Wouldn't it be nice if your characters would stop lazing around and actually help tell their own story? Turn your characters into actors, not slackers. Once you know what they care about—and what they don't give a crap about—everything else falls into place. With just two questions, you can stop writing cardboard cutouts and start writing people. Complicated, messy, compelling ones. You might even have a little fun. Join us for a hybrid meeting, with in-person and online options for attendance, in which author and writing teacher Becky Shiles will cover how to identify a character’s core priorities, weaponize their blind spots, and use those two elements to shape everything from personality quirks to plot twists to unforgettable endings. Note that the in-person meeting will be at our new location, the Annapolis Friends Meetinghouse, 351 Dubois Road, Annapolis.

Becky Shiles is a lifelong teacher and storytelling nerd who has taught everything from computer programming to dog obedience to reluctant middle school scribblers. She has served as president of the MWA Annapolis chapter, taught writing workshops for all ages, and once ran a no-kill shelter’s obedience program just to help dogs stay adopted. She flunked creative writing twice in a row, which she now considers a point of pride. Her book Creating Characters That Work (With Just Two Questions) grew from years of writing fiction, coaching other writers, and ranting about the way story structure is often misused. It recently hit #1 in new releases in its category on Amazon. Becky has written three novels, dozens of short stories, and a frankly unreasonable number of personal essays and stories about her dogs. Her approach is sharp, funny, deeply human, and grounded in one truth: voice before polish, clarity before cleverness, and characters who care way too much about things that probably don’t matter.

A sneak peek at her new book can be found at https://thechaoslibrary.com/creating-characters-preview/.

Zoom link for online Annapolis Chapter meetings: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87059894995?pwd=d3FnbXlqbGI4eDlYZlhrL3FIVTdpZz09

For more information email: [email protected]