Writer's Lab

For many, learning to write and outline your story can be a daunting task. But what if it could be a game? Embark on a unique storytelling journey as we discover the art of crafting compelling narratives using the unique power of various tabletop roleplaying games like Dungeons & Dragons. Whether you're a brand new writer or a pro, this workshop is designed to unlock your creative potential and guide you in using solo roleplaying as a tool to outline and write captivating stories.

Novelist Jessica Hatch will show you how to use (and subvert) the genre's most popular tropes, decide between "closed door" or spicier love scenes, get your Nora Ephron on by infusing humor into your romance, and write in a way that is authentically you - while still appealing to the market. Hatch is the author of two contemporary romance novels: My Big Fake Wedding and How to Keep a Husband for 10 Days.

Need for a new romance book to spice up those cold winter nights? Looking for some fun Galentine's Day ideas for you and your besties? We've got a Lit Chat Interview with two local romance authors and a romance-themed Writer's Lab workshop for anyone planning to put their own pen to paper. February is also Black History Month and we've got some great ideas for celebrating that, too! Jerry Urso returns for another History Chat - this one about the exciting life of Captain James W. Floyd. We'll also delve into poetry, true crime, gardening, business, finance, and more!

How do you best serve your creative processes? Where do you go for inspiration? How important is a writing community? And how can you carve out a life in this business of art? New York Times bestselling author Jami Attenberg will share ideas and perspectives for putting your creativity first at our next Writer's Lab workshop. Later that same day, she'll return for a Lit Chat Interview where she'll be in conversation with local author and interviewer, Nikesha Elise Wiliams.

It's going to be a busy January here at the Library! Whether you're resolving to read more, challenging yourself to (finally) write that novel that's been kicking around in the back of your head for years, or just continuing your pursuit of lifelong learning: We've got a great lineup of adult programs this month! Improve your day-to-day life with one of ten Life Lit workshops, get inspired with a Writer's Lab workshop and Lit Chat Interview featuring bestselling author Jami Attenberg, come together as a community for a thought-provoking Forward Thinking panel discussion, or check out a brand new Library Book Club.

We're closing out the year with some very cool programs and a ton of great book clubs! Get caught up in a good book with "Tangled Webb," a brand new Book Club meeting at Webb Wesconnett Regional Library. If you're interested in local history and memoirs, don't miss the Lit Chat Interview with Nat Glover.  At seventeen, he unknowingly headed into an angry white mob and the Ku Klux Klan attacking young black protestors staging a sit-in at a downtown whites-only lunch counter. Known as “Ax Handle Saturday,” this harrowing encounter with racism would commit him to a lifetime of fighting for justice. December is also the last month to check off 12 books and win a cool prize for the 2023 Jax Stacks Reading Challenge. A new challenge (and new categories) start January 1, 2024!

For National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), we asked a few of our recent Lit Chat and Writer's Lab alumni to answer a few questions about their writing process. Our second guest blogger is Sohrab Homi Fracis. Our second guest blogger is Sohrab Homi Fracis. True Fiction, his new book of North Florida (and elsewhere) stories, won the 2023 International Book Award for story collections. Fracis was also the first Asian American author to win the Iowa Short Fiction Award, described by the New York Times Book Review as "among the most prestigious literary prizes America offers," for his first book, Ticket to Minto: Stories of India and America.

For National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), we asked a few of our recent Lit Chat and Writer's Lab alumni to answer a few questions about their writing process. Hurley Winkler is a writer and a lifelong resident of Jacksonville. Her fiction and nonfiction work has appeared in Hobart, Neutral Spaces, The Millions, and elsewhere, and she interviews writers and musicians for The Creative Independent and WJCT's Jacksonville Music Experience. 

Writing 50,000 words in a single month can be a daunting task... but it doesn't have to be a solitary one! There's a whole community of writers, right here in Jacksonville, and several ways to network and learn from them. Between monthly Writer's Lab workshops as well as Lit Chat Interviews and Author Talks, the Library is truly a local author's best friend. You never have to pay to attend these classes either, whether it's an up-and-coming local author or an international bestselling author. Not only that, the Library has tons of books on writing, publishing and more... and it's all completely free to use! 

If you plan to come out of National Novel Writing Month with a ready-to-publish manuscript (or you just want to plan your next steps), join us at Writer's Lab in December for a hands-on how-to session with Mike Messier. He will instruct you, step-by-step, on how to write and publish fiction and nonfiction on Kindle Vella & Amazon KDP. If you bring your finished manuscript, you could even leave with a published book!