Long
Island
Romance
Writers
Upcoming Workshops
Join LIRW for monthly classes and workshops via Zoom! Most classes are free for members. Non-members may sign-up for classes for a fee by clicking REGISTER below
or emailing longislandromancewriters@gmail.com
September 13, 2025
1:00 PM
Eliana West: Writing Diverse Characters: Your Diversity Toolkit
$10 for nonmembers. Free for members.
Are you ready to craft characters and worlds that authentically reflect the diverse tapestry of our society? Join Eliana West, author and founder of Writers for Diversity, for a foundational workshop based on her ""Relatable Writing"" workbook.
This workshop is designed as a safe space for writers to learn and grow through thoughtful and respectful dialogue. This workshop is not meant to tell you what you can and cannot write, nor does it offer a magic formula to avoid all offense. Instead, its intention is to provide tools and resources that will help you think beyond what Eliana West calls your ""default setting"" and cultivate greater awareness as you write.
In this workshop we will cover:
• Understanding Your Default Setting
• Confronting Unconscious Biases.
• Exploring Character Identity
• Navigating Tropes, Stereotypes, and Beliefs
• Addressing Microaggressions and Privilege
• Crafting Inclusive Descriptions
Eliana West encourages you to embrace learning as a lifelong journey. You will gain insights to create relatable characters your readers will love.
Join us to become a more inclusive writer, committed to creating characters that reflect the diverse world you live in.
From small towns to close-knit communities, award-winning author Eliana West loves stories that bring people from different backgrounds together through the common language of unconditional love and acceptance. Eliana is an award-winning author who is a passionate advocate for diversity within the writing community. She is the founder of Writers for Diversity, teaching classes and workshops that encourage writers to create diverse characters and worlds with an empathetic approach.
October 18, 2025
11:00 AM
Damon Suede: Double Feature: INCITING INSIGHTS and BIG BAD
$15 for non-members, free for members
INCITING INSIGHTS: making the offer they can’t refuse
The best stories start where they must… the awful predicament, the call to action, the tempting offer that forces your protagonist to get down to tbe business of being fascinating. Your story needs to start, not from scratch, but from ITCH…the moment that makes your character twitch. This workshop gets up close and personal with the roots of drama and emotion, of stakes and spectacle, and what exactly will get a main character off their butt and out of their rut. Join us for 90 minutes of kicking baby birds out of nests and inviting your audience into a fascinating dilemma they can’t put down.
BIG BAD: building memorable villains
Audiences expect more from bookshelf baddies. Whether driving the action or lurking in the shadows, your villain maps your story’s moral landscape and telegraph what matters most. These days, twisted tyrants and cookie-cutter maniacs can seem almost quaint. Without real monsters there can be no heroes. Generic menace, malice, and mustache-twirling won’t cut the mustard… So go beyond the MWA-HA-HA to generate real dread and craft scoundrels blessed with depth, drive, and dire resonance. Join us for this 90-minute workshop and we’ll uncover the evil seed buried in your story and give your heroes someone worth fighting.
Bestselling author Damon Suede has been a full-time writer for print, stage, comics, and screen for three decades. He has won some awards, but counts his blessings more often: his amazing friends, his demented family, his beautiful husband, his loyal fans, and his silly, stern, seductive Muse who keeps whispering in his ear, year after year.