S.L.A.M. Academy
What is S.L.A.M. Academy
S.L.A.M. AKA Story, Lettering, Art, and Marketing Academy is a summer program for kids and teens to pursue their art and writing passion in more detail. These classes, taught by professional writers and artists, take college-level writing and art concepts and brings them to young people in a way they can master. S.L.A.M. Academy is meant to build a toolkit for students so that they can take their skillset to the next level. Students can take classes a la carte to enhance a single skill or sign up for the entire summer for a complete experience.
S.L.A.M. Academy Courses
Character Development - Writing
Students who attend this class will learn:
- Types of characters and how they are used
- How to build a lead character that is believable
- The ins and outs of working with minor characters
- Character Motivations
- How to build a backstory
- How to create dialogue that fits a character
- What makes a villain great
- And more
Event Timing: May 30, 2026. 3:00PM-5:00PM
Figure Drawing - Art
Students who participate in this class will learn:
- Basic Body Structure/The Rule of Three
- Movement and Gestures
- Proportions
- Fabrics and Details
- Foreshortening and Other Techniques
- How to Use References (including a live model)
Event Timing: June 13, 2026 at 3:00PM.
World Building - Writing and Art
Students who participate in this class will learn:
- How to create rules for your world
- How to develop cultures and customs
- When to use pictures and when to use words to build your world (show vs tell)
- When it is acceptable to break the rules and how you do it successfully
- Research techniques
- Using setting as a character in your story
- Drawing your world's map and images
Event Timing: June 20, 2026 at 3:00PM.
Perspective & Composition - Art
Students who participate in this class will learn:
- Rule of Thirds
- Using Shapes to Create Hierarchy
- Balance and Contrast
- Focus or Emphasis
- Movement, Motion, and Rhythm
- Unity
- Pattern and Proportion
- And More!
Event Timing: June 27, 2026 at 3:00PM.
Developing a Plot - Writing
Students who participate in this class will learn:
The Hero's Journey and the three act structure
- Pacing
- Internal vs External problems and how to continuously challenge your character in ways that make sense
- Tropes: when to use them and when to avoid them
- Types of endings and how to ensure yours is dynamic
- Methods to organize ideas from chaos into form
Event Timing: July 11, 2026 at 3:00PM.
Sequential Storytelling - Writing & Art
Students who participate in this class will learn:
- Overview of storyboarding and its terminology
- Types of shots
- Writing as screen direction
- Different types of page layouts
- How to collaborate between writer and artist
- How to create transitions
Event Timing: July 18, 2026 at 3:00PM.
Inking, Coloring, and Finishing - Art
Students who participate in this class will learn:
- How to produce gradients and feathering
- Inking digitally vs manually
- Creating texture and finalizing details
- Light placement and rendering
- Color Psychology
- Flats and final color correction
- And more!
Event Timing: Summer 2026.
Editing - Writing
Students who participate in this class will learn:
- How to script doctor a story idea for development
- Techniques for line editing grammar
- Graphic organizing the little details to make sure they work after the story is done
- What a beta reader is and what you should expect from them
- When to edit and when to finalize your work - what does done look like?
- How to balance art and story changes
- And more!
Event Timing: August 1, 2026 at 3:00PM.
Lettering and Graphic Design
Students who participate in this class will learn:
- The process of adapting a script into graphic format
- Font types and formatting
- Spacing and emphasis on words
- Basic graphic design techniques to assist with lettering
- How to build your toolkit for lettering
- How to communicate with your artist and writer
- And More!
Event Timing: August 15, 2026 at 3:00PM.
Marketing Your Book
Students who participate in this class will learn:
- How to pitch your book to publishers
-How to talk to stores about carrying your book
- How to talk to customers about your book
- Basics of social media marketing
- How to build your brand as a creator
- Building and presenting your portfolio
- And more!
Event Timing: August 22, 2026 at 3:00PM.