**Please do NOT post Zoom links publicly.** We don't want Zoom bombers.

Tropes are the building blocks of literary tradition, but the most exciting works of today are often subversive. Using examples and generative writing exercises, we’ll explore:

* what is a trope
* ways to balance reader expectations with innovation
* how to make old familiar conventions fresh without alienating readers

**About**
**Rachel Horak Dempsey** is a writer of dark fiction living in Denver. Her prose appears in anthologies by Shacklebound Books, Brigids Gate Press, Timber Ghost Press, Twenty Bellows (Pushcart nominated 2024) and others. She holds a BFA in Drama and English from NYU, a Master’s in Journalism from Georgetown and an MFA from Regis University in Denver where she currently lives with her family. Find her on X and Instagram @rachelsdempsey or blogging at rmfw.org/blog.

Boulder Writers Alliance Meetup

Caitlin

JP Batra

Laura L. B. Border

Write to Publish: Not Your Mother’s Tropes, How to Subvert without Alienating Yo

Online event

December's hybrid meeting--IN PERSON at the **Boulder Library Main Branch second floor Flatirons Meeting Room** & ONLINE (see link when you register)--is *Let Us Descend* by Jesmyn Ward (USA, 2023) on Sunday starting at 2:30 pm (for 2 hours).

Two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward draws heavily on Dante's Inferno as a metaphor for the agonizing journey of an American slave. Annie is our Virgil, guiding us deeper and deeper into hell, as the spirit of her African warrior grandmother helps her to develop her own resourcefulness and strength.

We are Writers Who Read. We use Literary Forensics to dissect a recent novel (published within the past 18 months) with the goal of uncovering how the author has utilized their skills for effect. Storytelling is an art, but it's not a mystery. Every writer must address the following:

* Structure, Timeline, Pacing, Suspense, Omission
* Point of View, including Voice, Character, Place
* Language, Tense, Imagery, Metaphor, Symbols
* Motivation: Making a story pop - generating a thrill
* Why this story? And why now? Industry considerations

We ask that all attendees read the entire book in advance of the meeting, and come bearing their discoveries of how the author has addressed each of the five points above.

More information about other Writers Who Read meetings and our **WwR Podcast** can be found at: https://WritersWhoRead.com

Gary McBride

Whitney Pinion

Writers Who Read LIVE!: Let Us Descend - Jesmyn Ward

Boulder Public Library - Main Library

**Please do NOT post Zoom links publicly.** We don't want Zoom bombers.

Do you want to write to publish a book, but are confused by all the advice out there about the right path to seeing your book in print? Do you want to know about how to sell your book once it is published as well as how people get it on a major best sellers list?

Should you find an agent? (And how do you do that?) Should you go to publishers directly? Should you self-publish? Should you go print-on-demand? Yoinks! It seems like publishing is the new wild west.

While publishing is easier than it's ever been, it's also more confusing. The former gatekeepers no longer hold all the keys, but there are also a lot of people out there selling counterfeit ones. How do you figure out what the best way to do it is when all you really want to do is sit down and write?

BWA has a handful of people who know the ropes, from published authors to those of us who work in the seedy underbelly of the industry. Wanna know what we've done and what's worked?

Then this is the meeting for you.

(Note: The above is a generic introduction to our group. Each month's talk is different by different writers we've found who have expertise about important publishing topics. I will update this copy to reflect each month's meeting as soon as I can for each. For specifics for each meeting, please continue to check back. 😁 )

Write to Publish, Publish to Sell

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