#writingconversations — Public Fediverse posts

I made up this fairy tale with my kid when she was little. We kept telling it to each other until it got better and better and now it's in this fine literary journal.

https://booth.butler.edu/2026/07/01/cryogenic-beauty/

#WritingCommunity #FairyTale #SleepingBeauty #WritingConversations #FlashFiction

I made up this fairy tale with my kid when she was little. We kept telling it to each other until it got better and better and now it's in this fine literary journal.

https://booth.butler.edu/2026/07/01/cryogenic-beauty/

#WritingCommunity #FairyTale #SleepingBeauty #WritingConversations #FlashFiction

I'm teaching some two-hour craft sessions this summer. They're all online, but live through zoom.

Writing Dynamic Scenes, Tuesday, Jun 30, 12-2pm* , $40
More Than a Map, Thursday, Jul. 2, 12-2pm* , $40
Shadow Self, Tuesday, July 14, 12-2pm*, $40
Wordsmithing, Thursday, July 16, 12-2pm *, $40

*All times are North American Central

More details in the link, but you can also email me to ask questions or register:
https://forms.gle/2GiVoQkGYnpdB5SG9

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity

I'm teaching some two-hour craft sessions this summer. They're all online, but live through zoom.

Writing Dynamic Scenes, Tuesday, Jun 30, 12-2pm* , $40
More Than a Map, Thursday, Jul. 2, 12-2pm* , $40
Shadow Self, Tuesday, July 14, 12-2pm*, $40
Wordsmithing, Thursday, July 16, 12-2pm *, $40

*All times are North American Central

More details in the link, but you can also email me to ask questions or register:
https://forms.gle/2GiVoQkGYnpdB5SG9

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity

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 offering a single session class on fairy tales to raise money for rent relief in my south Minneapolis neighborhood. When ICE occupied my street, they not only kidnapped and murdered, they kept people from their jobs. So even though the abductions have slowed (not stopped), many families face eviction because of lost income.

Fairy Tales and the Subversive Power of Collective Storytelling
 
4/16, 6-8pm central, zoom

https://forms.gle/ufcZhDpjzgqoaZwW9

#rentRelief #fairytales #writingconversations

I’m offering a single session class on fairy tales to raise money for rent relief in my south Minneapolis neighborhood. When ICE occupied my street, they not only kidnapped and murdered, they kept people from their jobs. So even though the abductions have slowed (not stopped), many families face eviction because of lost income.

Fairy Tales and the Subversive Power of Collective Storytelling
 
4/16, 6-8pm central, zoom

https://forms.gle/ufcZhDpjzgqoaZwW9

#rentRelief #fairytales #writingconversations

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 got to talk to John Wiswell about WEARING THE LION, radical forgiveness, disability, found family, and how to win battles by flipping conflict into friendship. You can read what we said here:

https://splitlipthemag.com/interviews/1225/interview-with-john-wiswell

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #AuthorInterview #TamingTheLion #JohnWiswell #SplitLipMagazine

I got to talk to John Wiswell about WEARING THE LION, radical forgiveness, disability, found family, and how to win battles by flipping conflict into friendship. You can read what we said here:

https://splitlipthemag.com/interviews/1225/interview-with-john-wiswell

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #AuthorInterview #TamingTheLion #JohnWiswell #SplitLipMagazine

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 got to talk to Patricia Lockwood about WILL THERE EVER BE ANOTHER YOU, the fluid borders between mind and body, self and other, individual and world, and the mystifying effects of Long Covid.

https://therumpus.net/2025/11/07/joining-the-world-a-conversation-with-patricia-lockwood/

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #LongCovid #Bookstodon

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 got to talk to the really brilliant Emily Mitchell about her fantastic new collection, The Church of Divine Electricity. Read what we said to each other!

(Particularly love her thoughts on care in dystopian times.)

https://theadroitjournal.org/2025/11/03/a-conversation-with-emily-mitchell/

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #SpeculativeFiction #Bookstodon #AuthorInterview #DystopianSciFi

Hey hey! I wrote a little thing about jump scares!

https://imprompt2.beehiiv.com/p/jump-scares

#WritingCommunity #Halloween #Horror #JumpScare #imprompt2 #WritingConversations #Sinners #ScaryMovies

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

Come listen to me read a new weird, never-before-shared fairy tale at Veliz Books' 10th Anniversary event tonight (Aug. 26) at 7pm Central along with other fantastic Veliz authors. It's on zoom and here is the link:

#WritingCommunity #FairyTales #Retellings #VelizBooks #WritingConversations #AuthorReadings

https://uhd.zoom.us/j/84926403061

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

The wild thing to me about studying subtext is when you pull it up to look closely, it doesn't feel like subtext. It feels too obvious. But it really is & it really works. That's the magic.

In this class, we'll do the incredible work of close reading--together with other writers--to pull up the subtext of stories & figure out how it works.

Online/live meetings: 6-8pm (Central), Thursdays, 7/17 -- 8/21

#WritingCommunity #Subtext #WritingConversations #Writing

https://loft.org/classes/6-week-beneath-surface-exploring-subtext

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

I interviewed Maria Reva about her (absolutely stunning) novel ENDLING. We talked about about structural play, narrative power, and how the violence and uncertainty of today’s world must reflect in the upheaval of the novel. Check it out here:

https://bit.ly/43W8uPN

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Bookstodon #MariaReva #Endling #Ukraine

So, the folks in Lit!Commons made a zine and are making more and here's a write-up one did about the collaboration.

(I'm so pleased with this project and honored to be a very tiny part of it.)

https://loft.org/writers-block-blog/behind-zine-handmade-space-hope-kristy-wessel

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Zines #LoftLiterary #LitCommons

So, the folks in Lit!Commons made a zine and are making more and here's a write-up one did about the collaboration.

(I'm so pleased with this project and honored to be a very tiny part of it.)

https://loft.org/writers-block-blog/behind-zine-handmade-space-hope-kristy-wessel

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Zines #LoftLiterary #LitCommons

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

Here's another creepy fairy tale I wrote:

https://bit.ly/3DzyPJi

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #FairyTale #FlashFiction #ShortStory #Creepy #SpinningWheel #Doll #Snow

Here's another creepy fairy tale I wrote:

https://bit.ly/3DzyPJi

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #FairyTale #FlashFiction #ShortStory #Creepy #SpinningWheel #Doll #Snow

I got to interview Avitus B. Carle abut her collection of flash fiction, THESE WORN BODIES. We talked about the playful deconstruction of human and narrative form, the upending of regressive gender expectations, the POV of small animals, and how tiny stories can both create and destroy.

https://bit.ly/3XLWAVh

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #FlashFiction #AvitusBCarle #TheseWornBodies #NecessaryFiction #Bookstodon

Here's my interview of Linda Michel-Cassidy about her short story collection, WHEN WE WERE HARDCORE. We talk about death, treacherous landscapes, and oddball characters living in in-between spaces.

https://bit.ly/3CKWXIt

#WritingCommunity #Fiction #WritingConversations #Bookstodon #ShortStories

OK I'm looking to change up some readings for my course on intimacy and conflict--the theory being they can both be tools to make scenes dynamic.

I've got plenty of non-conflict examples, but I'd like one really great physical action full-on conflict scene. Like a fistfight or something. Bodies in motion & swinging at each other & the outcome of the fight really has consequences.

What are your favorites?

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #FightScene

OK I'm looking to change up some readings for my course on intimacy and conflict--the theory being they can both be tools to make scenes dynamic.

I've got plenty of non-conflict examples, but I'd like one really great physical action full-on conflict scene. Like a fistfight or something. Bodies in motion & swinging at each other & the outcome of the fight really has consequences.

What are your favorites?

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #FightScene

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

I'm teaching in this program that wants "bite-sized" writing instruction--I was very skeptical!

I like to go deep & get messy inside complicated ideas & strategies. I worried I'd have to stick to "easy" stuff.

But it's been great! I've been breaking apart complicated techniques--not easy to do! But it's been so great for my brain.

How do you break down "difficult" aspects of writing into chunks that are not "easy" but perhaps more manageable.

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations

I have less of a point or argument here than a musing. But I wrote about my fascination with fairy-tale time, its unpinnability, and how I keep wondering what relation that might have to the pseudo-contemporary non-time we find in many realistic stories.

What do you think?

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #FairyTale #imprompt2 #Bookstodon #PrincessBride

https://bit.ly/4bJnIst

I'm interested in how stories make space for readers inside the storymaking. I mean, readers are always collaborators by having sensory images or emotional responses or asking questions in their heads. But often readers are also sort of solving for how a story fits together or makes meaning.

How do you make space for the reader in your writing?

I wrote about one small way it happens, but there are many more!

https://bit.ly/3wz0LJA

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #Writing

Like, if you put yourself on a mission to find "mistakes", you're going to find things you think are mistakes. But they might not be!

I think a better place to read from--perhaps always--is curiosity. Just "oh what is this writer going to make happen this time?' and then instead of "mistakes," you notice choices.

And you can talk about those choices in more productive and generative ways than if you're only seeing problems.

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #Writing #AmWriting

In my other place with writing conversations, we've been talking about strategies for GIVING useful feedback, how to be a good reader of someone else's in-progress work, how to frame comments in neutral ways, how to help another writer generate ideas for revision that they are truly excited about. Basically, how to be a good workshop citizen.

How do you approach GIVING feedback? Any tips or strategies or frustrations?

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #Feedback #Workshop #WritingGroup

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 got to interview Elliott Gish about her amazing debut, Grey Dog. (Released today!)

One of the things we talked about was the diary format and how it influences time and structure and narrative distance.

Does anybody here like to write in this format?

Whatever structure you like, how do you make choices about POV and narrative distance?

https://bit.ly/GreyDogBRInt

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #AuthorInterview #Bookstodon #ElliottGish #GreyDog #DebutAuthor #Novel #Diary

Writing groups? Feedback trades? Author and editor? Author and agent? Publishing reviews for journals? Posting reader reviews to book sites? Role playing games? Interactive storytelling with a child? Improv? Book clubs? Conversations on social media? Blogs? Collaborative writing? Thinking questions back to the writer REALLY LOUD in your head? What else?

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity

Ok. I have reason to go meta here. What about a conversation about conversations?

What sort of literary conversations are you involved in? (Please interpret that broadly!) And how do they benefit you as a writer? And how do you keep them strong and positive and generative?

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #Writing #AmWriting #WritersofMastodon

No idea if folks will be into this one--it's not craft, not in the muck of writing a thing--but I've been thinking about it.

How do you prep for readings? Any strategies on practicing? (Rocks in your mouth by the crashing waves?) Do you edit or mark up the text to make it easer in an out-loud form? Or do you think about writing it in the first place for being read out loud?

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #AuthorReading #writing

What makes a character feel most alive for other folks?

So often people say they need to know more about characters--they want to know EVERYTHING--but for me, that's really not it. After all, I often don't know that much about people in my real life! But I need to know _enough_ and it's fun to think about what can be enough.

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Characterization #Writing

And then, you know, I love flat characters too! (I adore fairy tales.). I think they can feel just as alive as the sort that we call "round" or "complex."

Some of that happens through implied or intuitive depth. (A favorite theory of mine!)

I haven't thought as much about this, but I think it probably happens through character change, as well. Which might part of why folks conflate dynamic and complex.

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Characterization #Writing

So we talked about how learning about a character's past deepens our understanding of her--that's one way to make a complex character. But Ali also gestured to what's next for her & if she might change--that's the creation of a dynamic character.

I think dynamic and complex (deep, round) are often conflated but are useful to separate. A character can be one or the other or neither or both.

Which kind do you like to write?

#WritingCommunity #WritingConversations #Characterization #Writing

I got to interview Farah Ali about her beautiful debut novel, The River, The Town. We talked about building complex characters who make unexpected choices, writing about climate catastrophe, and the importance of hope.

https://bit.ly/HFFarahAli

#WritingCommunity #Bookstodon #TheRiverTheTown #FarahAli #WritingConversations #ClimateCrisis #Characterization #Writing

OK. I wrote a thing a while back about fairytale retellings (and more things about retellings, even further back) but it was an a platform that I wasn't proud of. It's moved to a new place if anyone is interested. (And more things from the new place are coming soon.)

https://bit.ly/3OMOF5H

#WritingConversations #WritingCommunity #fairytale #retellings #multiverse #writing