Promotional art for the "What's Your Story, Stranger?" workshop.

“What’s Your Story, Stranger?” Online Character Writing Seminar

After a successful soft launch in 2025, I am pleased to announced that Emona Literary Services™ will be bringing my RPG character writing seminar, “What’s Your Story, Stranger?” to online audiences for the first time at the end of March.

On March 31 at 7:00pm Eastern, I will be running the online virtually via Zoom.


I wanted this seminar to primarily be a way for gamers to get more comfortable developing their characters’ stories — though the lessons are applicable to anyone who wants to tell a better story.

With that in mind, I thought it might be helpful to tell some of my own story:

In a hole in the ground – well, it was more of a basement – there lived a devastatingly handsome freelance writer and editor. One day, he was brainstorming business ideas with a program faciliator.

(Shout-out to Rise‘s Small Business Lending Program, without which you would not be reading this).

“Well,” the writer said. “I could help people write better Dungeons & Dragons characters.”

The facilitator replied, “That sounds like a good idea. Do that.”

And that challenge was the spark of the adventure that gave us his writing seminar “What’s Your Story, Stranger?”

And some other stuff happened. He held a T. Rex skull. He tried Thai food. Got locked in a shed once…

Ahem.

After about a year of work and planning – and the self-doubt and second-guessing that accompanies any entrepreneurial endeavour – I presented “What’s Your Story, Stranger?” in its earliest form.

This was supposed to be the beginning of a rollicking Fantasy RPG adventure, so it made sense to start in a familiar place – like many Fantasy adventures, we begin in a tavern. Put yourself in the mindset of an adventurer and as you settle down with your drink, reflect on the moments and history that brought you here.

Based on my experience as an author, RPG player, and GM, I’ll guides participants through an interactive workshop that will turn a basic character concept into a fleshed-out individual with a full history, backstory, and personality.

By the time you leave the tavern, you’ll be fully equipped with an ideal character.

Emona Literary Services™ Patreon subscribers can access a code for special discounted tickets. Discounted tickets are limited to 15 attendees.

Now, a quick reminder that I am a professional writer and editor, and if you’re in need of writing and editing support, please consider taking a look at the work and rates currently offered by Emona Literary Services™ and reach out if you think I can help you.

Please consider supporting Emona Literary Services™ to help me expanding my publishing and content creation projects, via Patreon, Ko-fi, or directly through Paypal by scanning the QR code below:

A QR code linking to https://www.paypal.com/ncp/payment/DMJ42KPRUV8XA

You can follow me on my various social media platforms here:

© Joel Balkovec — Published by Emona Literary Services™.

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License button.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

The author prohibits the use of content published on this website for the purposes of training Artificial Intelligence technologies, including but not limited to Large Language Models, without express written permission.

All stories published on this website are works of fiction. Characters are products of the author’s imagination and do not represent any individual, living or dead.

View the Emona Literary Services™ Privacy Policy here.


Comments

Leave a comment