DFWCon 2026

In this practical session for new writers, you’ll learn about some of the best educational, motivational, editing and business resources to help you succeed as a writer. You’ll leave with a list of the most popular resources used by writers, a strategy for which tools to use when and suggestions for finding joy in the writing journey.

This class explores which writing elements are most effective when writing in these genres. We break down and explain each one, emphasizing the reader's expectations and how to best achieve them. Examples from books and movies are used to clarify to the author which techniques work best and why, to accomplish the desired result.

Self-editing tips from macro to micro.

Genre SFF authors have no shortage of big ideas, but they can fall into the trap of hampering their writing's impact by sacrificing depth for breadth in their worldbuilding. In this hands-on session, Aleese Lin will show how strategic side character development can effect high-impact worldbuilding without padding word count or sacrificing reader interest. This craft discussion will be paired with an audience-participation exercise and an opportunity for attendees to tinker with their own not-so-small side characters.

(capped: 10 submissions, viewers welcome)
Is your work ready to be submitted? Have you crossed your T’s and dotted your I’s? Come join Helen Dent and Brooke Fossey to find out. Submit up to three double-spaced pages of your best (or most troublesome) work and watch as they do a fast and furious line-level edit. Beyond writing convention, you’ll get a fly-on-the-wall opportunity to see how your work is received, and learn through other’s mistakes and victories. Each submission is guaranteed a five-minute velocity edit. Work must be submitted beforehand at (x). Please include genre and target audience, and redact your name.