Reminder: EPIC Group Writers sponsoring virtual writing workshop Sept. 18

Donna Galanti

EPIC Group Writers begins its 2021/2022 writing workshop season on Saturday, Sept. 18 with a two-hour virtual session on worldbuilding in any genre with author Donna Galanti.

I asked Donna how participants will benefit from her workshop. “They’ll discover how worldbuilding supports mood, theme, conflict, character, culture, and setting—basically everything!” she said. “Often, writers may overlook worldbuilding in their story if they aren’t writing science fiction or fantasy. However, every story happens somewhere and readers want to be immersed in the world of your story—whatever the genre.

“Worldbuilding is about creating a place for characters to live, work and play,” she continued. “Every one of our favorite books, movies and TV shows involves building a world, even if it looks a lot like our own.”

Whether you write fantasy, dystopian, science fiction or contemporary, world building is key to creating any meaningful tale. Why? Because life in an Iowa small town may be totally “alien” to someone who grew up in the big city life of Los Angeles or New York City, much like a sci-fi story can be “alien” to contemporary readers. I will help students see how they can show readers their story world, no matter where—or what time—it takes place.”

I asked Donna about her all-time favorite books, fiction or nonfiction.

“This is hard to answer because, like many book lovers, my reading tastes change over the years,” she said. “One novel I love to re-read is Lottery by Patricia Wood. The main character has a much different view than most people, which makes him so endearing. For non-fiction, I highly recommend Story Genius by Lisa Cron. It dives into the science behind writing and how to create a strong story road map of cause and effect.”

Galanti will demonstrate her methods by using examples from novels. She will also provide writing exercise, and downloadable handouts and ‘cheat sheet’ of the session. Find out more information and register here.

— By Laura Moe

Laura Moe is EPIC Group Writers board president and The Writer’s Desk columnist for My Edmonds News, MLTnews and Lynnwood Today.

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