DFWCon 2026: Full Schedule

8:30am CDT

How to Revise a Chapter: Let's Edit a Chapter Together (Live!)

Saturday October 3, 2026 8:30am - 9:20am CDT

If you've ever wanted to see how real editor feedback shapes an author's work, this is the class for you! In this session, I'll share how the opening chapter of THE GREAT OUTDOORS iterated into its final, published version—including actual feedback I got from my editor at Simon & Schuster during the revision process! We'll do a live edit during class, which will include a mix of big-picture issues all the way down to tiny line edit tweaks, with bonus thoughts on "How do I know which notes I should take?" that you can apply to your own projects.

Speakers

Kayla Olson

Saturday October 3, 2026 8:30am - 9:20am CDT
Room 6

Craft

9:30am CDT

Your First Five Pages

Saturday October 3, 2026 9:30am - 10:20am CDT

Room 6

Your first five pages are the seeds of your story—the moments that will hook readers and make them eager to turn the page. In this class, you’ll learn how to cultivate a compelling opening that sets the stage for an unforgettable narrative journey. We’ll review the essentials of an opening scene, common pitfalls, and what goes into a powerful beginning—all while having fun planting ideas you can grow in your own work. We’ll put these techniques into practice through writing prompts. This class is intended for writers who already have a firm story idea and are actively drafting, rather than those exploring new concepts.

Speakers

Jacquelin Cangro

Saturday October 3, 2026 9:30am - 10:20am CDT
Room 6

Craft

10:30am CDT

Character Assassination: How to Torture Your Characters with Their Past

Saturday October 3, 2026 10:30am - 11:20am CDT

Room 6

Build likable, relatable, and flawed characters who your readers will root for on every page. Use backstory and internals to dive into their troubled pasts without slowing the pace of your novel. Dig deep into why your characters act they way they do.

Speakers

Jennifer Moorhead

Saturday October 3, 2026 10:30am - 11:20am CDT
Room 6

Craft

11:30am CDT

How the Door Swings: A Guide to Writing Romance Heat Levels

Saturday October 3, 2026 11:30am - 12:20pm CDT

Room 6

Whether you keep the door closed, leave it cracked, or blow it off the hinges, there's an art to mastering the different heat levels in romance novels. This class is all about how you navigate which heat level best fits your brand and how to make it authentic for you and your readers.

Speakers

Sydney Applegate

Madeline Warthan

Saturday October 3, 2026 11:30am - 12:20pm CDT
Room 6

Craft

2:10pm CDT

The Art Of The Elevator Pitch (Editor's Edition)

Saturday October 3, 2026 2:10pm - 3:00pm CDT

Room 6

An editor-led workshop and deep dive into how editors pitch their books in-house — from editorial board meetings to formal sales presentations — feat. a group activity at the end of the session, "Pitch Wars," in which attendees will split into teams and role play as editors pitching a book internally.

Workshop goals: Offers insight into the kinds of questions editors ask themselves before pitching a book to an editorial board meeting or sales launch, and how this informs our acquisitions process. Authors will walk away from workshop with newfound tips/tricks on how to make your pitch stick and stand out on the publisher's side.

Speakers

Nicole Luongo

Nicole Luongo is an Associate Editor at Grand Central Publishing (GCP), part of Hachette Book Group. At GCP, Nicole acquires a wide range of edgy, voice-driven upmarket fiction, with a particular emphasis on amplifying marginalized voices.

Her editorial interests include upmarket speculative fiction (especially with a feminist bent); genre-subverting psychological thrillers (think cunning female perpetrators and unreliable narrators); select coming-of-age stories; and satire or dark comedy (she’s a sucker... Read More →

Saturday October 3, 2026 2:10pm - 3:00pm CDT
Room 6

Business

3:10pm CDT

Character Driven Fiction

Saturday October 3, 2026 3:10pm - 4:00pm CDT

Room 6

Discover how to use your main character's goal, motivation, and conflict to drive and enhance the plot of your novel.

Speakers

Madelyn Knecht

Saturday October 3, 2026 3:10pm - 4:00pm CDT
Room 6

Craft

4:10pm CDT

Turn That Spark into a Blaze: 7 Steps to Crafting Compelling Conflict

Saturday October 3, 2026 4:10pm - 5:00pm CDT

Room 6

Conflict ignites every scene in your novel. But how do you stoke those fires to keep your readers engaged and your plot moving?
In this workshop, you'll learn that conflict isn't about confrontation; it's about character choices. This 7-step method will guide you in turning up the heat on your characters with intense stakes and escalating tension.
Get ready to light up your manuscript with the tools to craft a story so powerful, it will burn in the minds of your readers long after they turn the final page.

Speakers

Dawn Alexander

Saturday October 3, 2026 4:10pm - 5:00pm CDT
Room 6

Craft

9:00am CDT

✅ Writing Resources 101

Sunday October 4, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am CDT

Room 6

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.

Is this your first writers conference? Classes with a ✅ in the title like this one are especially good for newcomers.

Speakers

Laura M. Johnson

Sunday October 4, 2026 9:00am - 9:50am CDT
Room 6

Craft

Skill Level ✅ New Attendees

10:00am CDT

Writing Suspense, Mysteries, and Thrillers

Sunday October 4, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am CDT

Room 6

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.

Speakers

Larry Enmon

Sunday October 4, 2026 10:00am - 10:50am CDT
Room 6

Craft

11:00am CDT

How To Revise Like An Editor

Sunday October 4, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am CDT

Room 6

Self-editing tips from macro to micro.

Speakers

Kelsey Evans

Kelsey began as an editor, helping writers shape their work through developmental feedback, query critiques, and revision guidance.

Later, she moved into agenting, interning with Triada US and Creative Media Agency (CMA), where she gained hands-on experience in manuscri... Read More →

Sunday October 4, 2026 11:00am - 11:50am CDT
Room 6

Craft

1:40pm CDT

No Small Parts: Big Worlds Built with Minor Characters

Sunday October 4, 2026 1:40pm - 2:30pm CDT

Room 6

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.

Speakers

Aleese Lin

Sunday October 4, 2026 1:40pm - 2:30pm CDT
Room 6

Craft

2:40pm CDT

The Speed Editing Event

Sunday October 4, 2026 2:40pm - 3:30pm CDT

Room 6

(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.

Speakers

Helen Dent

Helen Dent's career as a writer began at age nine, when her grandfather paid her a dollar a page for what turned into quite a lengthy story. She studied monster theory (among other things) in graduate school, taught English at a Chinese university, and toured the Scottish Hebrides... Read More →

Brooke Fossey

Brooke Fossey was once an aerospace engineer with a secret clearance before she traded it all in for motherhood and writing. She’s a past president and an honorary lifetime member of DFW Writers’ Workshop. Her work can be found in numerous publications, including Ruminate Mag... Read More →

Sunday October 4, 2026 2:40pm - 3:30pm CDT
Room 6

Event

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11:30am CDT

2:10pm CDT

3:10pm CDT

4:10pm CDT

9:00am CDT

10:00am CDT

11:00am CDT

1:40pm CDT

2:40pm CDT

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