Pikes Peak Writers Conference 2025

Split over two days, an hour each.  Short stories have made a comeback. They're fun, but also beneficial to honing writing skills. Learn about the dynamics of short story writing then use prompts to start stories during the hour. Work on them overnight if you choose. Come back on day two to break into partners/groups to look over what you've started and get feedback. For the last twenty minutes we'll go over finding markets and submitting.

Stories hit the page as screenplays, scripts or books viewed by eager theatergoers and read by avid readers. Many writers want to raise their story to the big screen, whether they start with a book they believe is a film or with the film in mind. However, understanding what it takes to actually write the story for the screen can seem like a mystery of its own, especially for book writers. In this presentation, Jennifer S. Wilkov, multi #1 international best-selling author, award-winning freelance writer, and Hollywood story consultant, will share seven screenwriting strategies to elevate your script. Break through the screenwriting static, streamline your screenplay, and craft it with ease. Expect to learn:

• The basics for writing your screenplay
• How to properly format your screenplay
• Fool-proof ways to structure your storytelling
• Proven techniques to use to craft it
• Top strategies to elevate your script

Stories go beyond the pages of a book in the form of screenplays and scripts that are marketed and viewed by eager theatergoers and read by avid readers. Many writers want to raise their story to the big screen, whether they start with a book they believe is a film or with the film in mind. However, understanding what it takes to actually pitch the story for the screen and take it from book to film, television or streaming can seem like a mystery of its own. In this presentation, Jennifer S. Wilkov, multi #1 international best-selling author, award-winning freelance writer, and Hollywood story consultant, will share book to film strategies so you can take your story to multiple media. Break through the pages of your book, streamline your pitch for Hollywood with these documents, and craft them with ease. Expect to learn:

• The basics for selling your story in a single sentence
• Treatments, pitch decks and bibles: what to include and what not to
• Fool-proof ways to structure your storytelling in your pitch documents
• Proven techniques to use to craft these essential pitch documents
• Top strategies to sell your story from book to film