Join middle-grade novelists Catherine Bakewell and Esme Symes-Smith from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, June 4, for an in-person writing workshop hosted by the St. Louis Writers Guild. This workshop will be held in person at The Lodge Des Peres, 1050 Des Peres Rd., St. Louis, MO, 63131 and will also live-stream on Zoom.

The workshop will follow the 2/28/22 St. Louis County Health Advisory. MASKS ARE OPTIONAL, and we will not collect attendee information for contact tracing. No food or drinks will be served.

Using Character Arcs to Outline

Together, we will discuss character arcs and how the plot and the character's growth are intertwined. You'll leave this workshop with an outline for how your character grows and changes throughout the story, and the beginnings of a beat sheet to get you started plotting your next Middle Grade novel.

For the Zoom address, find the turquoise “Join current SLWG meeting” button at the top of the St. Louis Writers Guild’s Events page (http://www.stlwritersguild.org/events).

Catherine Bakewell is a writer, artist, and an opera enthusiast. She has lived in Spain and in France, where she romped through gardens, ate pastries, and worked on her novels. She is represented by Jordan Hamessley at New Leaf Literary and Media, Inc. Catherine's debut MG fantasy novel, WE ARE THE SONG, was published by Holiday House in May 2022.

After cutting their teeth on a steady diet of fan fiction in the Southwest of England, Esme Symes-Smith wandered north to Wales for their degree in literature and creative writing, then promptly migrated to Missouri after meeting their wife on Tumblr. Esme has been a ghostwriter, an editor, a frozen-yogurt seller, and a caffeine purveyor. They now wrangle preschoolers for a living and have a severe tea problem. Follow Esme on Twitter: @EsmeSymesSmith and Instagram:  ez_symes_smith.