Book your Presentation Workshop Conference Speaker Craft Seminar Tailor-made Experience
Stephani loves connecting with people about reading, writing, and books. A skilled educator, Stephani has taught middle school, high school, college, and adults. Comfortable with any size group, she will work with you to tailor all aspects of the visit.
- Workshops where students develop and revise their own stories or picture books
- Presentations on the writing life including the role of a writer’s notebook
- Presentations on the writing process
- Workshops on creating characters
- Presentations on how research is both fun and functional
- Workshops on finding story inspiration in your own life
- Workshops on developing settings including how to draw maps and floorplans
- Workshops where students respond to voice and perspective in current literature with their own writing pieces
- The Art and Structure of Personal Essays: Nail that College Admissions Essay!
Stephani is happy to develop presentations and workshops for adult writers. Most recently she spoke at the Storymakers Conference. Here are some possible presentations:
Marvel vs. DC
What I Learned About Creating Complex Resonant Characters by Marrying a Comic Book Geek Aficionado
What is the biggest difference between Marvel and DC superheroes? It’s character development. No matter what genre or market you write in, you can learn how to apply techniques that have made the Marvel franchise so successful. We’ll look at character motivation, power, relationships, and arcs vs. archetypes. Bring character sketches from a work in progress for hands-on application.
All you need is love
An Inner Journey of Character and Writer
Using C.S. Lewis’s theological work, The Four Loves, as a foundation, this lecture will trace the inner journeys of Jess in Bridge to Terabithia by Katherine Paterson and Joseph in Orbiting Jupiter by Gary D. Schmidt from their lack of love to choosing to extend gift-love. I will make connections between the texts and my journey of exploring my personal beliefs to develop my sensibilities as a writer and will suggest ways you can answer the question, “What is it you’re trying to say?”
All I Needed to Know About Plot Tension I Learned from Jane Austen
Jane Austen was a master at creating suspense and tension within her novels. No matter what genre or market you write in, you can learn how to apply Jane’s techniques to your manuscripts. Bring a few pages from a work in progress for hands-on application.
Pitch or Ditch
Sometimes it’s difficult to know when it’s time to query a project. Some rush in too soon, some tinker forever. Add some tools to your repertoire to help you discern whether to pitch, shelve, or revise a manuscript. We’ll learn how to write a synopsis and what that process can tell you. We’ll talk about emotional proximity and what questions you need to ask yourself. We’ll talk about your other writing projects: is this manuscript an only child or does it have siblings? And finally, we’ll talk about the power and pitfalls of critique groups and writing partners.
Testimonials
"Stephani delivered a powerful and masterful lecture. . . She commanded the room right from the beginning, and she kept us enthralled all the way to the end."
Varian Johnson
Author of 'The Parker Inheritance'
