janet Forbes and Dimitris Havlidis

In this workshop, Janet Forbes and Dimitris Havlidis from World Anvil talk about approaches and methods to world-building. They'll discuss tools and strategies you can use, such as world-building meta, to keep your project on track, both in terms of theme and motivations, and make sure your world is serving your novel and story. 

The ProWritingAid World-Building Write-In

Feb 23 (2 PM ET / 7 PM UK)

Presenter: ProWritingAid's Head of Learning, Hayley Milliman

Each month, we gather for the ProWritingAid Write-In. In this special Fantasy Writer's Week edition, join us as we work through short world-building prompts and share together for feedback. 

How to Edit Your Fantasy Manuscript With ProWritingAid

Feb 24 (12 PM ET / 5 PM UK)

Presenter: ProWritingAid's Head of Learning, Hayley Milliman

It doesn't matter how many hours you spent meticulously crafting your fantasy novel's plot. If your writing isn't clear and effective, your readers won't engage with it. That's where editing technology can help. In this workshop, we'll dive into how to use ProWritingAid to make key edits to your fantasy manuscript.

How to Write Page-Turning YA Fantasy That Keeps Readers Up At Night

Feb 24 (2 PM ET / 7 PM UK)

Presenter: Fantasy author, Stephanie BwaBwa

In this workshop, fantasy author Stephanie BwaBwa will dive deep into creating a page turning novel that will keep your readers up at night. She'll break down the main elements all YA Fantasy novels need, discuss what to avoid when writing your novel and highlight how to make your characters relatable, and your story themes memorable.

World Anvil Walk-Through and Q&A

Feb 25 (12 PM ET / 5 PM UK)

Presenters: World Anvil founders, Janet Forbes and Dimitris Havlidis

Join Janet and Dimitris, the founders of World Anvil—the biggest world-building platform in the world—as they take you through how to use their award winning toolset to build your world setting, write your novel and even market your work to your fans and make money! Then grab your hammer, and go world-build!

How to Organize your Story Ideas and Write a Fantasy Novel

Feb 25 (2 PM ET / 7 PM UK)

Presenter: Bestselling fantasy author, Angela J. Ford

During this workshop, bestselling fantasy author Angela J. Ford will help you dig deep into taking your ideas and turning them into a story readers adore. You'll learn how to take your ideas and organize them (regardless if you're a plotter or pantser) before you begin writing. 

How to Write Fantasy: The Tricks of the Genre

Feb 26 (10 PM ET / 3 PM UK)

Presenters: Developmental editors, Anne Hawley and Rachelle Ramirez

Do you want to write a story set in a fantastical world but don’t yet know how to structure it? Got some great world-building and some random scenes that don’t really work together or entertain? You’re in the right place. 

In this webinar, you’ll learn the basics of the Fantasy Genre so you can create emotion in your readers and have them recommending your story to others.

Your Fantasy Editing Roadmap

Feb 26 (12 PM ET / 5 PM UK)

Presenter: ProWritingAid's Head of Learning, Hayley Milliman

As nice as it would be, writing your fantasy novel isn't over when you type "The End." In fact, the actual work is just beginning. During the editing process, your novel will go from rough first draft to engaging final manuscript.

In this workshop, Hayley will walk you through the most important edits you should make to your manuscript to ensure it's publish-ready.

An Interview With Bestselling Fantasy Author, TJ Klune 

Feb 26 (2 PM ET / 7 PM UK)

Hosted by ProWritingAid CMO, Lisa Lepki

TJ Klune is the Lambda Literary Award-winning author of The Extraordinaries and USA Today and New York Times bestseller, The House in the Cerulean Sea. We'll be chatting to him about breaking into the worlds of fantasy and YA fiction, his writing process and why representation is so important in literature. 

You can learn more, see all the session names, and register for this free event here: https://prowritingaid.com/art/1571/fantasy-writer-s-week-at-prowritingaid.aspx?afid=2406

Fantasy Writer's Week registration page link: https://prowritingaid.com/en/Webinar/Register/1000102?afid=2406

Speaker Bios

David Farland is an award-winning, bestselling author who has penned over fifty science fiction and fantasy novels for adults, young adults, and children. Along the way, he has also worked as a writing instructor, videogame designer, and as a Hollywood greenlighting analyst. He is best known for his New York Times bestselling fantasy series The Runelords, and has trained some of the biggest names in fantasy.

Janet Forbes is a published fantasy author and RPG writer under the pen name J.D. Blythe, and a Dungeons & Dragons pro-streamer for the likes of Wizards of the Coast and Wyrd Games. She is also the co-founder and director of World Anvil, the world-building and writing platform which rocketed onto the scene 3 years ago and now boasts a community of over a million users. She holds an MA in Music Performance, is an experienced archaeologist, speaks 5 languages, and is secretly a velociraptor in a human suit.

Dimitris Havlidis has been world-building since he was six, and has created more epic sandbox worlds than he's had hot dinners. As the co-founder and CTO of the award-winning world-building platform World Anvil, he spends his days coding new features for writers to create and market their work, and his nights dreaming about new worlds and new civilizations. Dimitris holds degrees in Computing, Social Psychology and Graphic Design, and has worked as CTO in some of the top agencies in the UK. As a Web Developer, UX Researcher, Pro-Photographer, Designer, he was a digital nomad before it was cool. He loves cheese, lemon pies and top hats.

Hayley Milliman is thrilled to be ProWritingAid's Content Lead, as it gives her an excuse to think deeply about words every single day. Prior to joining ProWritingAid, Hayley spent a number of years as an elementary school teacher, which was a crash course in learning how to entertain an indifferent audience. These days, she puts her storytelling skills to use writing blog articles and working on her first novel.

Stephanie BwaBwa is a Jesus-centered, multi passionate, creative who’s enjoying building a legacy through the lens of story. As the CEO and Founder of Bwabs Collective LLC, BwaBwa has focused her zone of genius on the Enneagram Type 5 writer who likes to meticulously plot, research, and organize their way through crafting their stories. Stephanie is the YA Fantasy author behind the world of Elledelle, and an avid reader of fantasy and fiction. Get in contact with Stephanie at StephanieBwaBwa.com.

Angela J. Ford is a bestselling author who writes epic fantasy and steamy fantasy romance with vivid worlds, gray characters and endings you just can’t guess. She has published 14 novels, 6 short stories and sold over 32,000 copies. Angela is also a Co-Founder of Booksniffer, a new app for book lovers, plus an effective way for authors to market their books to new readers. She enjoys traveling, hiking, and playing World of Warcraft with her husband. First and foremost, Angela is a reader and can often be found with her nose in a book.

Anne Hawley has produced and co-hosted 115 episodes of the Story Grid Editor Roundtable Podcast, and she trained under Shawn Coyne of Story Grid. Anne has five decades of writing experience and has been a developmental editor since 2015, providing objective, substantive feedback so writers can write better stories and change the world. She is the author of the historical love story Restraint.

Rachelle Ramirez trained under Shawn Coyne of Story Grid and has edited award winning and bestselling fiction and nonfiction. She is committed to offering actionable editorial assistance for writers in all phases of their careers. Rachelle attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago's Masters in Creative Writing Program and has an MA in psychology from Goddard College. She is the author of An Introduction to Genre.