Good day, Pony Fan Fiction Enthusiasts,

Everfree Northwest is one of the community’s top conventions for lovers of fan fiction and now we’re happy to share with you just what our writing track this year has to offer. We have 8 fabulous Writing Panels, 4 Workshops in 2 formats, our third Iron Author Competition with spectacular prizes, and our favorite event, the Fan Fiction Chillouts. Rounding this out are 14 fantastic panelists with a variety of different views and experiences to the topic of writing.

Our writing track has been carefully crafted with several key considerations:

Community

The fanfiction community is vibrant and varied with many talented people who have many different strengths. We are dedicated to helping authors and readers enter the fan fiction scene strongly and helping those already in it to forge new, meaningful connections.

Fanfic Chillouts – Come meet your fellow fanfiction authors and readers on Friday and Saturday! This is a space to sit down, relax, and chat about pony words or life in general. Hang out for the evening, network, or swing by between other events.

Fanfiction: the Community and You – Participating in fanfiction isn’t like being a normal reader or writer; it’s a much more level playing field, with plenty of opportunities for dialogue between author and audience. Here we cover how to reach out and interact in the fanfiction community, from getting help forging relationships, to working with or being an editor, to collaborating on projects.

Mastering Specific Topics

We have 7 more panels and 14 panelists for a reason: panels are a big part of any convention. This year’s Everfree Northwest theme is ‘Villains, Rivals, Friends?’ and we have a series of 4 panels that tie in with this.

How to Write a Villain/The Redemption of Evil – Heroes are nice, but sometimes evil is more interesting! Here we’ll talk about how to make a better villain: someone to enhance your hero, or perhaps to steal the show. We’ll follow this by talking about how to redeem even the vilest of villains.

How to Write a Hero – Every piece of fanfiction is about somepony – a “protagonist” – but what’s the factor that turns that main character into an honest-to-goodness hero? What makes for likable and sympathetic characters? What is a “Mare-y Sue” and why should you run screaming if you see one? Our panelists will illuminate these questions and more.

How to Write a Good Comedy – Everyone loves a good laugh, but good comedy takes hard work. We’ll discuss the finer (and cruder!) points of writing horse-words to make the reader smile, smile, smile! And be ready to groan, groan, groan, as we make bad puns, use (and abuse) references and memes, double-down on entendres, reminisce about “The Noodle Incident“, and remember that sometimes, “Where subtlety fails us, we must simply make do with cream pies.”

How to Write a Good Romance – Romance is one of the most popular and hardest fanfiction genres to master, but when you get it right, no other rose could smell as sweet. We will explore the magical feelings of love and friendship how show how to include romance in your story.

High End Discussions

We also have high-end panels with a broader scope, panels that will make that little hamster in all of our heads run a little faster to keep up. Returning from last year is our panel on

Making the Big Time - Have you ever wondered what it takes to get noticed in the fandom as a writer? What’s the difference between a story that vanishes quietly after release and a story that garners thousands of upvotes? Our panelists will offer tips on everything from getting featureboxed on FIMFiction, to earning an Equestria Daily feature, to using comment feedback and story groups and reviews to their best benefit. Get here early before this panel reaches capacity!

Symbolism and Literary Devices – Writing is more than just putting down words in a particular order, it’s a poetry to convey meaning and motions far beyond any picture. “Ask not what Equestria can do for you, but what you can do for Equestria.” Here, we’ll talk about the ways in which we can say so much more than just words. This topic will help authors who want to bring more depth to their writing, and those wanting to push themselves in challenging new directions.

Literary Merit – What separates good stories from great ones? We’ll discuss how to take fanfiction to the next level as we dissect some of the fandom’s greatest works, both structurally and thematically, and learn how to apply those lessons to our own writing.

Workshops and Iron Author

We also have two types of writing workshops and an Iron Author writing competition.

Peer Review and Critique Workshops – Bring three printed copies of a short story or excerpt (3000–4000 words) rated “teen” or lower, and join us for peer reviews. There will be a brief introduction and handout on basic critique/review procedures, then we’ll split into groups of four and exchange stories. You’ll be expected to review the three other stories from your group on your own time, before returning for Part II on Saturday to discuss and share your thoughts as a group.

ORC (Open Reading and Critique) - We will host an Open Reading and Critique (ORC) workshop each day of the convention. Bring the first 750 words of your teen or lower rated story and get feedback from fellow authors. You’ll read your intro aloud for a group of five and they’ll each give 60 seconds to provide rapid-fire feedback. You’ll then listen and provide similar feedback for others as you go around the table. You are welcome to participate in multiple sessions if you bring multiple stories. These workshops are a great way to network and gain some valuable critique for your story.

Iron Author Writing Contest - Come test your writing chops while competing for prizes such as messenger bags, a limited edition paperback, and a number of MLP blind bags. Write a short story (up to 2500 words) that incorporates a number of themed secret “ingredients”. The results will be scored by a panel of judges and the winners will be given a chance to share their creations live! Note: Please bring your own laptop/tablet; pen-and-paper submissions are accepted but will give your competitors an edge in speed and editing.

We will have more on both the Iron Author competition and our workshops in the coming weeks, so follow us on our Fimfiction Profile.

Fantastic Guests

Everfree Northwest aims to bring you the best writing panelists. This year we have 14 authors and editors with different experiences to flesh out our panels in a diverse and professional fashion. Unsurprisingly, a large amount of fun slipped in as well.

First we have SR Foxley and Silver Quill who have many years of experience in not only writing, but running and participating in writing tracks across multiple fandoms (including Everfree Northwest’s previous writing tracks). They are currently volunteering at Everfree Northwest in other capacities but will be stopping by as part of our ‘Symbolism and Literary Device’ panel. In addition, we have the following panel hosts and guests:

Writing Track Staff/Hosts:

Piquo Pie: Writing Track Lead:

It is said that those who can, do, and those who can’t, teach. Well, Piquo does teach, as well as edit, and when he isn’t busy helping others he occasionally manages to put down a few words (which he then spends endless amounts of time rewriting). Remember, if it’s worth doing once, it’s worth doing a thousand times.

Horizon: Writing Track Second:

Horizon is not a changeling. He has, however, authored award-winning pony fanfics such as Fugue State, Thou Goddess, and the multiple-time loop madness of Hard Reset 2: Reset Harder. He also helps curate the fanfic spotlights of the Royal Canterlot Library. Horizon is serving as Everfree’s writing-track second as part of a 20-year tradition of convention staffing.

Xepher: Writing Track Third:

A Linux geek by day and stunt-writer by night, Xepher has been smashing fiction out of keyboards for over fifteen years. He claims he doesn’t write so much as he performs acts of high-wire fiction without a net. His most famous horse-words are those of his “Three Wishes” series.

Writing Track Guests:

BronyWriter:

BronyWriter is a powerhouse of MLP fanfiction with over 50 stories and 2,500 followers. He won the EFNW pre-con writing contest by writing a superb Mane-iac fic which you can find in the EFNW conbook and on BronyWriter’s FIMFiction account.

Ckat_Myla:

Ckat_Myla is an aspiring voice actress and a pretty good fan fiction writer. With nearly a decade of doing both she is comfortable calling herself “good enough.”

Dusk Watch:

“I’m an editor and former Marine. I do what I do because I enjoy the opportunity to help others polish the stuff they write.”

GaryOak:

Sparked by pony fanfiction, GaryOak is an award-winning creative writing major who has submitted pony prose to university classes. He specializes in epics, comedy, technical writing, and television scripts.

MarineMarksman:

“I’m some dude who likes to write about colorful ponies in his spare time. I’m primarily known for my comedies, though I have been known to write action and romance.”

Pen Stroke:

Author of Past Sins amongst other stories, Pen Stroke has been a member of the community for over two years and is the most followed author on Fimfiction.net.

PK:

PK was congealed from primordial soup. He discovered Antipodes engraved on an ancient slab and released it as his own writing. He also doesEquestria Daily stuff sometimes.

Seattle Lite:

Seattle Lite is, as one might expect, a native to Seattle and proudly assists the Brony writing community far and wide.

Soundslikeponies:

Soundslikeponies found popularity with quality over quantity. Primarily a writer of romance, high fantasy, and comedy, he’s the author of titles such as “Flying High, Falling Hard” and “Equestria from Dust.”

We hope you join us for three days of Everfree Northwest this July 4th! Badge pre-orders ends June 13th, but there will be tickets sold at the doors. And if you aren’t able to make it, but still want to remain involved, EFNW does weekly fanfiction spotlights, occasional contests, and more on our Fimfiction Profile and our Fimfiction Group.