WriteHive 2025 Round Up!

WriteHive is an organization committed to providing resources and hosting events for writers across the community that are inclusive, safe, and free to access. I first learned about WriteHive this year from a fellow member of Codex, and when I heard they also host a free virtual conference, I signed up immediately. From July 11-13, I was able to attend multiple panels and workshops and interact with fellow writers and readers across Discord, and as is my wont, I took copious amounts of notes. I had a lot of fun, learned so much, and I have already begun to apply what I experienced to my own writing projects.

I highly encourage anyone interested to check out WriteHive. I know they have more events throughout the year besides the con, but if you missed it and want a peek at what to expect from the organization, keep on reading to see my takeaways from the panels I attended.

*I was, unfortunately, very sick all weekend, so I didn’t attend as much as I wanted to, but shout-out to WriteHive and all the other cons offering virtual options so folks sick or at high-risk of illness can still attend without endangering our health or the health of others. I heard the recorded events will eventually make it to WriteHive’s YouTube channel, another way you can check out the conference if you missed it.

**All event descriptions are taken from the WriteHive conference program schedule.

Writing Older Characters: More Than Parents, Mentors, and Babysitters

Moderator: Nicholas W. Fuller
Presenter: Samantha Bryant
Description: “Contrary to most entertainment media, women do not stop having interesting lives after hitting a certain age. In the interest of creating more dynamic characters, Samantha Bryant uses her own experience writing menopausal superheroes to talk about the options available to writers when they let go of age restrictions.”
Key Takeaways:

• Older characters have more history, backstory, plot, and worldbuilding fodder just by nature of having more lived experience.

• A character with a fully established life has more to lose, and that can be leveraged for higher stakes in the story.

• Older characters have just as much growth potential—let them learn and change and overcome flaws.

Interactive Fiction Q&A

Moderator: Dawn Vogel
Speaker: Livia J. Elliot
Description: “Interested in writing interactive fiction? Or need advice or tips for a project you're already working on? It can be challenging to work with the nonlinear storytelling and multiple choices that are often found within these projects. The lead writer of the mobile app Unearthed Stories, will help answer any questions and offer insight into the world of interactive fiction in this live Q&A.”
Key Takeaways:

• Choices should reflect the emotions of the situation.

• Choices affect secondary characters and the environment as well. Remember to add in the ripple effects.

• A choice does not need to branch to still change the reader’s perception of a decision being made/to build up a character personality rather than a plotline.

• Choices have to have rewards and readers have to know those rewards before they have to choose.

Gothic Fiction: Atmosphere and Expectations

Moderator: Hien Nguyen
Speakers: Paulette Kennedy, Tonja K. Johnson, Brian Lambert, Camilla Andrew
Description: “Gothic fiction has a unique atmosphere and appeal. But how to create it within your own work? In this panel, authors discuss the reader's expectations for the gothic genre, as well as how to capture the atmosphere without becoming predictable.”
Key Takeaways:

• The setting often acts as a character in gothic fiction.

• Gothic literature is a great platform to talk about deep issues within metaphor.

• Gothic literature was born on the heels of Romanticism, so there’s bigger, more elegant prose to dramatize everything on the page.

• Reader feedback is particularly important for gothic works since it is designed to be quite immersive and in conversation with the genre and real world.

Breadcrumbing Clues in Mystery Novels

Moderator: Hien Nguyen
Speakers: Dawn Vogel, Alverne Ball, Bobby Nash
Description: “Clues are essential to a good mystery novel. Yet, there definitely is skill involved in creating clues and placing them within your story in a way that's effective without giving away your twist too early. Learn how to creatively breadcrumb your clues from this panel of authors.”
Key Takeaways:

• Beta readers can help tremendously with identifying what’s too obvious/not obvious enough.

• Characters go about solving mysteries in different ways that are not necessarily how the writer or the reader would do so.

• The reader should be able to solve the mystery.

• There are many different types of clues: description, dialogue, action, worldbuilding, etc.

Traditional Publishing Q&A: From First Draft to Publication

Speakers: Meriam Metoui
Description: “The road from first draft to seeing your book on shelves can be long and confusing! Bring your questions to author and editor Meriam Metoui and she will help to demystify the process.”
Key Takeaways:

• Comps for your book should be recent, within the same age range and genre, and feel like a cousin to your book.

• The editorial process is 100% a collaboration and should be a give and take on both sides.

  • It is okay to disagree with an edit so long as you fully understand why that edit was suggested and why you don’t want to make the change.

    • Ultimate goal = make the best book possible.

• Beta readers should be trusted individuals that are ideally someone who will have picked your book off shelves anyway.

• Figure out what you want from an agent before you look for one.

  • i.e. do you want an editorial partner? A business partner? Someone more creative or more analytical? All of the above?

• Agents want authors who can take feedback well and are able to collaborate.

Maintaining Suspense in Horror Novels

Moderator: TJ McLaughlin
Speakers: Brenda Radchik, Marisa Noelle, R.J. Joseph, L. Marie Wood
Description: “A horror novel has to keep the tension crackling from beginning to end. That can't be easy. That's why we're talking to some of the experts on sustainable suspense about how to keep your readers on the edge of their seats.”
Key Takeaways:

• Nestle the suspense within the subgenre of your horror.

• Remember to create breathing room for the reader.

  • small wins, forward progress, or subplots

• Technology can be another tool to fuel the suspense. Just be sure to take it into account so it doesn’t solve or explain away the problem.

• Write reactions from the perspective of the characters to keep them authentic in their responses.

How to Blend Genres

Moderator: Jesse Polhman
Speakers: A.P. Hawkins, Adrian M. Gibson, Ananya Devarajan, Robert Jeffrey II, Marve Michael Anson
Description: “Do you write spooky romance stories set in space? Or maybe cozy mysteries set in the wild west? Then join our panelists as they discuss the best strategies for writing stories that defy traditional genre categories.”
Key Takeaways:

• Expectations are there for a reason, and you’re not going to change them right away or easily.

• Always keep in mind the core of your story.

• It is possible to do too much blending as each genre does have non-negotiables or requirements that eat up word and plot space, which are both finite.

• When selling a blended genre book, your comps are going to be very important.

• Series can create opportunities to add genres as you go or spread out genres between books.

  • Long term genre blending.

Hopepunk: Writing with Empathy in Dark Times

Moderator: S. Morgan Burbank
Speakers: Cait Gordon, Jesse Pohlman, Matthew Phillion, Valerie Valdes
Description: “Empathy in writing is more important than ever. How do you develop and promote kind characters in a world that does not always reward kindness and empathy, and how can these stories act as a counterbalance to grimdark/dystopian tales?”
Key Takeaways:

• Hopepunk ≠ Cozy

  • Hope is allowed to be, and often is, angry and loud.

  • Hope is the distance between where you are and where you’d like to/should be.

• “Awareness without action is just anxiety.”

  • Writing to create empathetic characters, themes, and plots can help you and your reader move through the anxiety and into agency.

• Hopepunk exists not just as a genre but within the smaller details of a character’s actions, a theme, a line of dialogue.

• Hopepunk has existed as long as humanity.

• Stories are empathy engines.

Like I said, there was a ton more going on at the conference than I was well enough to attend, and the Discord chats were lively and informative. I hope this little peek behind the curtain was enough to garner your interest to check out WriteHive and see what they have to offer.

Huge thanks to the panelists, moderators, speakers, presenters, volunteers, and everyone at WriteHive. I had a blast, and I fully intend to attend next year as well. Thank you!