#writingconversations — Public Fediverse posts

My flash fiction course is miraculously generative--expect to write a ton of new and exciting pieces. And get the empowering sort of feedback that centers and celebrates your intentions as the author.

6 Weeks, Jun. 24, 2026 - Jul. 29, 2026, Wednesdays, 6pm-8pm (North American Central). Online through Zoom, $160

https://forms.gle/r3DwpLEpXzm1UQP2A

#WritingCommunity #FlashFiction #WritingClass #WritingConversations #WritingCourse

My flash fiction course is miraculously generative--expect to write a ton of new and exciting pieces. And get the empowering sort of feedback that centers and celebrates your intentions as the author.

6 Weeks, Jun. 24, 2026 - Jul. 29, 2026, Wednesdays, 6pm-8pm (North American Central). Online through Zoom, $160

https://forms.gle/r3DwpLEpXzm1UQP2A

#WritingCommunity #FlashFiction #WritingClass #WritingConversations #WritingCourse

It's tools, not rules, baby. This class is about interrogating a cliche writing "rule" to understand it is simply one tool of many--and exploring how its opposite has many important uses.

Jun. 20, 2026, 10am-1pm Central, Loft Classroom, Minneapolis, MN

https://loft.org/classes/craft-fiction-tell-dont-show

#WritingConversations #WritingClass #WritingCraft #WritingCommunity #AmWriting #ShowDontTell #TellDontShow #LoftLiterary

It's tools, not rules, baby. This class is about interrogating a cliche writing "rule" to understand it is simply one tool of many--and exploring how its opposite has many important uses.

Jun. 20, 2026, 10am-1pm Central, Loft Classroom, Minneapolis, MN

https://loft.org/classes/craft-fiction-tell-dont-show

#WritingConversations #WritingClass #WritingCraft #WritingCommunity #AmWriting #ShowDontTell #TellDontShow #LoftLiterary

I'm running my flash class again starting Jan. 12. Write a whole lot of new stories, learn a lot of fun craft techniques, get a lot of supportive feedback, and make friends too! Zoom, 10 weeks, Mondays 12-2 CST, $200

https://forms.gle/birDctKVHfdxYhib8

#WritingCommunity #FlashFiction #WritingClass #WritingConversations #Feedback #WritingWorkshop

I'm running my flash class again starting Jan. 12. Write a whole lot of new stories, learn a lot of fun craft techniques, get a lot of supportive feedback, and make friends too! Zoom, 10 weeks, Mondays 12-2 CST, $200

https://forms.gle/birDctKVHfdxYhib8

#WritingCommunity #FlashFiction #WritingClass #WritingConversations #Feedback #WritingWorkshop

I'm planning a super informal FREE zoom writing salon about ghost stories on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, 11am-12pm (North American Central Time). It's late notice, and an odd time, but if you'd like to join, please register and I'll send you a link. We'll just look at a few short ghost stories, talk about how they work, and end with some prompts.

https://forms.gle/eHUs4pGLxBVYh1oH8

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #GhostStories #WritingClass

I'm planning a super informal FREE zoom writing salon about ghost stories on Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, 11am-12pm (North American Central Time). It's late notice, and an odd time, but if you'd like to join, please register and I'll send you a link. We'll just look at a few short ghost stories, talk about how they work, and end with some prompts.

https://forms.gle/eHUs4pGLxBVYh1oH8

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #GhostStories #WritingClass

I wrote about Margaret LaFleur's "All's Well" and a gorgeous moment beyond words, when subtext bubbles to the surface.

https://loft.org/writers-block-blog/alls-well-and-dialogue-beyond-words

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #AmWriting #Subtext #Bookstodon #Dialog #ReadingLikeAWriter

I'm teaching a writing class about mystery--not the genre, but the secrets that enthrall, the questions that fascinate, the mysteries that leave you rapt with wonder--even after the final page.

6 weeks, Wednesdays, 11/5/25 - 12/17/25 (No class on 11/26), 6-8pm Central, online (live meeting through zoom), $220/$200 (loft member)

https://loft.org/classes/what-you-dont-know-mystery-fiction-0

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #WritingClass #mystery

I wrote about Daniel Tam-Claiborne's novel, TRANSPLANTS and how intimacy and connection (and sex) can make fantastic things happen in fiction.

https://loft.org/writers-block-blog/transplants-and-change-through-intimacy

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Transplants #Bookstodon #ReadingLikeAWriter #Connection

I've got a class starting next week about Dialogue, Gesture, and Staging.

4 weeks, Thursdays, 9/18/25 - 10/9/25, 6pm-9pm (North American Central time), Zoom, $222/$200 (Loft member)

It covers a variety of tools to make dialogue come alive in your scenes—with specific techniques to make it realistic (if that's your thing), dynamic, compelling, resonant, and/or vibrant.

https://loft.org/classes/writing-fiction-4-weeks-dialogue-gesture-and-staging

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #WritingClass #Dialogue #Subtext #Writing #AmWriting

Still a few spots left in my flash class! Mondays 12-2pm (north american central) on zoom. Starts Sept. 8, goes 10 weeks. $200.

To keep it more accessible for folks with less time, we'll finish the sharing & feedback in the first 90 minutes. But if you have the time, you can stay for the last 30 minutes to go deeper.

Write a lot, share your work, get feedback, learn about craft, and find community:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeaSPHJDa9rMmgFl0ZvQyy1jOapNJ8hRsbing_DgDK5axvEPw/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=109553212956936077425

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #WritingClass #FlashFiction

I'm doing a fiction sampler for the Loft on Sept. 4, 6-7pm North American Central time. This is a cheap, low-stakes writing class with some group close reading, some writing prompts, some community, some fun:

https://loft.org/classes/fall-fiction-sampler-allison-wyss-0

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #WritingClass #WritingCraft #Fiction

10 weeks, Mondays, Sept. 8-Nov. 10, 12-2pm Central, $200

Each week we look at one or two pieces of published writing to study the craft of them & turn those tools into writing prompts. Then we share the results for light, inspirational feedback. Expect to write a lot and learn a lot.

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeaSPHJDa9rMmgFl0ZvQyy1jOapNJ8hRsbing_DgDK5axvEPw/viewform?usp=sharing&ouid=109553212956936077425

#WritingCommunity #WritingClass #WritingConversations #FlashFiction #WritingCraft

I wrote about Amanda Lee Koe's phenomenal SISTER SNAKE, (and couldn't stop myself from a light musing on fairy tales because you know me).

https://loft.org/writers-block-blog/sister-snake-amanda-lee-koe-and-time-magic

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #SisterSnake #ReadingLikeAWriter #FairyTale #Folklore #FolkTale #TimeMagic #Anachronism #WritingCraft #Books

I wrote about Amanda Lee Koe's phenomenal SISTER SNAKE, (and couldn't stop myself from a light musing on fairy tales because you know me).

https://loft.org/writers-block-blog/sister-snake-amanda-lee-koe-and-time-magic

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #SisterSnake #ReadingLikeAWriter #FairyTale #Folklore #FolkTale #TimeMagic #Anachronism #WritingCraft #Books

CLASS IS FULL
(but there is a waitlist and the possibility to add a second section)

Flash Summer 2025!

Jun 16-Aug. 18, Mondays 12-1pm (CT), Online (Zoom), $160

-Close reading of newly published flash to discover exciting craft techniques
Generative writing prompts to create 10 new flash pieces
Supportive feedback to identify points of heat & reader connection

Three spots left!

#WritingCommunity #WritingClass #WritingConversations #FlashFiction

https://forms.gle/Yyz3YfNJQnVfLTd57

These gargoyles aren’t worried about explaining themselves to a human reader; they’re just trying to survive.

I wrote about Tara Campbell's fantastic CITY OF DANCING GARGOYLES and an opening that unsettles.

https://loft.org/writers-block-blog/city-dancing-gargoyles-and-decentering-humanity

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #ReadingLikeAWriter #Beginnings #DystopianSciFi #Fiction #Bookstodon #WritingCraft

This class goes deep into perspective, 1st/2nd/3rd person singular & plural POV, filtering through personality, sensibility, reliability, secrets & mystery, omniscience, tense, narrative distance, zooming, curation of artifacts, narrative strategy, & a few stranger options.

https://loft.org/classes/narration-finding-right-voice

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #WritingClass #POV #Perspective #Narration #Narrative #Sensibility

This class goes deep into perspective, 1st/2nd/3rd person singular & plural POV, filtering through personality, sensibility, reliability, secrets & mystery, omniscience, tense, narrative distance, zooming, curation of artifacts, narrative strategy, & a few stranger options.

https://loft.org/classes/narration-finding-right-voice

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #WritingClass #POV #Perspective #Narration #Narrative #Sensibility

This class is about making things happen. It's about writing dynamic scenes that move the plot & reveal character. Many writers swear by conflict, but positive moments of interpersonal connection or intimacy can do the same work. We'll practice both ways.

8 weeks, Wednesdays, 1/22/25 - 3/12/25, 10am-12pm CST, Online (live meetings)

#WritingCommunity #WritingClass #AmWriting #WritingConversations #DynamicScenes #Intimacy&Conflict #WritingCraft

https://bit.ly/3ZEW64y

This writing class is billed as about overcoming hangups when writing sex scenes--and it is that--but we also cover a lot of really practical techniques for making writing sexy. It's a fun class. Sometimes also a funny class. Join me! (It's in person though, which I know is quite limiting...)

Saturday, 1/18/25, 9am-12pm, OpenBook, Minneapolis MN

https://bit.ly/AwkSupSex

#WritingCommunity #WritingClass #WritingConversations #WritingSexScenes

This writing class is billed as about overcoming hangups when writing sex scenes--and it is that--but we also cover a lot of really practical techniques for making writing sexy. It's a fun class. Sometimes also a funny class. Join me! (It's in person though, which I know is quite limiting...)

Saturday, 1/18/25, 9am-12pm, OpenBook, Minneapolis MN

https://bit.ly/AwkSupSex

#WritingCommunity #WritingClass #WritingConversations #WritingSexScenes

Here's my little witch story.

(I love a journal that releases on the solstice.)

https://bit.ly/WitchandSpaceship

#Witch #fairytale #FlashFiction #WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #MoonParkReview #SpecFiction #Spiders #Solstice

Here's my little witch story.

(I love a journal that releases on the solstice.)

https://bit.ly/WitchandSpaceship

#Witch #fairytale #FlashFiction #WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #MoonParkReview #SpecFiction #Spiders #Solstice

Here's my little witch story.

(I love a journal that releases on the solstice.)

https://bit.ly/WitchandSpaceship

#Witch #fairytale #FlashFiction #WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #MoonParkReview #SpecFiction #Spiders #Solstice

Here's my little witch story.

(I love a journal that releases on the solstice.)

https://bit.ly/WitchandSpaceship

#Witch #fairytale #FlashFiction #WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #MoonParkReview #SpecFiction #Spiders #Solstice

Here's my little witch story.

(I love a journal that releases on the solstice.)

https://bit.ly/WitchandSpaceship

#Witch #fairytale #FlashFiction #WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #MoonParkReview #SpecFiction #Spiders #Solstice

Here's something amazing we've been working on in Lit!Commons:

https://bit.ly/40kTkSM

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #LitCommons #ReadingLikeAWriter #Flash #CloseReading #Writing

This is a great class on how to write complex and interesting characters. It's useful for all kinds of characters, but we study villains--because that makes it extra fun!

https://bit.ly/evilemp

#WritingCommunity #WritingClass #WritingConversations #Villains #EvilAndEmpathy #Character #Writing

Here's me writing about one of my favorite things again...

How do YOU sustain wonder (or horror) in your fiction?

https://bit.ly/3VWBamz

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #Writing #Wonder #Horror #IsabelYap #NeverHaveIEver #ReadingLikeAWriter

I wrote about an interesting prologue. So let's talk about prologues!

Not whether you love them or hate them--but what they are uniquely able to do. What's the difference between a prologue and a first chapter? What is the function of a prologue? And what's the fun of it too? How do you think about whether to include one?

https://bit.ly/4avWqpA

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #prologue #ReadingLikeAWriter #WhatHappenedtoRuthyRamiriz #ClaireJimenez #Writing #FirstPage #BookOpenings

I wrote about an interesting prologue. So let's talk about prologues!

Not whether you love them or hate them--but what they are uniquely able to do. What's the difference between a prologue and a first chapter? What is the function of a prologue? And what's the fun of it too? How do you think about whether to include one?

https://bit.ly/4avWqpA

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #prologue #ReadingLikeAWriter #WhatHappenedtoRuthyRamiriz #ClaireJimenez #Writing #FirstPage #BookOpenings

An aspect I'd also love to talk about it is how you do something unusual without it seeming accidental--at least to your first readers. When you play with something like perspective, workshops and beta readers are so likely to get on your case. But it's really worth defying them.

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Writing #POV #Omniscient #FirstPerson #Narration #Jackal #ReadingLikeAWriter #Horror

This time I wrote about JACKAL (by Erin E. Adams) and a really fun and unusual POV. It's an "I" that hides from you, knows way too much, and emerges in a deliciously creepy way.

What are your favorite strange POVs?

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Writing #POV #Omniscient #FirstPerson #Narration #Jackal #ReadingLikeAWriter #Horror

https://bit.ly/JackalPOV

This time I wrote about JACKAL (by Erin E. Adams) and a really fun and unusual POV. It's an "I" that hides from you, knows way too much, and emerges in a deliciously creepy way.

What are your favorite strange POVs?

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Writing #POV #Omniscient #FirstPerson #Narration #Jackal #ReadingLikeAWriter #Horror

https://bit.ly/JackalPOV

For this one I wrote about Nightbitch (by Rachel Yoder) and sensibility. But I also let myself geek about this long and luxurious sentence that piles up imagery for days.

Come across any lovely sentences lately? (Definitely count the ones you write yourself!)

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Writing #Sensibility #Sentences #Nightbitch #Punctuation

https://bit.ly/NightbitchDualSens

For this one I wrote about Nightbitch (by Rachel Yoder) and sensibility. But I also let myself geek about this long and luxurious sentence that piles up imagery for days.

Come across any lovely sentences lately? (Definitely count the ones you write yourself!)

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Writing #Sensibility #Sentences #Nightbitch #Punctuation

https://bit.ly/NightbitchDualSens

This craft column is about Susie Yang's WHITE IVY and a whole lot of tools to make physical description alive and vibrant and even important to the story.

What are your favorite techniques for physical description of characters? And what makes you like a physical description when you read?

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #Bookstodon #PhysicalDescription #ReadingLikeAWriter #WhiteIvy #WritingCraft

https://bit.ly/WhIvyPhysDes

This craft column is about Susie Yang's WHITE IVY and a whole lot of tools to make physical description alive and vibrant and even important to the story.

What are your favorite techniques for physical description of characters? And what makes you like a physical description when you read?

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #Bookstodon #PhysicalDescription #ReadingLikeAWriter #WhiteIvy #WritingCraft

https://bit.ly/WhIvyPhysDes