National Novel Writing Month: Writing Workshop and Write-In

Bring a notepad or a laptop and come right in to participate in this special write-in session during National Novel Writing Month. This write-in will begin with a guided workshop from 4:30 to 6 p.m., led by writer Audrey Stanton-Smith.  

The workshop will be an exercise on "Using Real News to Inspire Fake Stories." As they say, the truth is stranger than fiction. So what happens when we use strange truths to create fiction? Fun! In this workshop, we’ll use real headlines and news articles to develop fiction scenes for novels or short stories in a variety of genres. 

Audrey Stanton-Smith is the winner of a first-place 2022 West Virginia Press Association Award for feature writing. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from West Virginia University and spent more than a decade working as a newspaper reporter. Audrey’s freelance writing has won awards from the United Methodist Association of Communicators and has been featured in West Virginia South magazine, Goldenseal magazine, and Response magazine, where she currently serves as interim editor. She also enjoys writing fiction and has been honored by West Virginia Writers, Inc., in contest categories for playwriting, children’s books, humor, and The Pearl S. Buck Award for Writing for Social Change. 

The workshop will be followed by extra time to stay and write from 6 to 6:30 p.m. Feel free to bring a snack and a cup of coffee!

Each session is an opportunity to have quiet, dedicated writing time during November's National Novel Writing Month, where the goal is to write 50,000 words in one month. With the exception of this Nov. 14 writing workshop session, our meeting room will be open for two hours for writers to come and go as they please. 

Don't forget to track your progress on Beanstack with our NaNoWriMo Writing Challenge. The challenge will open for registration in mid-October.