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The World at Stake: Writing the First Chapter of Your YA Novel

In this workshop, we'll discuss what features and strategies young adult writers can use to write a strong first chapter of a novel in any genre, from science fiction to contemporary realism. What's the best way to invite readers into your world while also hinting at its complexities? What are good strategies for introducing your characters and their wants and needs? How do you plant the thematic seeds that will grow into a strong story? Writers will complete in-class exercises and begin (or continue) brainstorming in this workshop. We'll begin with the creation of a 'world package' that will serve as a template for the world of your novel, and we'll end with one-on-one conferences about your first chapter (between 3500 and 5000 words).

This workshop is appropriate for beginner/intermediate level writers.

About the instructor:

Brittany Cavallaro is the author of forthcoming young adult novel A Study in Charlotte (HarperCollins/Katherine Tegen Books, 2016), the first in a trilogy, as well as the poetry collection Girl-King (University of Akron Press). In addition to scholarships from the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, she is the recipient of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Vermont Studio Center. She serves as the editor-in-chief of Devil's Lake and is an associate editor for Bull City Press. She received her MFA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.