| Workshops at Capclave | ||
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| Capclave 2024 is pleased to once again host a number of interesting workshops.
The workshops are available to any member of Capclave and do not have an additional cost beyond the normal membership. However, seating at the workshops is limited. See the individual descriptions for details. |
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| Please note: The details of our workshops are mostly stable but, due to circumstances beyond our control, changes to the program can occur throughout the convention. | ||
| Friday 4:00 pm | Lincoln | Tell Your Story With a 1-Page TTRPG (Ends at: 5:55 pm) Panelists: Dustin Patrick Blottenberger, Nat Mesnard, Brigitte Winter (M) While not every writer dreams of designing a Table-Top Role-Playing Game (TTRPG) and not every designer loves writing prose, the overlap between these worlds is significant, particularly in the SFF space. Join Indie TTRPG small press Scryptid Games to learn what makes the stories that come from TTRPGs so special and how you can lean into the unique storytelling possibilities that only interactive fiction and games can offer. In the first half of this session, you’ll discover new opportunities for SFF writers in this imaginative and ever-expanding space, and then make your own 1-Page TTRPG! We’ll help you quickly decide on a compelling concept that is uniquely yours. In the second half, you’ll play your TTRPG with other writer-designers and convention attendees! Finally, you’ll explore your ability to make and publish games after the workshop, armed with a packet of useful resources provided by a small press that is constantly pushing the boundaries of what storytelling looks like. |
| Saturday 11:00 am | Lincoln | Writing Retreats for Fun and Profit (Ends at: 12:55 pm) Panelists: Martin Wilsey (M) From a solo writing vacation to an organized group event, a writing retreat can be a great way to focus on your work. Some authors swear that writing retreats are responsible for their success. In this session, Martin Wilsey, a veteran writer who schedules two writing retreats every to boost his productivity, will discuss some of the ways he’s discovered to get the most out of his retreats. He’ll also detail some ways to make luxury retreats far cheaper than you might expect. |
| Saturday 1:00 pm | Lincoln | Speculative Poetry Workshop (Ends at: 1:55 pm) Panelists: Miguel O. Mitchell (M) In this workshop, we will practice writing speculative poetry and share our creations. First, I will explain several types of poetic forms and we will read examples that have science fiction, fantasy, or horror themes. Then using writing prompts, you will have opportunities to write short speculative poems that fit into specific forms, and we will discuss them. In addition, I will talk about the myriad speculative poetry markets for individual poem publication and the resources of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association (SFPA). This workshop embraces all those who want to try their hand at writing speculative poems, so kindness and respect should emanate from each suggestion regarding a poem. |
| Saturday 3:00 pm | Lincoln | Advanced Worldbuilding: A Soup-To-Nuts Primer (Ends at: 4:55 pm) Panelists: Charles Gannon (M) Who doesn’t enjoy wielding infinite power and telling stories and getting paid for doing them at the same time? But that’s not just a catchy intro: it’s a deadly serious question. Because, unless you are immortal, infinitely wealthy (or, ideally, both) creating planets and cultures that both immerse readers in their believability and naturally give rise to the exact stories you want to tell, you’re going to need more than extraordinary creativity and work ethic. You’re going to need a good helping of interdisciplinary knowledge and a keen sense of time-to-profit task planning to make sure you get the world you want in the time you’ve allotted to create and refine it. For instance, what makes a desert or an ocean world? What about worlds with many moons—or none at all? How are different environments (heavy or thin atmosphere, more or less gravity, freezing cold, burning heat) likely to shape species, and even the intelligence that might evolve from them? The objective is to help you create the best—and most natural—planets on which to set your stories. But without a clear plan, that process could consume a great amount of time. So the second part of our focus is to be able to accomplish that in the time and energy you have available? We’ll start with a few key tricks of the planet-creating trade, move on to some familiar examples, but the real fun starts in the second half of the session, where we’ll give all that information a test run . . . in a workshop where you get to create (or enrich) the planet and people you want to use for your stories. |
| Sunday 11:00 am | Lincoln | Miniatures Painting (Ends at: 12:55 pm) Panelists: Zenlizard (M) This is a hands-on workshop: bring yourself, and a desire to learn painting techniques for fantasy or military miniatures. You need bring only yourself: there is no materials fee, and at the end, you will take home the mini you’ve painted. Zenlizard will go over the steps towards painting your miniature, from primer to finish. |
| Sunday 1:00 pm | Lincoln | Writing Fight Scenes That Matter (Ends at: 1:55 pm) Panelists: David Keener (M) Does your story come to a screeching halt every time there’s a fight scene? Do readers think your fight scenes are…tedious…instead of exciting? How realistic should your fight be? Discover how real people react to violence, and how you can use this information to make your conflict more believable. Learn how to craft fight scenes that engage your readers, advance your plot, and reveal character. |
| Page Update: October 1, 2024 |