The JordanCon Writers track is a place to come learn about the art, craft, and business of writing. We have topics that range from traditional to self publishing, editing to different aspects of writing, panel topics to workshops. 

JordanCon’s Got Slush!

The first few pages of a book are important! JordanCon’s Got Slush is a live anonymous reading of submitted book openings by real acquiring editors and publishing professionals, and an analysis of what they liked and what they didn’t. This will be held on Friday night.

Writer’s Workshop

The Annual Workshop is a chance to get peer and professional critique from attendees and our guests. It happens Friday Night after the dinner break, and tends to run for a couple of hours. 

JordanCon Annual Pitch Critique

Knowing how to pitch your book can be vitally important too. In this no-stress pitch critique, industry pros and editors listen to your pitch and tell you frankly what they liked about the pitch and what dragged it down, helping you to hone your hook, summary, and catch. No pre-reg needed, just come and raise your hand.

Flash Fiction

Don’t just hear and talk about writing, do it! A semi-guided flash-fiction writing session on Saturday morning where prompts are provided, you get a short amount of time, and then we share our stories. Always a blast to see what creativity we have in the track.

Selected Panel Archive

Here is a selected example of other panel headers we have done in years past. We try to keep it fresh and not repeat ourselves from year to year, but that isn’t to say that just because we’ve run a panel before, we won’t again.

• “Keeping a Long Series Fresh”
  • A panel on writing sequels
• “Business Realities for the Aspiring Writer”
  • A discussion of the business of writing, especially for self pub
• “Keeping it Short”
  • A discussion of short fiction and the differences and challenges it represents.
• “eBooks!”
  • A discussion on the creation and distribution of eBooks
• “Schmoozing 101”
  • A discussion on how to market and present yourself
• “Folklore and Fairytales”
  • Discussion on incorporating legends from the real world into your fiction.
• “Religion in your World”
  • A discussion on using religion as a narrative and world building tool. RECORDED!
• “Violence for Writers”
  • A discussion and demonstration of fight scenes.
• “Pacing and Plotting”
  • A discussion on how to find that beat of a story, when to let things calm down, when to ramp them up.
• “The Hero’s Journey”
  • A lecture/discussion on the classic “Hero’s Journey” analysis of stories and how to apply it to your own writing.
• “Flawed Worlds”
  • A discussion of “gritty” world building and adding depth to a story through flawed worlds and characters.
• “Screenwriting”
  • A discussion of the very different craft involved in writing screenplays.
• “Collaborative Writing”
  • A discussion focused on books with more than one author and how that even works.
• “Editing and Polishing”
  • One of many panels we’ve had about how to clean up a manuscript after the first draft is written.
• “Write what you don’t know”
  • A discussion about how to research topics you might not have a strong understanding, or how to strengthen an already strong understanding.
• “Game Writing”
  • A discussion on how to write for table-top games, and even some discussion of system creation.
• “Terrible Writing Advice”
  • A fun panel where authors talk about the worst advice they received or have heard others say, and why it was bad.
• “Sensory Writing”
  • A discussion about using more than just “sight” in your description.
• “Tropes: Rule of Cool”
  • A discussion of how the “Rule of Cool” trope can carry an unbelievable scene, and just how far to push it.
• “Query Letters”
  • A dicussion on how to write a good query letter, dos and don’ts.
• And many many more.