The Queer Story Engine
A Free Write with Pride Webinar
There are queer characters in fiction, and then there are stories that are changed by the fact that their characters are queer.
I’m interested in the second kind.
This June, I’m giving a free webinar as part of Write with Pride, ProWritingAid’s month-long celebration of LGBTQIA+ voices, writers and stories.
My session is called The Queer Story Engine: How Queerness Changes What a Story Wants.
I’ll be talking about the ways queerness can shape the deeper movement of a story: what a character wants, what they’ve learned to hide, what feels dangerous, where they belong, who sees them clearly, and what kind of life becomes possible by the end.
Because a queer character shouldn’t simply be a character who happens to have an LGBTQIA+ label attached to them. Queerness can affect desire, risk, secrecy, intimacy, family, community, power and transformation. It can create pressure. It can create joy. It can create the very engine that makes the story move.
This isn’t a session about insisting every queer story must be painful, political or focused on coming out. Queer stories can be funny, romantic, furious, tender, erotic, strange, joyful, frightening and gloriously messy. I want to explore how writers can make queerness feel woven into the story rather than added as decoration.
The session will be useful for writers working in historical fiction, fantasy, speculative fiction, horror, YA, literary fiction, romance, commercial fiction, or anything in between.
Write with Pride is completely free to attend, and signing up gives you access not only to my webinar but to a full month of events, including workshops led by LGBTQIA+ authors and educators, themed write-ins, daily prompts, book clubs, networking events and a supportive online writing community.
It’s open to LGBTQIA+ writers, allies, and anyone who wants to write more thoughtfully about queer lives and stories.
You can join Write with Pride here:
https://prowritingaid.com/write-with-pride/sign-up
I’d love to see you there.
Stuart