Level Up Your Writing in 2026
Streamed January 18th, 2026
Superdraft: Productivity for Writers
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📚 Overview
Is this going to be the year you achieve your greatest writing goals? Join us for our first conference 2026, where you’ll learn strategies to improve your writing skills, set key writing goals, and excel as a writer.
Over four sessions, we’ll be joined by editors, literary agents, and authors who will share proven methods for planning and outlining, overcoming writer’s block, and finding your creative process. At the end of the day, you’ll walk away with practical tools and an entirely new framework for becoming a more confident and productive writer in 2026.
🎓What you’ll learn
Schedule
11:00 - 11:45 EST
How to Get Unstuck and Find Your Creative Process
In this hands-on workshop, editor Heather Demetrios will guide you through six steps to figuring out your unique creative process. You’ll learn to create a framework that you can refer back to whenever you feel stuck. With these tools in your pocket, you’ll be able to navigate any roadblocks that come your way with confidence.
12:00 - 12:45 EST
Setting Writing Goals for 2026
Editor and literary agent Kara Rota will show you how to set writing goals and create a realistic roadmap to achieve them. Whether your aim is to develop your writing craft, publish your book, or reach more readers, this practical session will help you break down your year in writing.
13:15 - 14:00 EST
How to Plot and Plan Your Next Book
Itching to finally write your book? Whether you are a dedicated plotter or a free-spirited pantser, you’ll need some sort of plan to work from. In this session, editor Sara Oestreich will demystify the plotting process through character arcs and three major storytelling structures. Lastly, she’ll tackle the logistics of the writing life, showing you how to build a realistic writing and editing timeline that actually works.
14:15 - 15:00 EST
Superdraft: Productivity for Writers
Every person has two voices in their head – the creator and the critic – and the best writing happens when we separate those voices and listen to only one at a time. In the final session of the day, Thomas Donnelly will show you how, and when, to listen to each voice as you brainstorm, outline, write, and edit your manuscript. By working both your inner creator and critic in turn, you’ll ultimately create your superdraft.Speakers
Heather Demetrios
Author & Book Coach
Heather Demetrios is a critically acclaimed author, writing coach, and clinical social worker for creatives. Her novels include Little Universes, I’ll Meet You There, and Exquisite Captive. Her nonfiction includes Code Name Badass: The True Story of Virginia Hall. She is the recipient of the PEN America Discovery Award for her debut novel, Something Real. She holds an MFA in Writing from Vermont College of Fine Arts and wants to teach you everything she knows.
Kara Rota
Editor & Literary Agent
Kara Rota is an editor and a Senior Agent at Thompson Literary Agency. She’s previously worked as an Executive Editor at Chicago Review Press, acquiring narrative nonfiction, music, and pop culture titles, and at Macmillan, acquiring and editing cookbooks, mind/body/spirit projects, and other nonfiction. At TLA, Kara is excited to represent authors working on prescriptive and narrative nonfiction.
Sara Oestreich
Editor
Sara Oestreich is a developmental editor with decades of experience in romance, women’s lit, fantasy, and PNR. She's worked with boutique publishers and has been involved in writing & editing over 500 books. She’s been a librarian, ghostwriter, and now enjoys editing most! Sara loves supporting writers in finding their voice and achieving success in the competitive romance industry.
T.D. Donnelly
Author & Screenwriter
T.D. Donnelly has been a professional screenwriter for 30 years. He has written on projects that have grossed a billion dollars worldwide. He’s adapted the works of Ray Bradbury, Clive Cussler, Stan Lee, and Robert E Howard. He’s worked on franchises from Voltron to Uncharted, and from Marvel’s Doctor Strange to The Walking Dead. He is also the author of the Malcolm Chaucer spy thrillers Year of the Rabbit, Year of the Horse, andYear of the Serpent (coming next month).
