Anyone can build a house, if they have the right tools. But can you build a beautiful house? You can if you learn from the best architects and designers.

That was the central idea of the Writing Improvement Month as we were creating it. And now we’re ready to bring those architects and designers to you, for the sake of honing your craft and learning new tricks of the trade to help you build beautiful fiction.

Join us for a month-long event of writing, tutorials, guided study, featured works of great fiction, and interviews with professional writers. Sign up using the form on the right.

Our event focuses on nine subjects: Character Building, Descriptive Writing, Scene Setting, Character Interactions, Plotting, Simming Realistically, Character Conflicts, Grammar, and Research. Over the course of the month, you’ll hear from expert writers on how to improve your writing in each of these areas.

Special Guests

Margaret Wander Bonanno is the author of several Star Trek novels and the Preternatural series. In 1997, her work was listed among the New York Times notable books. Lev Grossman is the author of The Magicians: A Novel , which was a New York Times bestseller in both hardcover and paperback. He is a senior writer and book critic for Time magazine, and in 2011, he won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. David R. George III is a New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author. His latest work Allegiance in Exile is his twelfth Star Trek novel. He co-wrote the Star Trek: Voyager episode “Prime Factors,” which was nominated for a Sci-Fi Universe award, and has written numerous articles for Star Trek Magazine. Melinda Snodgrass has been a writer on numerous television series, including Star Trek: The Next Generation, where she wrote five episodes and was nominated for a WGA Award. She is also a published author of seven novels, including The Edge of Reason . Peter Watts is a Hugo Award-winner, and the author of Blindsight , six other science fiction novels, and a number of short stories. He’s also survived necrotising fasciitis (a.k.a. “flesh-eating bacteria”).

Schedule of Live Events

Sunday, February 3

Opening Ceremonies, IRC chat. (11am PST / 2pm EST / 7pm GMT / Monday AM for Australia)

General Writing Skills with Margaret Wander Bonanno, IRC chat. (12pm PST / 3pm EST / 8pm GMT / Monday AM for Australia)

Saturday, February 9

Grammar and Research workshop with Capt. Diego Herrera of UFOP: SB118, IRC chat. (12pm PST / 3pm EST / 8pm GMT / Sunday AM for Australia)

Sunday, February 17

General Writing Skills with Lev Grossman , video chat (12pm PST / 3pm EST / 8pm GMT / Monday AM for Australia)

, video chat (12pm PST / 3pm EST / 8pm GMT / Monday AM for Australia) Interactive writing workshop with Capt. Kalianna Nicholotti of UFOP: SB118, IRC chat. (1:30pm PST / 4:30pm EST / 9:30pm GMT / Monday AM for Australia)

Saturday, February 23

Characterization Q&A with David R. George III , video chat. (12pm PST / 3pm EST / 8pm GMT / Sunday AM for Australia)

, video chat. (12pm PST / 3pm EST / 8pm GMT / Sunday AM for Australia) Characters and realism workshop with FltCapt. Andrus Jaxx of UFOP: SB118, IRC chat. (1:30pm PST / 4:30pm EST / 9:30pm GMT / Sunday AM for Australia)

Sunday, February 24

General Writing Skills with Melinda Snodgrass, video chat. (12pm PST / 3pm EST / 8pm GMT / Monday AM for Australia)

Tuesday, February 26

General Plotting Skills with Peter Watts, video chat. (1pm PST / 4pm EST / 9pm GMT / Wednesday AM for Australia)

Saturday, March 2

Closing Ceremonies — announcement of Writing Challenge winner, IRC chat. (12pm PST / 3pm EST / 8pm GMT / Sunday AM for Australia)

Writing Challenge

Check out our Writing Challenge information page for more information on how you can enter the challenge and win a prize!