How does a writer create a character who will capture a reader’s attention? How does an idea blossom into a story? And once a manuscript is written, how does it get published?

Those topics will be the subject of a series of Benicia Literary Arts “salons” starting this month, said Lois Requist, the city’s poet laureate and a board member of the nonprofit.

Though Benicia Literary Arts has had workshops and lectures before, this is its first attempt at conducting salons, Requist said.

Less formal than a lecture and more interactive than a workshop, the salons’ subject matter ultimately will be driven by the writers who attend the monthly sessions, she said. While writers of any kind may attend, Requist expects many at the salons will be fiction writers.

The focus, she said, will be on having what she called “literary conversations.”

She said the idea came from a survey of Benicia Literary Arts members, who were asked what they thought the organization should do, “and literary conversations came up pretty high.”

The first three salons will take place at 7 p.m. the third Monday of each month at the upstairs of First Street Café, 440 First St. Sessions will be informal enough for participants to order off the restaurant’s menu if they wish, Requist said. Admission to all the salons is free.

The first salon will have a little more structure, just to get the conversations started, she said.

Participants will be asked to bring in a paragraph or two about a character. It could be an original character from their own writing or someone from established literature, she said.

“They can read about a memorable character,” she said. Listeners will consider what the paragraphs said about the character, why the character was memorable and whether they loved or hated the character.

The intent, Requist said, is to discover what in those words explains the character’s type, and what made someone want to read more.

Writers then will discuss what the character did, and perhaps what they did to others, and how to make a fictional person seem real.

In May, Dave Badtke, a resident and creative writing professor, will guide a salon about how writers can take their ideas and flesh them out into a story.

The June salon, guided by Requist, a published author as well as poet, and publisher Jim Stevenson, will describe how writers can see their works in print.

Eventually, some manuscripts may be considered for publishing by the organization, though Requist said those need to have been screened by other writers or an editor prior to submission.

After the first three months, she said, “we’ll see how it goes.” The salons may take a summer break. “This could morph a lot as people come and say, ‘This is what I want to talk about.’”

The first Benicia Literary Arts salon will start at 7 p.m. on April 21 on the second floor of First Street Café, 440 First St. Admission is free. Those interested may visit the Benicia Literary Arts website, www.benicialiteraryarts.org, or call Requist at 707-280-0588.

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