This workshop was offered in 2025. Sign up for our email list to receive updates for this year’s conference.

—

 

Beyond the Self:
Character Development in Novels

Writing Workshop in New Jersey
January 17-20, 2025
Led by Sam Heaps

We’re all familiar with the “I” character, but the most interesting stories are populated with diverse perspectives, histories and opinions. In this workshop, you’ll explore the importance of strong characters in compelling narratives. Supporting your fellow writers’ dives into their fictional creations, you’ll help one another harness differences that create compelling dialogue, conflict and a driven plot. Classes will use sample texts and discussion generatively, and time will be provided in each session to write. By the end of the workshop, you will have written, or polished, a scene in your current novel-in-progress—or started something new! Beginners and experienced novelists are welcome.

*Limited to just 10 participants.*

 

“I had a better, more enriching experience at the retreat than in the book-writing group I attended for over a year. Our workshop leader was at the top of the scale, keeping the workshop intensive, genuine, supportive and inspiring.”
~ Juliet, Brooklyn, NY

 

Sam Heaps

Sam Heaps is a writer living in Philadelphia. Their debut essay collection, Proximity, was released in 2023, and they have published fiction and essays in Write or Die, Communion Arts Journal, Entropy, Rejection Letters, Taco Bell Quarterly and many other journals. They have received support from VCCA and Gullkistan and were a Tin House Scholar.

Read a piece by Sam and learn more on their website.