Are you working on a pilot, short, play, or feature and feeling uninspired? Are your characters seeming like so many chess pieces that you’re moving around inside of a story already outlined, but lacking that energy, emotion, and pacing you seek? Enter the essential ingredient you might be missing – character backstory.

On Monday, December 1st HSSW will take a dive into how backstory not only can enrich your story but may, in many ways, create new opportunities for plot twists and escalating drama.

This will be a virtual event so join us from anywhere in the world!  Timeframe – 7:00 9:30 EST.

Sign up for our two-part event:

1) FIRST HALF HOUR We’ll listen to some backstories, written by YOU, that describe one well known character from a feature or series and guess who it is. The purpose of this exercise – to look at how much the writer/creator crafted and then exposed the character’s origin story and history to enrich the narrative.

2) NEXT TWO HOURS You’ll have the opportunity to describe the protagonist, antagonist and a few key supporting characters from one of your projects in 8 minutes and have a few minutes of feedback on how intriguing they seem and how they might contribute to your storyline, the escalating conflict/stakes and the ultimate resolution.

TO SIGN UP:

Simply pay $15.00 via Zelle or Paypal using the links genine@hsswriters.com or 978-505-5652. Indicate 12/1/25 Workshop. This review is also available for easy signup right here at our website.

Once you sign up, you’ll be sent 2 worksheets.

All proceeds go to the volunteer, non-profit HSSW in support of our programming.  Deadline for sign-ups is Monday, November 24th EST. The Zoom link for anyone who signs up will be sent out on the day of the event by 3:00 PM.