The Writers of the Future Online Writing Workshop Celebrates Five Years with New Videos From Best-Selling Authors

Launched in April 2020, the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future Online Workshop was met with considerable enthusiasm from the science fiction and fantasy writing community. Five years later, with nearly 10,000 workshop participants—making it one of today’s most successful writing workshops—the Writers of the Future organizers have announced three new instructional videos from Contest judges Kevin J. Anderson, Nnedi Okorafor, and Robert J. Sawyer.

Emily Goodwin, Vice President Public Affairs Author Services, stated, “This course was created as an extension of the Writers of the Future Contest to provide hard-won advice from successful working professionals and a lot of inspiration to provide that helping hand to writers of science fiction and fantasy as initially conceived by L. Ron Hubbard.”

Thousands of entrants were asked what they most looked forward to in winning the Contest. Getting published, award money, and a trip to Hollywood were appreciated, but the most coveted prize was attending the workshops. “We created the workshop basics and made them widely available to all. The Writers of the Future is well-known for its pay-it-forward mission as described at the Contest onset by L. Ron Hubbard. So making the workshop free and available to all was only appropriate,” Goodwin concluded.

Multiple New York Times bestselling author Kevin J. Anderson (Dune prequels, Wake the Dragon series) is one of the most productive science fiction and fantasy authors, with over 175 books in print. He discusses “Productivity” in his video and provides 11 tips for writers.

Nnedi Okorafor (Who Fears Death, Binti), creator of the Africanfuturism subgenre, discusses the vital first phase of writing something great. Her video “Self-Criticism as an Author” details a technique she uses to write her best-selling books.

Dean of Canadian Science Fiction, Robert J. Sawyer (The Downloaded, The Oppenheimer Alternative) isolates a critical component in every major story character. His “Creating Characters” video opens with, “You want to hear a secret? The people in fiction aren’t real human beings…”

The free intermediate-level writing course for aspiring writers includes essays, assignments, and 16 video presentations featuring Writers of the Future judges Kevin J. Anderson, Orson Scott Card, David Farland, Nnedi Okorafor, Tim Powers, and Robert J. Sawyer. It also includes essays written by the Contest’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, and practical assignments that take a writer from research and concepts to a completed short story. Complete transcripts enable anyone to translate into their own language and benefit from this free course.

Anyone can sign up for the free writing workshop at Workshop Registration/Login.

L. Ron Hubbard initiated the Writers of the Future Writing Contest in 1983 to provide “a means for new and budding writers to have a chance for their creative efforts to be seen and acknowledged.” Based on its success, its sister contest, Illustrators of the Future, was created five years later to provide that same opportunity for aspiring artists.

The Contests’ success is evident in their winners’ accomplishments. The 571 writing contest winners and published finalists have written over 8,000 novels and short stories, with sales topping 60 million copies. The 418 illustrating contest winners have contributed to over 700 books, 500 comics, and 130 major motion pictures, gaming feature films, TV shows, and documentaries.

For more information on the Contests, visit writersofthefuture.com.