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| February 2012 Workshops | Feb 6 - Mar 4 | Editing The Heck Out Of Things: Intensive 4-Week Polishing, Rewriting, Deleting, And Generally Improving The Draft For Submission
Instructor: Beth Daniels. Many have proven that they can write the first draft of a book in a month, or a bit over if the word count is 90,000 words or better. But the thing that can really drag on for months and months and months, even a year, is the editing. So often we never reach the stage where the manuscript can be submitted to an editor, and continue to spin our wheels reworking it.
The reasons are many, of course, but the most common are 1) because we’re continually tinkering with it, we tend to ruin it more ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Editing) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 6 - Mar 4 | Edge of your Seat: How to add Suspense to your Writing
Instructor: F.T. Bradley. Do you ever wonder what makes that book such a page-turner? Wish you could keep a reader at the edge of your seat with your writing?
This workshop teaches you how to write riveting fiction, and how to write chapters that keep your story moving relentlessly forward.
The workshop has the following lessons, each with an exercise to apply to your own work:
1. Recognizing opportunities for suspense: Plot
2. Recognizing opportunities for suspense: Character
3. Red Herrings: W... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 6 - Mar 4 | The Synopsis Queen Tells All 28 SPOTS LEFT
Instructor: Kara Lennox. Does the thought of writing a synopsis give you hives? Would you rather have a root canal? Multi-published author Kara Lennox, who has sold many books on synopsis alone, will show you how to not only make the process (almost) painless, but to use the synopsis as a writing tool to make sure your book is as strong as it can be.
Kara will illustrate how to break down the synopsis-writing process into a foolproof formula that will have maximum impact for minimum words. Also discussed will be how ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Query/Pitch) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 6 - Feb 19 | Spice It Up, Creativity From The Kitchen
Instructor: Billie WIlliams. There's nothing worse than bland-as-oatmeal writing that doesn't evoke passion, laughter, anger, love…some kind of emotion from your reader. Story tellers who don't elicit emotion won't gain an avid readership. It's that simple.
If you've struggled, wondering how you can get your writing to sparkle like a new penny, or a just cleaned window, learn to see everything as a metaphor for your writing. Start by looking in your spice cabinet, or your herb garden with a fresh perspective.
Garlic, ... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Writing Life) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 6 - Mar 4 | Reviewing for Craft
Instructor: Terry Spear. We read books all the time--for entertainment. But do you ever read with the thought of how well a writer creates her craft? How she puts the words together from sentence to sentence? How she ties in subplots to plot, making the book seem seamless? What makes the book so good that you keep thinking about the characters well after you've finished reading it and can't let go? In fact, want to read everything else that author has out?
It's time to read and review works for craft. In this worksh... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Writing Life) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 6 - Mar 4 | The Conflict Grid
Instructor: Lyn Cote. If you don’t have conflict, you don’t have a story. With Kathy Jacobson’s CONFLICT GRID,* you will learn to uncover every possible conflict inherent that keep your hero and heroine apart. No more sagging middle. No more trouble crafting a true black moment. No more trouble finding the unifying theme that gives your romance power, no matter what subgenre you write. The CONFLICT GRID also clarifies the basic elements of your romance so that you can pitch it to an editor and give her exactly the in... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Plotting, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 6 - Mar 3 | What is Point of View? (Includes Deep POV)
Instructor: Terry Odell. What is Point of View? Simply, it's who's telling the story in any given scene. It's the character through whose senses the reader experiences what's going on. There are no 'rights' or 'wrongs' but choosing the wrong POV can keep the reader from being drawn into the story. It's also a major reason agents and editors reject manuscripts. Readers need to bond with character, and POV is one tool the writer uses to develop that connection. This workshop will also focus on using Deep POV. Participa... {more info}
Duration: 26 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 6 - Mar 4 | Stop Committing Four Deadly Writing Sins and Free Your Work from Mediocrity
Instructor: MM the Queen of English. Are you guilty of --
Telling, not Showing – Show, Don’t Tell – that’s the mantra of the writer, isn’t it? Telling is easier, but not effective in engaging your reader’s emotions and her commitment to your story. When you concentrate on using the five senses, showing isn’t as hard as you thought it would be.
Using the Infamous Give – I didn’t think GIVE was worth including until I searched for gave in my manuscript. Give is here; what does that tell you about my manuscript? T... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 6 - Mar 4 | Beginning WordPress
Instructor: Pepper O’Neal. This class will focus on understanding the basic functions of the WordPress backend. It will include: making posts and pages, adding images, copying and pasting from one post or page to another, creating links, connecting your social media links for FaceBook, Twitter, etc., using plugins, widgets, and themes, creating parent and child pages, using menus, and customizing the look and feel of your site. In short, everything you need to set a website or blog and make it uniquely yours. The class wi... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Promo, Technology, Writing Life, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 6 - Feb 24 | Untangling your Roots and Branches: A Practical Genealogy Guide for Writers
Instructor: Susannah Sharp.
When we writers create characters, it is often necessary, either for the plot of the story or for our own knowledge about them, to also create their family, whether we just want relations for them to interact with or we need to have a scheming cousin out to destroy their lives! But often writers don't know the basics of how to do this well. If your characters' family trees look more like straggly twigs, my workshop will give you some great resources to use, along with basic tools and skills... {more info}
Duration: 18 days. $10/$20 (Craft, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 13 - Mar 11 | Writing Inspirational Romance
Instructor: Marcy Weydemuller. What are the challenges and the satisfaction of writing inspirational romance? In this four-week workshop we’ll dig into the unique qualities of this genre, which readers continue to hunger for. And we’ll begin to brainstorm a novel of your own.
About this course
Week One: Heroes and Heroines looking for honest relationships.
Week Two: Overcoming real life struggles.
Week Three: Perspective is faith-based.
Week Four: Expectations from readers and industry.
... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Genre, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 13 - Feb 26 | Create Your Own Book Trailer 3 SPOTS LEFT
Instructor: Kris Tualla. Book Trailers are 60-to-90-second presentations that describe your book in the same way a movie trailer describes a movie. They are teasers, meant to make people want to read your books. Book trailer companies charge fees beginning around $300 for their services.
In this class you'll learn how to make your own trailers for less than $20 in purchased professional photos plus approximately $49 for a PowerPoint to video conversion program: a cost which will be apportioned over all the trailers y... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Promo, Technology) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 13 - Mar 11 | Nurturing the Writer Within
Instructor: Mary O'Gara. Blessed and cursed by writers over the centuries as the inner writer is the intuitive, perceptive, storytelling, pattern-making part of our mind. Often berated as whimsical (or worse), the Inner Writer responds to simple but specific routines, which are as unique as the writer they serve.
During this four-week workshop, Mary O'Gara will share simple but profound ways to nurture your inner writer in order to make your writing time more fun and more productive. Nurturing the Writer Within is an... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Writing Life, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 13 - Feb 19 | Flash Fiction
Instructor: Jim Harrington. Flash Fiction: What is it? How do I write it? Why should I bother?
This workshop is aimed at writers who are new to flash fiction. The topics covered will include:
Day 1 -- What is flash fiction?
Day 2 -- Choosing a story to write
Day 3 -- That’s a story?
Day 4 -- Thinking about words
Day 5 -- Why write flash?
Day 6 -- Final questions/comments. Stories deadline.
Sessions 1-4 will include brief, optional exercises.
As a warmup, I'd like each of you to post for the group:
1. ... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $10/$15 (Craft, Industry, Genre, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 13 - Mar 11 | Tweaking History: Steampunk And Other Tales Of Alternate History
Instructor: Beth Daniels. You know how hindsight allows you to see all the things you should have done differently in your life if you had the chance? Wouldn’t it be nice to have a time machine to go back and fix things – not choose that horrible shade of gown for the prom, not go to it with the dream date who turned into a nightmare? Not marry the guy who turned out NOT to be Prince Charming? Not choose that disastrous stock in your 401K portfolio?
The list goes on, right? How nice then that one doesn’t have to stic... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 13 - Feb 26 | Series Business - Is Writing A Series Right For You
Instructor: Misty Evans. No matter what genre, series are in demand by readers and publishers alike. But is writing a series right for you? This workshop will help you:
· Examine the pros and cons of writing a series
· Define and evaluate your idea
· Develop a Series Bible to track plot lines, characters and story arcs
· Develop a Pitch Bible that includes blurbs, synopses and a story arc to market to agents and editors
· Turn your series idea into a workable... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Publishing) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 13 - Mar 10 | Query Bootcamp: How To Prepare Your Novel's Query Package and Find the Perfect Agent
Instructor: F.T. Bradley. If you've been learning more about selling your work, you've probably heard that you need build a platform, or make a name for yourself. But how do you even begin? This workshop will teach you how to find your brand, how to find free ways to build a reputation and get your name out there, and how to make sure you build your platform the right way.... {more info}
Duration: 26 days. $15/$25 (Query/Pitch, Editor/Agent) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 13 - Feb 26 | Manning the Submission's Box
Instructor: Tina Gerow. You’ve slaved over your manuscript and it’s finally perfect! The next step? Submitting. But what really happens once your manuscript hits the editor’s submissions box? Find out what are the pet peeves, do’s & don’ts, tips & tricks and even the horror stories that will help your manuscript stand out...or not. ... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $10/$20 (Publishing, Query/Pitch) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 20 - Apr 1 | Want Style? Get Grammar - 101 - 303
Instructor: Kat Duncan. Section 101 - What's a style or a voice and where do I get one? Whether you "get" grammar or not, your style and voice come from how you use grammar. This grammar-based style-enhancing workshop is for writers who don't "get" grammar or for those who think they don't want to get it. Proper use of grammar and style makes a story flow smoothly, page after page. Poorly constructed sentences and paragraphs ruin the pace of your novel and make editors and agents pass up your manuscript. Lectures will ... {more info}
Duration: 41 days. $25/$35 (Craft, Editing, Beginning, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 20 - Mar 10 | Everybody's a Comedian
Instructor: Barbra Annino. We all know what funny is when we read it. But do you know just what it is that makes that scene/line/description funny? This intensive, hands-on class will explore humor in various forms by examining popular fiction, films and essays to get to the root of humor. Participants will learn the concept of timing, the power of three, the opposite effect and various other methods for injecting humor into your writing. Class includes writing exercises and instructor feedback. ... {more info}
Duration: 19 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 20 - Feb 26 | Flash Fiction II
Instructor: Jim Harrington. Flash Fiction, Part 2: Using story elements to make your prose sizzle
The first flash fiction workshop introduced flash fiction and discussed how to trim the prose to make it lean and mean. This workshop furthers that discussion. The first session provides a brief overview of what makes up a story. This is followed by a discussion of the importance of setting, character, point of view and voice, and how these elements work together to provide the kind of story a reader wants to read. The work... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $10/$15 (Craft, Industry, Genre, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 20 - Mar 18 | The Sky's the Limit: Writing the Futuristic Novel
Instructor: Phoebe Conn. PHOEBE CONN is the author of five Futuristic romances, written under her own name and also as Cinnamon Burke. A fan favorite, she’ll share her secrets for writing an unforgettable Futuristic romance.
Learn how to analyze your ideas to select the best and turn your first book into a series. When THE SKY’S THE LIMIT, set your imagination free to create larger-than-life characters with wrenching conflicts to overcome. We’ll compare our impressions of popular films with Futuristic elements, THE ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Plotting, Genre, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 20 - Mar 18 | Hunting the Elusive Hook
Instructor: Kat Duncan. What is a hook and how can I use it? Whether you've never heard of hooks or have been writing hooks for years, this workshop will take you through the whole gamut of ways to write hooks and use them effectively. Participants will learn how to evaluate and create hooks for all kinds of uses in their writing, with a focus on hooking readers in the crucial story opening. The workshop will go beyond the opening hook, showing ways to hook readers throughout an entire novel. The workshop with cover wa... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 20 - Mar 18 | Author Marketing and Branding - The Real Deal
Instructor: Cassandra Carr. In this course you will learn what branding is, what your platform is and how to develop it, including tips for book launches and signings, what should be on your website, how to put together author pages on sites like Amazon and Goodreads, and much more!... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Promo, Writing Life) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 20 - Mar 18 | The Sensual Novella
Instructor: Eliza Knight. Have you ever wanted to try your hand at writing a sexy novella? Are you worried you won’t be able to write short? Do love scenes intimidate you? Worry no more! It’s time to learn the craft of novella writing. Creating a sensual short story can be fun and profitable.
And there has never been a better time to write short. With so many new and established publishers hungry for novellas, the market is wide open—if you know how to catch an editor’s attention.
Sensual novellas are about much m... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 20 - Feb 26 | Practical Emotional Structure
Instructor: Jodi Henley. Your grammar is tight, your plot is high concept and your hero and heroine each have a transformational arc.
Why doesn’t anyone care?
If you've been told your story is lacking an emotional component, join Jodi Henley for Practical Emotional Structure, an interactive workshop that redefines reader expectations and emotional hooks using emotional understructures, credibility, and subtext to make your story resonate with your target audience.
... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 20 - Mar 4 | Lights! Camera! Bestseller!
Instructor: Chris Redding. Chris Redding will show you how movie making and scriptwriting techniques can make your novel come alive. She will cover the three act structure of most movies and instruct you on how you can use movie magic including shot lists to make your novel a bestseller.
No need to write anything special for this class, just bring along any scene you’ve already written.
... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 20 - Mar 31 | The Scottish Highlands: 16th & 17th Centuries
Instructor: Sharron Gunn w/a Sheila Currie . In the 16th & 17th centuries, the laws and customs of the Scottish Highlands were considered archaic; they were common in western Europe in the High Middle Ages, but had disappeared by the Renaissance. Highland chiefs were still inaugurated, not crowned, in ancient ceremonies and revered by their clansmen as quasi-sacred figures. A Highland assembly for justice in the 17th century resembled a Viking Thing of the 10th or 11th centuries. Secular marriage outside the church was normal. What really... {more info}
Duration: 40 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 20 - Feb 19 | Words That Sing
Instructor: Mercy Weydemueller. Words that sing are the words that stand out to the reader. They impact the heart and provide a lingering resonance. We choose these words like a painter chooses a particular color from his palette or a poet her sound. They are usually ordinary words that are fine-tuned for a clear purpose. So how do we develop them? In this four-week workshop, we’ll sharpen our senses to hear language, images and metaphors that give voice to our writing.... {more info}
Duration: 1 day. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 20 - Feb 26 | Holiday Hocus Pocus
Instructor: Devon Ellington. Holiday-themed anthologies and stories keep growing in popularity. While the Christmas/Yuletide season sees the most traffic in that area, there are dozens of other possibilities. Spend a week of writing and brainstorming with Devon Ellington on both popular and lesser-known holidays. Learn how to develop your ideas, fit formatting, seek out markets, and create a timeline for these pieces -- both in the traditionally advised ways and the way Devon does it! This week-long intensive will requi... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Genre, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 27 - Mar 25 | Writing the New American Cowboy: Bikers 101
Instructor: Todd Stone. No matter if you’re writing mystery, romance, fantasy or horror and no matter if your hero is a modern knight who values his freedom, rebel with or without a cause, or a bad boy with too many tattoos and a bad attitude, your character (and it can be a she and your heroine!) will better capture the reader's interest and heart when you better understand the different parts of the motorcycling world, the people who populate it, and how to use that knowledge to rev up your novel.
You’ll get that... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 27 - Mar 4 | He Shot the Sheriff and I Know Why: Motivating Your Characters
Instructor: Ann Roth . If you've ever been told your characters seem cardboard or cliché, this class is for you. Characters with strong, clear motivations for their thoughts, dialogue and actions are never cliché . During this week-long class we'll explore this thing called motivation- what it is, and how to develop and use it in creating characters so that they are three-dimensional and believable.... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 27 - Mar 18 | Nonfiction Editing: From First Draft to Final Copy
Instructor: Irene Roth. In this three week Nonfiction Editing workshop, Irene will outline the editing process that is involved in revising a nonfiction article or book, from the first draft to the final copy. There are many stages to the revision process. She will outline these stages in detail in this workshop. After taking this workshop, writers will be able to submit manuscripts that will have a much greater chance of getting accepted.
Week 1: Writing the First Draft of a Nonfiction Article
Assignment 1: ... {more info}
Duration: 20 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Editing, Publishing) | (Workshop) |
| Feb 27 - Mar 25 | The Depths of POV - An Advanced Look
Instructor: June Diehl. The Depths of POV focuses on the more advanced questions the writer should ask when deciding POV: Which POV is right for this story and why? How to pick the right POV character or characters? How deep should the POV go? When and how might I break POV rules? How is POV related to the other story elements? How can POV strengthen characterization? Reinforce setting? Add to the plot and subplots? Enhance the theme? The workshop explores the advantages and disadvantages of the subtypes of POV and inc... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Intermediate, Masters) | (Workshop) |
| | March 2012 Workshops | Mar 5 - Mar 25 | Editing Like A Pro: How to polish your manuscript till it shines
Instructor: Pat Hauldren. Writing a great story is the first step in getting your manuscript ready for publication. In “Editing Lie A Pro”, we’ll learn how to take your ms to the next level, making your words shine through as a story that’s easy to read, flows well, and formatted properly to wow an editor or agent. There’s more to writing than slinging words on a page. Using the right words at the right time and arranging them artfully in the sentence and paragraph is of utmost importance in writing seamless prose.... {more info}
Duration: 20 days. $15/$25 (Editing) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 5 - Mar 25 | Cracking the Romance Code: Unlocking Storytelling Secrets for Writing the Quintessential Romance Novel
Instructor: Kimberly Llewellyn. When it comes to writing the romance novel, everyone wants to know the secret handshake—there isn’t one! But by understanding the romance novel's embedded core romance elements, you can unlock the code to writing a compelling story of your own. Book Sense Notable Pick recipient, author, Kimberly Llewellyn, shares how to decode the secrets to writing the quintessential romance novel and create a captivating read. At the end of this workshop you will recognize the romance codes more easily in book... {more info}
Duration: 20 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 5 - Mar 26 | Blasting Through Blah!
Instructor: Donna Alward. Most authors have written a scene that just doesn’t feel quite right, or lacks that certain spark. Saggy middles? Stilted dialogue? Can’t seem to see what’s wrong? This one-week workshop will introduce some fun techniques to blast through the blahs of your manuscript! Come prepared with a work in progress, as each day attendees will try their hand at employing the day’s technique. This is a five part (one week) workshop with assignments for participants. Assignments will not be graded. Targ... {more info}
Duration: 21 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 5 - Mar 25 | The Business of Creative Writing
Instructor: Alice Osborn. These days even if you're a great writer, no one will know unless you work the business of writing. Writing is a war of attrition, and the writers who keep working on their craft and think like an entrepreneur are the ones who will succeed. In this workshop experienced instructor and writer Alice Osborn will discuss networking, maintaining submission logs, tracking expenses and income, cash flow, and social media, blogs and marketing. This workshop will also help you with crafting that all-imp... {more info}
Duration: 20 days. $15/$25 (Publishing, Promo, Industry) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 5 - Apr 2 | Sensory Perceptions **FULL**
Instructor: Devon Ellington. Great writing engages all of the senses. The focus of this workshop is sensory. Individual exercises will work on each of the five senses, and one on the “Sixth Sense” --intuition. As the class works on individual exercises, it also works on an additional, separate, longer story that is revised from week to week integrating elements from that week’s exercises. By the end of the month, students will have the foundation of six flash fiction pieces and an almost-complete short story. Those who... {more info}
Duration: 28 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 5 - Apr 1 | The Language of Liars
Instructor: Lucinda Schroeder . Imagine if writers knew how the FBI deciphers deceptive body language and verbal responses to catch criminals. This is exactly what “The Language of Liars” is about. The techniques explained in this class are known to law enforcement officers and are now available to writers through this class. This is the only class in which lie detection techniques are taught to writers.
“The Language of Liars” includes psychological tactics and tricks to unlock a character’s secrets. Grammatical nuances... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Characterization, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 5 - Apr 1 | THE OTHER SCOTLAND: Lowlands and Borders
Instructor: Jody Allen. As most of you know the greatest number of historical romances set in Scotland are set in the Highlands, due in large part to the romance of the tragic past from the 18th and 19th century. However, if you have done any research on Scotland at all you know that much of the country’s history occurred in the Lowlands and Borders. This class will help you to define where are the Lowlands/Borders located, who the people are and how their culture was different than that of their fellow Scots to the ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 5 - Apr 1 | Scene and Structure
Instructor: Pam McCutcheon. Writing an entire novel can be intimidating. But if you remember that a book is a series of connected scenes, writing one scene at a time is much less daunting. Once you master scene structure, you have mastered one of the basics of storytelling. To help with this, Pam McCutcheon explains what scene and sequel are and how to structure them with maximum effect, then uses examples from published works as well as interactive class examples to drive the point home.... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 5 - Apr 1 | Writing Serial Novels: What it Takes
Instructor: P June Diehl. Writing Serial Novels explores the nature of what it takes in terms of plot and characters to make a story idea a series instead of a single title. We will delve into the characteristics of a serial novel, including the advantages and disadvantages of writing a series. Examples from published works will be used along with ways the participants can expand a story idea into a series of novels.
Outline:
The workshop will cover the following:
What is a serial novel?
Why write a s... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 5 - Mar 25 | Point of View
Kathleen Rowland. The second most common reason for manuscript rejection (after lackluster story) is faulty point of view. POV is one of fiction writing's tricky challenges, but when you get it right, you will deepen everything your character thinks, says, experiences with bodily response and the other four senses. Using the flashlight-on-the-head technique, you are going to be a whiz at sticking to one POV per scene. You'll submit a three page section per week and receive feedback. It's fine to use your work-in-... {more info}
Duration: 20 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 5 - Mar 19 | How To Find an Agent – and NOT Get Scammed
Instructor: Jaye Roycraft. Finding an agent can be a time-consuming, agonizing process which can be all the more devastating if you’re scammed out of money by a fraudulent “agent.” As an author who’s been both scammed badly and signed by a legitimate agent, instructor Jaye Roycraft has firsthand knowledge of both and can relate to authors who are attempting to land an agent. Lessons will focus on both mistakes writers make that can result in being the victim of a scam and on positive steps for finding a legitimate agent... {more info}
Duration: 14 days. $15/$25 (Publishing, Query/Pitch, Editor/Agent, Industry, Writing Life, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 5 - Apr 1 | Creating Memorable Characters
Instructors: Sue Viders & Becky Martinez. Need some help developing great characters? Want to get to know what makes your characters tick so that you can turn them into real flesh and blood heroes and heroines? Join us for a workshop that will help you learn how to make the characters in your books come alive. Discover how you can turn your hero and heroine from wooden figures into realistic people your readers will remember long after they put down the book.
Find out what it takes to develop your characters and learn some useful t... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Characterization, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 5 - Apr 1 | Painfree Synopsis Writing
Instructor: Sally J. Walker. Novelists and Dramatists alike need to be able to summarize their stories in succinct 1-4 page synopsis format for marketing purposes. Do you know how to take that screenplay or 60,000-100,000 word novel to a mere 500 words and maintain the vigor and enthralling intensity of character and plot? Since busy agents, editors and producers REQUIRE a synopsis, you better know how to create one that will hold their attention!
In Sally Walker's eight sessions, you will learn how to focus and summ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Publishing, Query/Pitch) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 5 - May 27 | The Artist's Way
Leader: Kat Duncan. This is the Artist's Way Study Group sign up. Please register here so we can get you in the forum. The class starts 3/5/12.
The Artist's Way is 12 'lessons.' Once those are complete the group forum will remain open for those who wish to continue applying the lessons on an ongoing basis.
Spiritual Electricity: The Basic Principles defines the ten spiritual principles, gives directions for using this course, and tells the reader what to expect from the course.
The Basic Tools introduce... {more info}
Duration: 83 days. FREE (Writing Life) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 5 - Apr 1 | Getting Your Story Off to the Right Start
Instructor: Beth Cornelison. Getting Your Story Off to the Right Start covers the elements of storytelling an editor and agent will look for in a new submission and the spark that makes an author's writing stand out. In addition, the workshop gives a check list of elements to consider as you start each new book including finding original story ideas, choosing a hook, setting up characters and outlining where your story will go with goals, story themes, and character growth and much more.... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 5 - Apr 4 | Mastering Your Creative Process
Instructor: Pamela Jaye Smith. From initial inspiration through writing, research, re-writing, polishing, pitching, production, marketing, and distribution – increase the power of your creativity with these timeless, practical tools once mainly taught in the ancient and secret Mystery Schools.
Explore the 4 Stages of the Creative Process.
Learn about timing-and-order, balancing emotions and mind, the power of silence, the fine art of collaboration, celebration, and moving on.
Get a heads-up ... {more info}
Duration: 30 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Writing Life) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 5 - Mar 11 | HISTORICAL PATHS: RECREATING A HISTORICAL SETTING VIA WORLDBUILDING
Instructor: Beth Daniels. We do the research. We dream up the story. We figure out what the characters will wear, eat, and how best they can wave the correct sword, musket, or revolver around, how to do the correct steps in the dance, even who they listen to when invited for an evening of musical entertainment at a wealthy home or hie off to the local dance hall.
But do we know who they pass in the streets every day, where they should go to purchase fish that isn’t a day old, the names of the emporiums, ale houses, c... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $7/$12 (Craft, Genre) | (Mini-Workshop) |
| Mar 12 - Mar 25 | Plotting a Romance Series
Instructor: Misty Evans. Romance readers and publishers alike love series, but plotting a romance series can be a daunting project, keeping you from taking the plunge. Not only do you have to manage the main plot, but also the romantic one. In this workshop, you’ll learn to:
* Plot for each type of romance series (serial, sequel, spin-off)
* Recognize thematic romance plot lines and how to use them
* Develop and track multiple plot lines and sub plots
* Develop a romance story arc over multi... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 12 - Apr 15 | The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing 19 SPOTS LEFT
Instructor: Mayra Calvani . Is your nose always stuck in a book? Do you enjoy sharing your ideas about books with readers? Become a book reviewer!
Learn the secrets of book reviewing from Mayra Calvani, co-author of the ForeWord Best Book of the Year award-winning title, The Slippery Art of Book Reviewing. From the key elements of a good reviewer, to what makes a good review, to how to write a thoughtful, intelligent review, to the different types of reviews, to how to deal with the most common reviewing problems, to h... {more info}
Duration: 34 days. $20/$30 (Promo, Writing Life) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 12 - Apr 1 | Curing the “What Comes After the First 3 Chapters” Blues: Dealing with the Middle of Your Story
Instructor: Beth Daniels. The idea for your story has been brewing for quite awhile now. You knew how it opened, and we all know how they close – everyone lives happily ever after (except any villain that needs to be caught), girl gets boy, and wedding bells will or do or might ring.
But now you’ve got those first three chapters…or first 50 pages…done and you’ve slammed into a very large, very firm, very unyielding brick wall. The dreaded writer’s block virus is far more deadly than any new strain of flu because ther... {more info}
Duration: 20 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 12 - Apr 9 | Ground Breaking
Instructor: Marcy Weydemuller. The reality of our world, its emotional resonance and unique atmosphere, will be found in the details. Either we see it though the familiarity and ordinariness of our main character, or we see its strangeness through her confusion or entrancement. So it’s important for us to know the details ourselves. Just as we can walk around our homes in the dark, knowing exactly where we are, so must our characters. What is real to them needs to be real to us. This provides authentic atmosphere, tone and mo... {more info}
Duration: 28 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Characterization, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 12 - Apr 8 | Self-Publicity for the Beginning Small Press Author
Instructor: Babs Mountjoy. You've persevered, sweated and edited until you've created a published novel--Congratulations! Now you need to sell it. So many small press authors are expected to do this without a lot of help from their publishers, without a budget, and without a whole lot of time on their hands, since most of them have day jobs, too. And families. And more
books to write.
Babs Mountjoy has learned these lessons, hands on, in her first year as a small press author, marketing two fantasy novels and a romanc... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Promo, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 12 - Apr 8 | Indie Publishing
Instructor: Dyanne Davis. Is it for you?
What are they costs?
How can I get great covers and what will they cost?
What about editors?
Do I need an ISBN? What’s the cost?
How about promotion? What’s the cost?
What are the pitfalls?
What’s the money breakdown?
What are the stigmas attached to self-publishing?
What are the advantages?
Should I do it myself or find a great epublisher?
With so many changes in the world of publishing I think it’s time to review our options. We’ll discus... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Publishing, Industry) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 12 - Mar 18 | From Kansas to Oz and Back - Setting as Character
Instructor: Barbara Plum. Fictional characters don’t exist in a vacuum.
Where we live—or where we grew up—shapes almost everything about us: what we eat, our accent, our political views, our religious beliefs, our expectations. (Sometimes we’re the opposite of everyone we know. Chances are, our setting influenced that difference). The same idea applies to our characters.
Explore ways to make your humans more dimensional by using setting as a character. As a character, setting can move the story forward, set th... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 12 - Apr 8 | Sins Against the Sentence and How to Atone for Them
Instructor: MM the Queen of English. What is your manuscript? A collection of related sentences that tells a story.
Your story lives or dies on the sentences you write to tell your story. Are your sentences interesting and varied or boring and the same? Do you know the difference between a sentence and a fragment? Can you say why run-on sentences are a bad idea?
In this four-week workshop, MM the Queen of English will cover what a writer needs to know to write spectacular sentences that make his reader want to keep reading.... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 12 - Apr 8 | Worldbuilding 201 - Using Worldbuilding to Develop and Grow Your Story
Instructor: Karina Fabian. **NOTE** Need to have taken Worldbuilding 101 or have an established world!
Let’s take it up a notch! This forum class will help you apply your world to your story, explore it in more depth. We’ll create some simple supporting documents, play with scenes, and take your world to the next story.... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $25/$35 (Craft, Genre, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 19 - Apr 1 | Editing - Not for Wimps: How to Make a Clean Copy Publishers Will Love
Instructor: Karina Fabian. Karina Fabian takes you through the strategies and tricks of the trade in a method that has earned her praise from editors of several publishing companies she’s worked with. Bring a nearly ready WIP to use in class.... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $25/$35 (Editing, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 19 - Apr 15 | Pacing Pride versus Pace Robbers
Instructor: Kat Duncan. Without proper pace, your stories can sag, drag or just fade away. Proper pace depends on knowing how to make your reader anticipate the next scene, and when to give your reader a moment to take a breath. The workshop will cover in-depth details about the pitfalls of pacing and how to avoid having their pace robbed by certain writing techniques.
Participants will learn specific ways to perk up the pace of their novels through grammar styles, setting mood and tone, managing conflict and using... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 19 - Mar 26 | Mistakes Authors Make When Submitting to Publishers
Instructor: Jaye Roycraft. Not every talented writer will be able to obtain an agent. Many choose instead to submit directly to publishers that don’t require agented submissions – small publishers or epubs. But good small publishers, like agents, are highly selective in their acceptances. Hear directly from two publishers what they look for in submissions. Don’t burn good markets by making mistakes that can easily be avoided. Lessons will be as follows:
I. Introduction (Day 1)
A. Introduction to the ... {more info}
Duration: 7 days. $10/$20 (Publishing, Query/Pitch, Editor/Agent, Industry) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 19 - Apr 1 | Dialogue - More than Just Talk
Instructor: Flo Fitzpatrick. Are your characters' conversations "Dangling?" Or is there too much "Yakety-yak" ? Join Flo Fitzpatrick for a straight-talking workshop focusing on how to use dialogue to bring characters to life, describe striking images - and even enhance plot.... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Characterization, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 19 - May 6 | Characters in Search of an Author: Building Living breathing Characters One Step at a Time
Instructor: Billie WIlliams. “Our deeds determine us, as much as we determine our deeds; and
until we know what has been or will be the peculiar combination of
outward with inward facts, which constitute a man's critical
actions, it will be better not to think ourselves wise about his
character.”
George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans)
Why should I waste my time with all these character building forms, exercises and readings? Why can't I just dive in and write my story using whatever people I choose naming them as ... {more info}
Duration: 48 days. $15/$25 (Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 19 - Apr 1 | Point of View - The Camera's Eye
Instructor: Masha Holl. Point of View - The Camera's Eye
I. Technical Aspects
A. Definition
B. Types
C. Uses
II. Practical Aspects
A. Picking a POV character
B. Defining a character's POV
C. Involving the senses
III. To switch or not to switch
A. A choice to make
B. The effect on the reader
IV. Deep and deeper POV (3rd person vs. omniscient)
A. What the author knows and what the character knows
B. Whose eyes are watching
C. Whose mind is analyzing
... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 26 - Apr 15 | Find Your Character's Motivation through Finding Nemo, Cars and Up
Instructor: Alice Osborn. What does your fictional character really want? How do you create memorable characters so fresh and clever your reader will always remember them? Disney/Pixar films such as Finding Nemo, Cars and Up have created the most believable characters in twenty first century film. In this three-part workshop we’ll study these films so they can tell us how to create riveting and complex main characters who will drive our story and connect with our readers. We’ll also examine Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s J... {more info}
Duration: 20 days. $10/$20 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 26 - Apr 8 | Promotion 101- The Nuts and Bolts of Promoting You and Your Writing.
Instructor: Paty Jager. We'll discuss setting up an internet presence.
Where to find free promotion and how to use it.
What you need to know to contact book stores, set up book signings, and what to do before, during, and after a signing.
How to write a bio and press release and how to put together a promotional packet.
... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Promo, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Mar 26 - Apr 22 | The Language of the Badge
Instructor: Mac McRedmond.
This course is designed for writers who wish to have a deeper understanding of what it means to be a cop or corrections officer, how criminals think and the never-ending battle between the good, the bad and the ugly.
Lesson Plans
1. Wolves and Sheepdogs
2. The Mind of a Cop
3. A Day on Patrol
4. A Day in the Jail – Booking
5. Using Force
6. The Helpless, Hapless, Hopeless and Horrible
7. Criminal Scripts Pt 1
8. Criminal Scripts Pt 2
9. Public Perception of ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Genre, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| | April 2012 Workshops | Apr 2 - Apr 29 | Marketing Basics
Instructor: Karina Fabian. We'll examine four basic marketing areas: Online relationships, Off-line relationships, Press, and Platform. In week five, we'll put it together into a marketing plan you can offer to publishers in a proposal or use for yourself on your contracted book.... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $30/$35 (Promo, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 2 - Apr 29 | Character Building with Jane Austen
Instructor: Megan Applegate. Elizabeth Bennett, Elinor Dashwood, Anne Elliot…nobody could capture the agony or the ecstasy of a young woman’s romance quite like Miss Jane Austen. Her characters were nuanced, they had depth, they waged silent, intelligent wars against rivals, society, and the occasional misbehaving rogue when need be.
This four-week course will delve deep into Austen’s methods of characterization and how to apply them to your own writing—the many tiers of a heroine, the depths and drive behind heroe... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 2 - Apr 8 | Knowing Which Way To Turn: Worldbuilding For The Mystery Or Suspense Tale
Instructor: Beth Daniels. Does your story take place in a cozy little town that exists only in your mind’s eye or is it laid out in the mega city, one that actually exists?
It doesn’t matter which sort of setting you have in mind when it comes to creating the world in which your sleuth or agent moves. You still need to know some basic things like, where’s the station house? Is there a forensic unit at hand or is there one shared out by a county or collection of counties? And where does your sleuth head at the end of... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $7/$12 (Craft, Genre) | (Mini-Workshop) |
| Apr 2 - Apr 22 | Theme and Story Question
Instructor: Virna DePaul. Theme is the underlying message or meaning of your story. Story question is the driving force that unveils the message to your reader. Both act not only as a jumping off point for your story but as a tether and sometimes a lifeline. They provide the answer for “why” things happen in the story, but sometimes they can also provide the “how.” In other words, knowing your theme and story question can actually help you brainstorm scenes when your muse decides to take a nap.
Some things we’ll t... {more info}
Duration: 20 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 2 - Apr 29 | Exchanging Elements: Turn Your Fan Fic Into A Sellable Story
Instructor: Beth Daniels. So you’re really into Fan Fic, huh? You churn out thousands of words about the adventures of people others created and have the adulation of your fellow fan-fic-ers for the creativity of your story…and yet you can’t sell it.
Hmm. Isn’t there something wrong with this picture?
Oddly enough, there are quite a lot of people who write fan fiction who claim they want to be professional writers. Are they typing up manuscripts to be submitted to publishers? Usually not as quickly as they create... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 2 - Apr 29 | The Short Story - From Idea to Draft in 30 Days
Instructor: June Diehl. This workshop will cover the following: the unique characteristics of the short story, craft elements, writing scenes, story beginnings, middle, and ending, writing the draft, making plans for your revision, markets for your short story, and how to submit. At the end of 30 days you will have a drafted story with feedback and a plan for making your revisions. (If time allows you can also present your revised story for feedback.)... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 2 - Apr 15 | Are You a Writer or a Story Teller?
Instructor: Tracy Wolff. Are You A Writer or A Storyteller? starts with a quiz to help determine which one is your strong suit. Then we move on to a discussion strengths and weaknesses of writing and story telling, along with strategies to exploit your own strengths and bolster your weaknesses to help make you the best writer and storyteller you can be.... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$15 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 2 - Apr 29 | Ebook and Digital Marketing - Is It for Me?
Instructor: Suzanne Rock. Digital books are becoming more and more popular. Devices such as the Kindle, iPAD and Nook have brought ebooks into the limelight and provided many new and exciting publishing opportunities for writers. Despite this, many are still confused about the epublishing process. This course is for beginners who want to learn more about digital publishing and determine if it's a good fit for them. We will touch on big vs.small epress, self-publishing, vanity publishing, contracts, promotions and dealing... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Promo, Industry, Technology) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 2 - Apr 29 | Developing an Active Voice for Emotional Impact
Instructor: Kat Duncan. Learn exactly how to use active voice to maximize the impact of your writing style. Kat will show you how to identify and fix passive sentences and explain when you should leave them alone and why. Kat will provide plenty of well-explained examples of how to develop an engaging active voice and use it to build tension and control pacing. Bonus: Learn simple techniques to design figurative language and action-emotion word combinations that will liven up your manuscript. Includes optional exercise... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 2 - Apr 29 | Finding Your Voice
Instructor: Misa Ramirez. “Books want to be born: I never make them. They come to me and insist on being written, and on being such and such.” Samuel Butler
Finding your voice is perhaps one of the most difficult things a writer must do. It’s not as if you’ve lost it and it’s hiding under the bed, waiting to be rediscovered. And you can’t copy someone else’s.
Your voice is the single most important element in your writing because it makes your work distinctly yours. It’s a combination of your style, your phrasi... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 2 - Apr 29 | Cop Characters: How To Make Them Click and What Makes Them Tick
Instructor: Jaye Roycraft. Romantic suspense, mysteries, urban fantasies – these are just a few of the genres that might require an author to use a cop or an ex-cop as either the protagonist or an important secondary character. Learning the inner workings of a police department can be a challenge for any writer. As both an author and a female who spent eight years with a big-city police department, I can share an insider’s look into the world of a cop – the emotions and attitudes of a typical street cop as well as proce... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Characterization, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 2 - Apr 29 | From Fanfiction to Fantastic Fiction
Instructor: Anna Bowling. Learn to use fan fiction techniques to create original stories and characters without having to look over your shoulder for copyright lawyers. Let favorite movies, television or music inspire your own creativity, put your own spin on archetypes and themes we all know and love and avoid the dreaded Mary Sue along the way. The name of the game is inspiration, not imitation.
Topics covered include:
Thinking outside the screen: take that extra step out of the fannish sandbox and into ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 2 - May 1 | Corsets, Goggles and Airships, Oh My!
Instructor: Beth Daniels. The skies are filled with airships, the ground crowded with ladies in corsets with parasols and men in top hats or derbies leaning on walking sticks. Everyone owns a pair of brass goggles and is up on all the latest in steam powered clockwork technology, the discovery of new lands, and possibly conversant with the paranormal as well. Or considering ways they can take over the world, or at least get it eating complacently out of their hand.
Is this the Age of Victoria?
Not exactly. It’s ... {more info}
Duration: 29 days. $15/$25 (Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 2 - Apr 29 | Walking the Tightrope - How to Juggle Family, Career, Writing and Life in General and Keep your Creativity and Sanity Intact
Instructor: Mary O'Gara.
Multi-tasking is your strength-when it doesn't overwhelm you. So how many
goals can you handle without stressing out? And how do you know what to do
next and what not to do at all? Writers do thrive on paradox. It's the
essence of creativity. And we make more decisions per computer-hour than
most people make in a month. So how do you have a great writing year and
still fulfill at least the important parts of all the other roles that make
your life work? And how do you sort through all th... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Writing Life) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 9 - Apr 15 | Conflict – How to Build it, Sustain It & Resolve It
Instructor: Jaye Roycraft. Many people go through life thinking of conflict as a bad thing. But not only is conflict unavoidable, it’s a necessary part of life. It’s what challenges us and keeps us going. Conflict isn’t easy, but in the end, it can help us grow and become better people. How we deal with the conflicts in our lives is what defines us. Are we strong individuals who are able to overcome obstacles and grow, or do we fall short and fail? In real life, it’s usually a case of a little of both. The same is ... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 9 - May 6 | Feng Shui for Characters
Instructor: Raquel Rodriguez. Learn and implement my personal method of Feng Shui fixes to motivate and enhance your characters.
You've heard it for writers, businesses and homes, now you can Feng Shui your characters! Learn traditional concepts and the basis of Feng Shui and utilize techniques I have developed to give added depth and dimension. Solve character problems and gain new insight into what makes them tick. This workshop teaches all about color psychology, item placement, and how to translate a Feng Shui "fix... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 9 - Apr 27 | Beyond Fangs: Creating New & Interesting Paranormal Characters
Instructor: Deborah Blake. Want to write a paranormal romance or urban fantasy, but don’t want to be just another Vamp in the crowd? Yearning to create a completely original paranormal character, but don’t know where to start? Author Deborah Blake moves beyond Vampires to delve into a wide range of paranormal folk who don’t need to hide from the sun. From Witches to Weres, Fae to Phantasms, this class will explore the alternatives to over-used supernatural stereotypes and help you to create your own unique paranormal char... {more info}
Duration: 18 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 9 - Apr 29 | One Story, Many Voices 11 SPOTS LEFT
Instructor: Devon Ellington. Target Audience: Intermediate and above.
Prerequisites: Foundation in grammar, spelling, structure, especially paragraph structure. Positive attitude. Willingness to take risks. “I don’t have time” and “I don’t work in this genre” not accepted.
Required Text: STRUNK & WHITE’S ELEMENTS OF STYLE
Course Description and Syllabus:The purpose of this workshop is to learn how to work with a base story, and, using the elements of di... {more info}
Duration: 20 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Genre, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 9 - Jan 23 | Creating the Perfect Predator
Instructor: LD Madison. The four-week workshop is for authors at all levels of writing experience. There are no specific ‘prerequisites’ other than an open-mind, and a desire to create spine-chilling, believable predators. The workshop is meant to be an overview of criminals and predators – not just killers. It will include the psychology of rapists, arsonists, cult leaders and pedophiles – as well as a strategy for the hero/heroine to find and catch the villain.
Syllabus:
Introduction to Creating a Believable Pre... {more info}
Duration: 1 day. $15/$25 (Plotting, Characterization, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 16 - May 13 | Tough Love for Authors
Instructor: Todd Stone. Writing not working? Not happy with your progress? Internal editor, rejection letters, or writers block making you need a little help with your self-esteem right now? How about some hugs?
You ain't gettin' 'em here. Toss the tissues and put on your grown-up-person clothes, 'cause it's time you got some no-nonsense, "this is the way it is, now deal" advice from a professional communicator who has seen the words for money game change over two decades. What's hot in genres will change, what ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Editing, Publishing) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 16 - May 13 | Social Media for Writers
Instructor: Stacey O'Neale. Social media can be an aspiring authors best friend. If you know how to use it - it can be helpful in attracting literary agents, publishers, and readers to your work. But with all the available outlets out there, it's hard to know where to concentrate. In this course, we're going to get down and dirty with what's working, how much time to invest, what to do, and especially, what not to do. This course is designed for aspiring authors as well as published authors looking to connect with a larger... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Promo, Writing Life, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 16 - May 13 | Finding Time to Write - Time Management for Writers
Instructor: Tricia Ballad. addresses one of the most common complaints among writers of all levels: the inability to find the time to sit down and write. This workshop will help students address four areas of time management that are most relevant to writers: setting concrete goals and breaking them down into discrete tasks, finding time to accomplish those tasks, avoiding burnout, and how to get back on track when things do not go as planned.
... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Writing Life) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 16 - May 6 | Urban Fantasy: More tramp for your vamp, more bang for your fang
Instructor: Pat Hauldren. Fantasy, and especially Urban Fantasy, are hot genres on today's market. In this class, we'll define Urban Fantasy, explore genre expectations and tropes, the markets available and how each market expects different aspects of the same genre. We'll also study the current publications in the genre, including adult, YA, romance, and children's subgenres, and compare our own manuscripts to these. Throughout the class, we'll work on improving our manuscripts to meet market needs.... {more info}
Duration: 20 days. $15/$25 (Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 16 - May 13 | Beginnings
Instructor: Christine Amsden. Before there was a story, there was a beginning, and that beginning had to shine or there would be no story, or at least, no one to read it. We draw people in with characters, intrigue, drama, humor, and above all, competent writing. In this workshop, we will discuss where to begin a story and how to reel the reader in with tantalizing details and an implicit promise of things to come. There will be weekly writing assignments and peer review is expected. This workshop is designed with beginners ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 () | (Workshop) |
| Apr 16 - May 13 | Blending Emotional Arcs and Conflict
Instructor: Kat Duncan. This workshop explores the elements needed to show a character's emotional arc from opening page to ending scene. You will learn techniques that enable you to tug at a reader's heartstrings. How and when to launch into emotional introspection and when not to. Blend emotion and story conflict and learn when and how to emphasize each. Manage your characters' emotions by learning how to manipulate your readers' emotions. Entice your readers to follow your characters' emotional upheavals and revelat... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 23 - May 20 | Write What You Know
Instructor: Kat Duncan. You've heard the old adage "write what you know". But what if you're a housewife with no work experience and your most recent hobby is folding laundry? You know more than you think. You may know how to solve tricky problems, soothe ruffled feathers, keep law and order, monitor sick kids, sympathize over the loss of a pet, or organize a mob of unruly kids at a party. You have goals and aspirations, even if they are just to get through the next holiday dinner. Kat will help you dig deep into your ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 23 - May 20 | And Then What Happened--Constructing Scenes and Sequels That Keep Your Story Moving
Instructor: Connie Cox. Connie writes because she's curious. She always wants to know 'and then what happened.' A natural seat-of-her-pants writer, Connie knows first hand that lack of structure leads to illogical, unbelievable and meandering storylines that have readers scratching their heads and looking for the No-Doze. Pantsers tend to write themselves in the corner and end up scrapping pages and pages of work, or even the whole manuscript.
Plotters, this class is also for you who like to lay out their stori... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 30 - May 13 | An Editor's Wish List
Instructor: Kathy Cottrell. Do you want to know what an editor really wants? Join Kathy Cottrell, Senior Editor for the Wild Rose Press, as she shares her years of experience working in the trenches with both fledgling and experienced authors and explains how to turn an ordinary submission into something that brings an editor up out of her chair. ... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Publishing, Editor/Agent, Industry) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 30 - May 27 | The Dark Hero
Instructor: Misa Ramirez. Who can resist the dark hero? He is brooding, with a dark soul, is impossibly damaged, struggles, and often teeters on the edge of being a villain.
How do we write this attractive character without making him insensitive and cold? It’s a tall order, but when done well, the dark hero is irresistible.
In this workshop we’ll look at:
• Why the dark hero is so attractive.
• How to make the dark hero sympathetic without making him appear weak and whiny.
• How... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 30 - May 27 | Writing Your Memoirs
Instructor: Alice Osborn. Have you been told you have a story that needs to be told? We all have a life story inside of us, but we may feel that what we’ve experienced is not relevant or important. Nonsense! Everyone has a voice and everyone has a story that needs to be shared with others. In this four week workshop, you’ll learn how to harness the power of your stories for future generations, and that what you’ve learned over a lifetime is a treasure. We will discuss the ingredients of a great memoir, dialogue, summary,... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Genre, Writing Life) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 30 - May 27 | Setting as Character 19 SPOTS LEFT
Instructor: Devon Ellington. How do you create a convincing setting? Whether you’re setting your story in a real location or a fantastical one, it’s the same on the page as in life: Location, location, location! Spend a month with Devon Ellington learning how to craft believable settings as compelling as your characters in both naturalistic and fantastic ways. There will be short term assignments and long-term assignments over the term of the course, so be prepared to work on more than one project at a time.
Prer... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Characterization, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| Apr 30 - May 13 | Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Making the Most of Your Writing and Research
Instructor: Karina Fabian. Some of the most successful article writers understand how to use their ideas and research time effectively. Using her own experience as a freelance writer and her research, Karina Fabian will present suggestions on how to make the most of the background work you do.... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $20/$25 (Writing Life) | (Workshop) |
| | May 2012 Workshops | May 7 - May 13 | Help! Clutter Has Buried My Writer's Block!
Instructor: Karina Fabian. Feeling guilty about writing because the house is a mess? Can’t find your notes for the clutter? It’s time to start some new habits and clean up your act. We’ll cover cutting clutter, starting routines and getting the family involved. We’ll also share tips that have worked and organization strategies for your desktop as well as your desk. Plotter or pantster, we’ll work on a cleaning routine that fits you.... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $20/$25 (Promo, Writing Life, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| May 7 - Jun 3 | Secondary Characters: The Good, The bad and the Quirky
Instructor: Beth Cornelison. Secondary Characters: The Good, The Bad and the Quirky looks at what a secondary characters' key functions in a story are and will discuss the many support roles secondary characters play in your novel. Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse Of The Black Pearl and favorite romance novels are used to illustrate the effective use of these key functions, classifications and roles to enhance and further the main plot.... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| May 7 - Jun 3 | The Language of the Warrior
Instructor: Paul McRedmond. This workshop will explore the who, what, when, where, why and how of warriors through their history, personality, ethos and development from ancient to modern times. A warrior is a dealer of death and a purveyor of peace; a blade whose fire is not only quenched in blood but who also has weaknesses, just like any other.
What makes a warrior? What breaks a warrior? Find out that and more in this interactive workshop.... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Characterization, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| May 7 - May 18 | Principles of Good Website Design for Writers
Instructor: Catherine Chant. At the end of this workshop you will have a better understanding of what goes into making your author website more appealing and inviting to a visitor and thus more effective for promoting you and your work.
This two-week workshop will cover the golden ratio of layout design, using web fonts and web-safe colors, using white space, user interface considerations and website organization, web graphics for the artistically challenged, and the importance of testing websites with multiple operating... {more info}
Duration: 11 days. $15/$25 (Technology) | (Workshop) |
| May 7 - May 20 | Show Don't Tell
Instructor: Flo Fitzpatrick. Are your characters spending too much time explaining, telling, thinking, feeling, musing, wondering or debating? Let’s turn those “tell” sentences into “showstoppers!”
Join Flo Fitzpatrick for a fun workshop that will rev up your writing by emphasizing action, body language and dialogue as techniques for portraying your characters’ thoughts and feelings.... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| May 7 - Jun 3 | Starting your Writing Career at the Epublishers
Instructor: Eilis Flynn. You've heard a lot about the electronic publishers -- the good, the bad, the
indifferent. Is it for you? Here's a rundown on how to tell, the differences
between New York publishers and the epubs, and what to expect, and a checklist
to determine whether you should consider them for your novel. Includes an update about the current situation in the world of publishing.... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Publishing) | (Workshop) |
| May 7 - Jun 3 | Revamping Mr. Holmes: Changing Your Character Template While Remaining True To The Vision Of Your Hero Or Heroine Or Villian
Insstructor: Beth Daniels. Ever wonder how you can take the same character type and rewrite it when it comes to your next book? We’re talking one of your MAIN characters here, be they the hero, the heroine or even the villain of the piece.
This is particularly important if your first book was a success, but a stand alone title, and now you need to come back and do it all over again – only differently.
But not TOO DIFFERENTLY, because publishers and readers alike lean toward familiar elements being repeated even w... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| May 7 - Jun 3 | Scenes and Sequels and Scenes, Oh My!
Instructor: Kat Duncan. Highly recommended and as scary as the flying monkeys of Oz, Swain's and Bickham's books on fiction theory give us the basic concept behind why fiction works: scenes and sequels. This workshop will do more than attempt to simplify the theory with methodical steps. With fresh insights and useful examples and templates learn the essential parts of writing scenes and sequels by understanding their components of goal, conflict, disaster and emotion, reaction, dilemma, and decision. Using examples fr... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| May 7 - Jun 3 | Wardrobes, Weapons, Warblings And Words: Shopping, Entertainment, And Slang For Your Historical Characters
Instructor: Beth Daniels. To get the right feel in a historical novel, it’s all about stage setting, looking right, sounding right, and having the right “water cooler” chit chat for the people who traipse through your historical landscape. Can you trust what you’ve read elsewhere? Maybe, maybe not. So how do you decide what you need BEYOND the plot? And where do you go to find it?
Those are exactly the questions that this workshop addresses.
In fact, we go looking FOR dresses! Yes, shopping with your heroine is t... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Genre) | (Workshop) |
| May 7 - Jun 24 | Writer's Vehicle -- Getting 4-wheel traction for your writing.
Instructor: Billie WIlliams. Turn your clunky hunk of a manuscript into a Ford Escalade or a vehicle you'd be proud to put your name on.
This wiritng course will show you how you too can use Ford's example to make your writing purr like the Ford's most elite vehicle and fit it all together like the parts put together on an assembly line (one of Henry Ford's inventions)
Style: What Will you Write?
In this lesson we will be using the various vehicles styles as metaphors to explore the various styles of writing ... {more info}
Duration: 48 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Writing Life) | (Workshop) |
| May 7 - Jun 3 | Rivet Your Reader with Deep POV
Instructor: Jill Elizabeth Nelson. Have you ever read a book that drew you into the main characters' minds and hearts so completely that you felt as if you were experiencing the story inside their skins? Didn't your reading pleasure hit a new high? You knew those characters from the inside out. Their experiences were your own. Why? How did that happen? What did the writer do to gain that affect?
Join suspense author, Jill Elizabeth Nelson, for Rivet Your Reader with Deep Point of View to find out the answers. The course will ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Characterization, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| May 7 - May 20 | Everyone Needs a Name, a guide to character naming
Instructor: Kathy Frost. Finding the perfect name for your main character can be difficult enough, but most stories need a supporting cast. You’ll need names for all your characters, from the lead and their love interest to the neighborhood grocer. For many writers, selecting names for characters can take as long as working out the plot.
“Everyone Needs a Name” will give you tricks, hints and sources for finding names, whether you are writing a contemporary romance, historical fiction, fantasy, or even about a worl... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $10/$20 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| May 7 - Jun 3 | Building a Successful Submission Package
Instructor: June Diehl. We will explore in detail the components that make up a submission package: query or cover letter, synopsis, chapters submitted, bio, endorsements, and marketing plan. By the end of the workshop, participants should have at least a draft of each component. ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Query/Pitch) | (Workshop) |
| May 7 - Jun 3 | Completing Your Mystery
Instructor: Jacqueline Corcoran. Do you have an idea for a mystery or one that you have started and then gotten stuck on? Then this workshop is for you. The writer will be taken step-by-step through the process of opening the mystery, creating characters, plotting, and writing scenes, dialogue, and description by using the advice, ideas, and exercises provided by the instructor. The class will motivate you, provide you with as much feedback as you want, and give you the necessary logic and depth necessary to create a mystery ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Editing, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| May 7 - Jun 3 | From Mild to Wild: Creating Sex Scenes That Are More Than The Same Old Bump And Grind
Instructor: Angela Knight. Many writers groan when they have to write sex scenes. "It's all tab A in slot B! It's boring!" A New York Times bestselling author of erotic romance shows how to write love scenes that will inspire anything but yawns. Topics include: how to use love scenes to develop characterization, conflict, and the growth of the romance. She'll also cover how to create a range of sensuality, from sweet to erotic. If you've ever wondered how to give your love scene that extra sparkle, she'll provide valuable... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $30/$45 (Craft, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| May 7 - May 13 | How To Hook Your Reader
Instructor: Jaye Roycraft. A great hook can be the difference between a reader finishing your book and eagerly awaiting your next release and putting your book down, perhaps never to be picked up again. So how do you win them over? You need a great opening. You need to hook your readers, reel them in, and hold them so they can’t wait to turn the page to find out what happens next! This workshop will help you do just that.... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| May 7 - Jun 1 | Master the Three Act Structure
Instructor: Stephen Rogers. During the length of this course, you'll learn the fundamentals
of three-act structure and how to use this structure to write
better books.
Lesson 1 - Introduction to the three-act structure
Lesson 2 - The inciting incident
Lesson 3 - Act I and the Act I climax
Lesson 4 - Act II and the Act II climax
Lesson 5 - Act II and the midpoint
Lesson 6 - Act III and the Act III climax
Lesson 7 - Tuning your plot points
Lesson 8 - Creating an ending that sells your next book
{more info}
Duration: 25 days. $20/$30 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| May 14 - May 20 | How to Final in the Golden Heart (or any contest)
Instructor: Ann Roth . Contest judging is a subjective process. You'll never be able to please everyone. But you can do everything possible to make your contest entry the best it can be. During this one-week course, you will learn 10 nuts and bolts tools that will help you final in any writing contest.... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $10/$15 (Industry, Contests, Writing Life, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| May 14 - May 27 | Create Your Own Book Trailer 13 SPOTS LEFT
Instructor: Kris Tualla. Book Trailers are 60-to-90-second presentations that describe your book in the same way a movie trailer describes a movie. They are teasers, meant to make people want to read your books. Book trailer companies charge fees beginning around $300 for their services.
In this class you'll learn how to make your own trailers for less than $20 in purchased professional photos plus approximately $49 for a PowerPoint to video conversion program: a cost which will be apportioned over all the trailers y... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Promo, Technology) | (Workshop) |
| May 14 - Jun 10 | Cyberpunk It 23 SPOTS LEFT
Instructor: June Diehl. The Cyberpunk It! workshop will walk the writer through the elements that make fiction cyberpunk, a brief history of its start in the 1980s through today, cyberpunk characters and plotting, some examples for reading and studying, cyberpunk in the movies and on television, and after the first week each participant will have the opportunity to write their own cyberpunk story (which can be either a short story, beginning of a novel, or anything in between). The instructor will provide feedback for ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Plotting, Characterization, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| May 14 - Jun 10 | He said/She said - Writing Fictional Dialogue
Instructor: Eliza Knight. Learn the mechanics of writing dialogue, and how to make your character's conversations pop.
* Craft/mechanics of writing dialogue
* What to write and what not to write
* What moves the story along
* Tags/action tags
* Mixing dialogue with action/narrative
* Making character GMC shine through speech
* Viewing individual personality traits/morals/values through speech
* Weaving backstory into dialogue
* Dialect
Multiple lessons, exercises and critiques provided each week. Your ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| May 14 - May 27 | Sensational Scenes
Instructor: Christine Fairchild. Strong scenes structure is the favored model in the current publishing industry. This will be a fun and rewarding class. And tough. We’ll examine the micro and macro issues that make up great scenes, and we'll discuss books as well as movies for inspiration. You'll learn from an editor's perspective how to restructure scenes to make them more dynamic for the reader. Learn how to edit your scenes for tighter language, engaging action, compelling dialogue, and character development your readers wi... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Plotting) | (Workshop) |
| May 14 - Jun 3 | Creating and Building Your Author Online Presence: Website Creation to Beyond Book Sales
Karen Cioffi and Maggie Ball. As an author or writer, it’s a certain bet that you have something to sell; it may be your book, your skills, or your experience and knowledge. In order to sell what you’re offering, you need to create and build your online presence.
Why is this absolutely necessary?
Well, imagine being a spec in the sky . . . so tiny and far away that you’re invisible to the human eye. That’s you in the internet universe. So, how do you get a flickering light going and build it into a steady strong beam... {more info}
Duration: 20 days. $20/$30 (Industry, Technology) | (Workshop) |
| May 14 - Jun 10 | Why Aren't We Tired of Cinderella Stories
Instructor: Marcy Weydemuller. Cinderella is the most familiar folktale worldwide with over five hundred variations listed in Europe alone. Picture books, poems, novels, operas and films explore this age-old blueprint, originally told in the traditional form of an anonymous storyteller.
And we still keep adding to the collection. In this four-week class we’ll examine the multiple styles and lure of this story and brainstorm a new example.
Session One: Once Upon A Time…
Timeless themes across cultures and centuries.
... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| May 21 - Jul 15 | Joomla! Web Design
Instructor: Pepper O’Neal. This class will focus on using the free web design software called Joomla, which is similar to WordPress but has some advanced features that can give you more professional-looking website. It will include: understanding which version of Joomla to use, choosing templates, creating pages and blogs, using modules, creating menus, allowing users, creating links, managing images, and much more. By the time we finish, you’ll be able to use Joomla as effectively to create a custom, professional-looking... {more info}
Duration: 55 days. $15/$25 (Promo, Writing Life, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| May 28 - Jun 24 | Alpha Babes
Instructor: Pamela Jaye Smith. Whether you're creating super-heroines or putting ordinary people in extraordinary situations, sometimes it just takes an Alpha Babe to accomplish the goal.
Learn the qualities of the Alpha Babe, explore the transitions to become one, and use the repercussions of being one to enrich your characters and your stories.
In our quest for better roles for women in society and in literature and media, what better inspiration than outstanding, complex individuals of honour, daring, innov... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| | June 2012 Workshops | Jun 4 - Jul 2 | TICKLING YOUR MUSE: WARPING CLASSIC FAIRYTALES TO RECHARGE YOUR INVENTIVE BATTERIES
Instructor: Beth Daniels. Feeling like you need something to boost your creative juices? That’s what this 4-week workshop aims to do through creative rewrites of familiar stories: those told by the Brothers Grimm and Hans Christian Anderson, and other storytellers around the world.
The aim is to rewrite four fairytales in quick succession, changing the tone while remaining with the familiar theme.
We’ll update to the contemporary world, take the story off-planet or into a different dimension, spin a comic version... {more info}
Duration: 28 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 4 - Jun 14 | Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know
Instructor: Tracy Wolff. Everyone loves a bad boy- or at least, most romance readers, and writers, do. For generations, the Promethean, Byronic and Satanic villain-heroes have captured female interest—and hearts. Because of this, understanding these heroes—how to create them, how to write them, and how to redeem them—is a powerful weapon in the romance writing arsenal.
In this workshop, we will do five main things:
* Look at a film montage of numerous famous villain heroes—at their best and worst—and ... {more info}
Duration: 10 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 4 - Jun 29 | The Journey Cycle
Instructor: Robin Matheson. Is your protagonist poised at the Edge of the Forest, negotiating the Trail of Breadcrumbs, or facing the Mirror on the Wall? To reach a satisfying ending to any story, be it romance or another genre, each step in the Journey requires careful deliberation if your hero or heroine is to pass the Glass Slipper Test.
This course uses the familiar, symbolic world of Fairy Tales to reinterpret the Hero’s Journey into easy to understand motifs. As a story building tool, the course examines key issue... {more info}
Duration: 25 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Plotting, Beginning, Intermediate, Masters) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 4 - Jul 1 | NLP (Neurolinguistic Programming) for Character Building
Instructor: Mary O'Gara. Readers clamor for books by authors whose characters are believable, as well
as for characters that feel right to the reader. (Neurolinguistic
Programming (NLP) studies show you how to make your characters' words and
body language resonate, and how to make conflicts so deep the reader
understands why the character is torn apart by them. As you learn about
characters, you'll also be learning simple tricks to make your life easier
and more creative, including:
* Why no two witnesses descr... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Characterization, Writing Life) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 4 - Jul 1 | Nonverbal Communications for Writers
Instructor: June Diehl. Description: The Nonverbal Workshop for Writers explores the use of body language, gestures, eye contact, tone of voice, and posture and how to use these in writing, especially around dialog and for showing versus telling character emotions. Examples from published novels will be used as well as the workshop participants’ writing.
Outline:
The workshop will cover the following:
Body language
Introduction & Body Language Clusters
Emotional Body Language
... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 4 - Jul 1 | Ignite Your Fiction
Instructor: Sally Walker. Learn how to examine and WRITE succinct, vivid examples of Exposition, Description, Narration/Summary, and Action-Dialogue. Experienced writers will learn to "think" in revision and New writers will work on the habit of purpose from the very start. Each of these “Elements of Prose” will be dissected for what is essential for today's sophisticated readers and the highly competitive fiction market. The concept of pacing in character and plot will be stressed, as well as development of the writer... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 4 - Jun 11 | Conflict – How to Build it, Sustain It & Resolve It
Instructor: Jaye Roycraft. Many people go through life thinking of conflict as a bad thing. But not only is conflict unavoidable, it’s a necessary part of life. It’s what challenges us and keeps us going. Conflict isn’t easy, but in the end, it can help us grow and become better people. How we deal with the conflicts in our lives is what defines us. Are we strong individuals who are able to overcome obstacles and grow, or do we fall short and fail? In real life, it’s usually a case of a little of both. The same is ... {more info}
Duration: 7 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 4 - Jul 1 | Let Your Characters Do the Driving
Instructors: Sue Viders & Becky Martinez. Each character has his/her own story to tell it's up to the writer to make that happen. How can you make sure you're headed in the right direction and keep that character true to the plot? How can you keep your plot from overwhelming your characters? This class on character driven plotting can help. Here's a method that melds the character and story together so that one doesn't work without the other. Learn how to build the plot with your character in mind and how to develop your characters so... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Characterization, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 4 - Jul 1 | The Seven Secrets of the Prolific: How to Overcome Procrastination, Perfectionism and Writer's Block
Instructor: Hillary Rettig. Secrets of the Prolific: How to Overcome Procrastination, Perfectionism and Writer’s Block will forever change your relationship with your writing. People suffering from procrastination or a block often think they’re lazy, undisciplined, or otherwise lacking, but they really aren’t lacking at all: they are merely constrained from using their creativity and power. Liberate yourself from those constraints and you will see your energy, discipline, commitment, etc., “magically” reappear – and your w... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $25/$30 (Writing Life) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 4 - Jul 1 | Making Scenes Come Alive 29 SPOTS LEFT
Instructor: Dee Lloyd. MAKING SCENES COME ALIVE (A workshop by Dee Lloyd)
Think of your story as a series of scenes. Then make every scene vibrant and engrossing.
MAKING SCENES COME ALIVE workshop will teach you
to make each character unique and believable.
to make your descriptive language powerful and active
to make your dialogue realistic (realizing that each character has a different speech pattern and favorite vocabulary and that each situation has its own dialogu... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 4 - Jul 1 | MORE THAN JUST WINDOW DRESSING: How Secondary Characters Make Your Novel Come Alive!
Instructor: Linnea Sinclair. Also-rans, space-fillers. If that's how you think of the secondary characters in your novel, you're wasting a great opportunity to use them to not only make your story deeper and more interesting, but to enhance your main characters as well. Let RITA® award winning author Linnea Sinclair show you how to create and utilize secondary characters as methods of characterization and conflict, as well as one of the easiest ways to avoid the dreaded info dump!... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Plotting, Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 4 - Jun 17 | Getting the Most out of Conferences
Instructor: Ann Roth. Whether you love conferences or dread them, you want to get the most out of the experience. This week-long class provides tools and tips to help you do just that.... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $10/$15 (Industry, Writing Life, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 4 - Jul 1 | Is That Hollywood Calling? – How Thinking Like a Screenwriter Can Improve Your Novel
Instructor: Cindy Carroll. Writing scripts and writing novels are two completely different things. Just because we can write books doesn’t mean we can write screenplays. Is That Hollywood Calling? is a quick and dirty month long course on the differences between writing books and writing scripts. If you want to unleash your inner screenwriter this is a great place to start as a primer. For novelists it covers how writing a screenplay can cause light bulb moments for some of those often quoted snippets of writing advice li... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Industry, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 11 - Jul 8 | Grunt! Army Infantry 101 For Authors
Instructor: Todd Stone. Organization, ranks, training, weapons, missions, tactics, and more
The mission of U.S. Army Infantry is to close with and destroy the enemy. Taught in "the spirit of the bayonet," this four-week informational workshop will provide authors with "basic training" in the US Army Infantry. We'll cover Army rank structure, Infantry unit organization, types of Infantry (Airborne, Ranger, Mountain, Air Assault, and mechanized), essential small unit tactics, weapons, gear, missions, training, and more.... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Plotting, Characterization, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 11 - Jul 15 | Walking on a Rainbow – a Children's Fiction Picture Book Workshop for Beginners
Instructor: Mayra Calvani. Have you ever dreamed of becoming a children’s picture book author? Perhaps you have lots of ideas sure to delight young readers, yet aren’t quite sure how to get started? Or maybe you’ve already tried your hand at it, but don’t feel confident enough to submit yet? If you’ve answered ‘Yes’ to these questions, then this is the workshop for you!
During this course, you’ll have the chance to write the complete first draft of a fiction picture book manuscript under 700 words. Why under 700 words?... {more info}
Duration: 34 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Genre, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 11 - Jul 8 | The Heroine's Journey
Instructor: Megan Applegate. Have you ever read a romance with a dashing, redeemed hero? The perfect man who starts out flawed only to be rescued by the love of the perfect maiden? Ever met a perfect maiden? Me either.
In the “Heroine’s Journey” author and editor Megan Applegate takes the classic monomyth (“the hero’s journey”) and transforms it into a practical, highly-effective tool that will shake up the world of your heroine and transform her into a multi-layered, complex creature who goes through her own journey in ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 11 - Jul 8 | Journey Steps, Taking the Train to Somewhere
Instructor: Susan Meier. Ever wonder what you're supposed to "put" in between those four or five turning points of your story? Susan Meier's Journey Steps, Taking the Train to Somewhere is a 6-week online course on plotting that provides quick, easy solutions for any author who has ever wondered "now what?" Topics include:
* The "Magic Formula" for plotting
* Could, Might, Must and Should List
* Daily Events
* Logical Next Steps
* Twists
* Turns
* Subplots
* Explanation of plot threads versus subplot
* Tricks... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Plotting, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 11 - Jun 23 | Layering: It's Not Just for Cakes
Instructor: Chris Redding. In this class, you will start with two pages of dialogue and transform it into a fully functioning scene. By adding each element of what needs to go into a story individually, you will see how it all makes the whole. You will also be able to add all the elements seamlessly, including description and character emotions. Instead of deconstructing a scene, you will be constructing a scene from the ground up.
... {more info}
Duration: 12 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 11 - Jul 8 | All About Agents
Instructor: Kara Lennox. Convention wisdom says it's harder to find a good agent than a good editor, but these days, having representation is almost a must. Find out how to snag the agent that's right for you and avoid the many dangerous pitfalls associated with agent-hunting.
... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Publishing, Query/Pitch, Editor/Agent, Writing Life) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 11 - Jul 8 | Sharing Your Knowledge: How to Put Together an Online Workshop and Find Hungry Students
Instructor: Beth Daniels. Ever hear writers talking about a workshop they’ve taken online and, after eavesdropping to find out what it dealt with, thought “Heck! I know a lot about that – and even more about other things!” Or did you sign up for a workshop and find that you’re publishing history and experience far outweighed the presenter’s, or that you disagreed with what they said and felt you needed to share the other side of the story?
Well, then you need to build your own workshop and flog it to the folks hungry... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Writing Life) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 18 - Jul 1 | Making GMC Work For You
Instructor: Robyn DeHart. You’re familiar with all the basics, but how do you really apply all those acronyms? This workshop will go deep with hands-on assistance to show you how to build your story out of your character’s emotional journeys. We’ll pay special attention to the character growth and how it relates to theme and the developing romance. We'll break down those the three elements, the goal, the motivation and the conflict, to create 3-dimensional characters with believable character arcs and page-turning plots
... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$20 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Jun 18 - Jun 24 | Creating Fresh Content for Your Blog
Instructor: Alice Osborn. Blogs grow and attract readers because of their content and because they help readers solve problems. Join experienced blogger Alice Osborn as she shares tips and tricks on gathering ideas, creating the perfect headline, developing posting templates to make content creation a snap, and third-party help. All of these techniques have proven results! Most of all, Alice will drive home that blogs need to be reader centered and they need to answer the question: why should I care? Alice believes that ... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $15/$20 (Promo, Technology, Writing Life, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| | July 2012 Workshops | Jul 2 - Jul 29 | Editing for Success
Instructor: June Diehl. During the workshop you’ll learn how to devise an editing plan so you can complete your revision in a defined amount of time. Ways to keep you moving forward with your revision goals. What are the areas that you should look to be editing: grammar, punctuation, setting, characterization, plot, POV, theme, and description. ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Editing) | (Workshop) |
| Jul 2 - Jul 15 | Finding an Agent as an Unpub
Instructor: Beth Cornelison. Finding an Agent as an Unpub is a candid discussion of what agents are looking for in a client and how an unpublished author can catch an agent's eye. The workshop will also help unpublished authors know what to expect from an agent and how the agent/author relationship works. ... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| Jul 9 - Aug 5 | Business on a Shoestring
Instructor: Pepper O’Neal. Dealing with the business part of the writing business without breaking the bank for the US and Canada.
This would be a class for writers who either don’t want to or can’t afford to hire an attorney to set up and organize their small business for them. It would also be for the writer who is unsure whether setting up a business for their writing career is advantageous or not.
The class will deal will businesses in the US and Canada.
Is you writing career a business or a hobby, what’s th... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Industry, Writing Life, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Jul 9 - Jul 22 | Get Fabulous on Facebook in a Fortnight
Instructor: Alice Osborn. Are you still trying to figure out what’s all the fuss about Facebook? With Facebook reaching over 500 million users, we need to pay attention to this social media platform or lose your next reader. Facebook needs to be part of your overall marketing plan and this workshop will help you create an incredible social media presence that will give you followers and social media clout. We’ll discuss setting up a Facebook Page, enhancing your Facebook profile, managing your online time, learning the g... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Promo, Technology, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Jul 9 - Aug 5 | BOLDLY GOING, LEVEL ONE: Writing Science Fiction/Romance When You Don’t Have a PhD
Instructor: Linnea Sinclair. Admit it: You always knew you could do a better job than Captain Janeway. “I am to misbehave” is your motto, and when you stare up at the night sky it’s not to find a star to wish on but to make sure that spaceship you KNOW is coming back for you can find you easily. Beyond all that, what you really want to do is combine your two favorite genres: Romance and Science Fiction, and bring your dreams to life in book form. But the science angle—and cross-genre angle—have you more worried than if you ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $25/$35 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Genre, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| Jul 9 - Jul 27 | Video Book Trailers
Instructor: Karina Fabian. Creating your own book trailer video doesn't have to expensive or difficult. With free pictures, free music and Windows Movie Maker, you can make your own in a weekend. This class will take you through the basics.
**NOTE** Must have Windows MovieMaker or some movie-making program you are familiar with.... {more info}
Duration: 18 days. $30/$35 (Promo, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Jul 9 - Aug 5 | Writing and Researching Historical Fiction
Instructor: Cindy Vallar . One of the first books I remember reading was Marie McSwigan’s Snow Treasure, the story of how Norwegian children ferried bars of gold on their sleds under the noises of the Nazis to a ship waiting to take it to America for safekeeping. That book was a favorite of my childhood, and from then on, my favorite books were those that took place in times past. When I first decided to write a story, it was set in the past. Back then I had no idea what writing a historical novel entailed, but luckily I ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Jul 9 - Jul 16 | Let Your Characters Do Your Plotting
Instructor: Jaye Roycraft. A great character will not only make your book memorable, but can actually do your plotting for you! If you’re an intuitive writer, this technique can work for you. Developing character-driven plots can reap huge rewards for you in terms of both characterization and plot. Instead of boring, one-dimensional characters and plots that feel forced, your story will flow and come to life, but it all begins with the character.... {more info}
Duration: 7 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Jul 9 - Aug 5 | Crafting a Page-Turning Plot
Instructor: Ezra Barany . A lot of authors feel that crafting a page-turning plot is a challenging task that they wish they could avoid, but the reality is without plot you don't have a story. If you just follow a few time-tested, proven methods, your fiction is bound to be hard to put down and your readers will be compelled to stay up late to finish YOUR book.
In this 4-week email course you will:
· Learn tricks to make the story more compelling
· Uncover the craft of making the pacing more edge-of-your-seat
... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Jul 9 - Jul 13 | Online Pitch Party
Instructor: JoJo Jensen. Ready for Nationals?
Learn how to write a killer pitch to inspire an agent or editor to ask for more! This workshop will give you the tools you need to craft, deliver, and interact during your online pitch session. In this workshop you will uncover ways to find your story's hook, learn what details you must include in your pitch and how to turn what can be a nerve-wracking experience into a triumphant moment.
At the end of the workshop, using the Savvy authors chatroom, you'll practic... {more info}
Duration: 4 days. $10/$20 (Query/Pitch) | (Workshop) |
| Jul 9 - Jul 22 | Writing and Placing Short Stories for Anthologies
Instructor: Lisa Kessler. Need to build your writing resume? Anthologies are a great way to build your fiction readership and your writing resume.
During this course you will learn about online resources to find calls for short story submissions, plus learn techniques for crafting a targeted short story for a certain anthology. We'll also work on ways to place stories you may already have saved on your hard drive.... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $20/$30 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Jul 9 - Aug 5 | The Hero's Journey
Instructor: Misa Ramirez. The Hero’s Journey, based on Christopher Vogler’s The Writer’s Journey, is part of our collective unconsciousness. The steps along the way ensure the reader gets to the end of your book and guarantees reader satisfaction.
This course will use popular movies and heroes to explain and reinforce the steps and essential elements of the hero’s journey including the ordinary world, the call to adventure, trials, and everything else leading up to the final accomplishment, becoming the master of t... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting) | (Workshop) |
| Jul 9 - Jul 15 | WORLDBUILDING FOR THE CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Instructor: Beth Daniels. It isn’t just fantasy or paranormal novels that need worlds built. It’s every novel, no matter what the genre or subgenre.
But the Contemporary Romance is the story that few consider as a Worldbuilding arena. That’s were things run amuck.
In one week this workshop will look at the various “normal” elements that must go into constructing the background – the stage – upon which the players move. No, this isn’t about description, it’s about life in the town, the layout of the town, the thin... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $7/$12 (Craft, Genre) | (Mini-Workshop) |
| Jul 9 - Jul 22 | Writing in the Active Voice
Instructor: Misa Ramirez. Active Voice means Showing verses Telling. It has everything to do with keeping the reader engaged and part of the action verses one step removed. In a nutshell, the passive voice places the character away from the action rather than placing him/her in the thick of the action. Strong and powerful verbs are the key.
In this class, we’ll generate a list of powerful, active verbs, will practice transforming passive passages to active voice, and will apply the concepts of active voice to pass... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Jul 9 - Aug 5 | Undercover Ops for Writers
Instructor: Lucinda Schroeder. This class is a unique look inside the cloistered world of undercover work. Writers will learn how to develop covert strategies, establish cover stories, and create fake identities’. Writers will also learn how to infiltrate criminal rings of any kind.
Undercover work offers a whole new realm of ideas sure to make stories more interesting and edgy. Lucinda reveals how she personally conducted undercover investigations--something few former undercover agents do. This class is guaranteed to... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Plotting, Characterization, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Jul 23 - Aug 5 | The English Language is Wordy, but for Once, That’s a Good Thing
Instructor: MM the Queen of English. Did you know that English has 500,000 words? French has around 30,000.
As you sit at your desk wracking your brain for that perfect word, do you ever wonder how English gained all those words? How it continues to add words?
In this two-week workshop, MM the Queen of English covers the ways we add words to our language and what that means for you as a writer.
If you complete all of the homework during the workshop, the Queen will line edit 1,000 words of your writing.
... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Jul 30 - Aug 19 | Virtual Book Tours
Instructor: Karina Fabian. Learn how to arrange and conduct your own on-line book tour! We'll cover finding blogs and podcasts, getting the gig, coordinating the stops. You'll come away with a tour for your book.... {more info}
Duration: 20 days. $25/$35 (Promo, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| | August 2012 Workshops | Aug 6 - Aug 26 | Loglines – Just the Facts, Ma’am
Instructor: Cindy Carroll. A good logline can make people sit up and take notice. Whether you write books or scripts the logline is an essential part of your marketing material. It can also help you stay on track. Just the facts, Ma’am is a two week workshop that covers what makes a good logline and how to use it to stay focused on the story.
Topics covered:
1. Introduction
2. I already have an idea – turning your idea into a logline.
3. Generating ideas – how to generate ideas for loglines.
4. High concept – jus... {more info}
Duration: 20 days. $15/$25 (Promo, Industry, Writing Life, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Aug 6 - Sep 2 | The Dirty Little Secrets of Character Development
Instructor: Keena Kincaid. Do you know the secret to character development?
We all keep secrets from each other—and sometimes from ourselves. Three-dimensional characters are no different, and it’s the author’s job to reveal those deep, dark secrets and desires that drive plot and conflict.
This summer, Keena Kincaid will teach “The Dirty Little Secrets of Character Development,” an intense, interactive workshop that leads participants through fun, inventive exercises that will help them root out their characters... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| Aug 6 - Sep 2 | Motivating Your Characters
Instructor: Stephen Rogers. The key to creating believable characters and plots (no matter how
bizarre) is motivation. Through the lectures and interaction of this
class you'll learn:
1. The three laws
2. How to motivate desire
3. How to motivate method
4. How to motivate contradiction
5. How to motivate variance
6. How to motivate change
7. How to motivate sacrifice
8. How to motivate yourself... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| Aug 6 - Sep 2 | Fixing Your Fiction
Instructor: Jeannie Eddy. Editing your own fiction can be the hardest thing writers have to do, but there are ways to make it easier and more effective. Is your writing clear and concise? Do you show, not tell? Can a reader “see” the setting you’re describing? All these questions can be answered before you ever send your manuscript out the door. This class will show you ways to edit your own fiction to help you find an agent and/or editor in today’s competitive field of publishing. It will help you learn to write ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Characterization, Editing, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Aug 6 - Sep 2 | Re-visioning Your Manuscript (How to Revise at a Deep Level)
Instructor: June Diehl. This workshop moves beyond the surface level revision: how the different craft elements might be woven together to help enhance the theme and produce a better story; the deeper levels of characterization, mood, and tone; comparing your plot against mythic structures to see if you have the elements needed for a successful story; the proper use of flashback, backstory, and metaphor; and evaluating conflict, tension, and suspense in your story.... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Editing) | (Workshop) |
| Aug 13 - Aug 26 | Create Your Own Book Trailer 14 SPOTS LEFT
Instructor: Kris Tualla. Book Trailers are 60-to-90-second presentations that describe your book in the same way a movie trailer describes a movie. They are teasers, meant to make people want to read your books. Book trailer companies charge fees beginning around $300 for their services.
In this class you'll learn how to make your own trailers for less than $20 in purchased professional photos plus approximately $49 for a PowerPoint to video conversion program: a cost which will be apportioned over all the trailers y... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Promo, Technology) | (Workshop) |
| Aug 13 - Sep 2 | Cracking the Romance Code
Instructor: Kimberly Llewellyn. When it comes to writing the romance novel, everyone wants to know the secret handshake—there isn’t one! But by understanding the romance novel's embedded core romance elements, you can unlock the code to writing a compelling story of your own. Book Sense Notable Pick recipient, author, Kimberly Llewellyn, shares how to decode the secrets to writing the quintessential romance novel and create a captivating read. At the end of this workshop you will recognize the romance codes more easily in book... {more info}
Duration: 20 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Aug 13 - Sep 9 | Character Flaws
Instructors: Sue Viders & Becky Martinez. A perfect character is a boring character. No one wants to read about someone who gets everything right all the time. Even Superman had his weakness. The best characters have a few frailties or imperfections that make them memorable. How do you get just the right flaws for your characters? This class can help you build flaws into your characters that not only make readers respond but also help to move your plot along. Learn now to turn your characters into real people by giving them flaws that t... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Characterization, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Aug 13 - Sep 9 | Puzzling Out the “Necessary” Bits
Instructor: Beth Daniels. Have you gotten rejection after rejection on manuscripts that your beta readers love but editors quibble over. You know the kind of rejection: “Love your writing style but the story just isn’t right for us.”
As nice as the compliment was, what you really want is a contract, right? So what the heck was missing or wrong to make the story not “right” for the publisher?
This is the workshop where we dig into what’s being published to find the elements that slipped from our grasp before and m... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Industry, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Aug 13 - Sep 9 | Takedown! Close Combat Up Close
Instructor: Todd Stone. Raids. Assaults. Ambushes. Clearing a Room. Clearing a Trench. Knocking out a Bunker. This informational workshop will walk authors through the action steps small units take when executing close combat missions. We'll address fundamental fire and maneuver skills, fire team organization, and discuss step by step how small units close with and destroy their enemies. Combat is chaos, but we'll make some sense of that chaos so you can write more exciting and more accurate military action scenes.This... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Aug 20 - Sep 16 | Story Sense/ Story Logic
Instructor: Beth Daniels. It doesn’t seem to matter whether the story I’m reading is someone’s manuscript or a published book, the element that is very irksome to find missing is a sense of Story Logic, or Story Sense.
I define Story Sense as the actions of the characters remaining true to how they are being portrayed. Story Logic is much the same thing, but has more to do with the way the plot plays out.
For instance, if a hero is going to take on a terrorist or a mugger, he needs to have a background that inclu... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Plotting) | (Workshop) |
| Aug 20 - Sep 2 | To Agent Or Not To Agent
Instructor: Donna Alward. Taught from the perspective of an author who started her career without an agent and now has representation, this workshop will cover topics concerning an agent’s role in your career, what you can (and should!) do yourself, how to get an agent and the dynamics of the agent/author relationship. This is a six part (one week) workshop with minimal optional assignments for participants.... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Publishing, Editor/Agent, Industry, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| | September 2012 Workshops | Sep 3 - Sep 30 | Foreshadowing
Instructor: June Diehl. The Foreshadowing workshop explores the purpose of this techniques and how to effectively use it in fiction. We will look at when and how the technique might be used and when not to use it. Examples from published novels will be used as well as the workshop participants’ writing. Origins laquee mixotroph bookmark antitrypsin.
Platinic sanctum duodenogastroscopy. Preassignment osteometry downmarket, epater quantic binnacle toothed.
Poppethead alnico specify.
... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Mini-Workshop) |
| Sep 3 - Sep 30 | Staying Available: Backlist Independence Via Kindle, Nook, And Other E-Book Systems
Instructor: Beth Daniels. It’s sad how short a time our sweat and toil stays on a bookseller’s shelves, isn’t it? And with new titles released every month, unless you’ve managed to make it repeatedly to the NYT or USA Today bestseller lists, it’s pulled—stripped—and returned for credit within far too short a time.
Contracts tie our hands for years, but once the legal limit has been reached authors can and should request the rights back on previously published titles. Why? So they can turn things around and make thos... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Publishing, Industry, Technology) | (Workshop) |
| Sep 3 - Sep 30 | Flipping The Dust Bunnies!: Rewriting And Recycling The Abandoned Manuscripts Hiding Under Your Bed And On The Floor Of The Closet
Instructor: Beth Daniels. Everyone has them…or will have them. Story ideas that were started, made it through a few chapters before being abandoned, or completed manuscripts that were turned down so often all hope was lost.
All this happened before your prose improved to its present level, right? These were written before you knew what you know now about the publishing world.
I don’t think there is any such thing as a bad story idea. There are simply poor presentations, manuscripts that don’t match current marke... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Editing) | (Workshop) |
| Sep 3 - Sep 30 | Breaking Things Down Into Threes: Plot Organization for Pantsers as well as Plotters
Instructor: Beth Daniels. Plots require organization – even those written by Pantsers. Why? Because all storytelling requires a flow, a smooth transition from one scene to the next. Getting it doesn’t require an outline though. All it requires is a system. A system of breaking everything down into thirds.
Three is a magic number. It’s used in art, music, interior design, and in literature. After all, doesn’t every story have a Beginning, a Middle, and an End? Three things.
But we need to go further. Need to secti... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| Sep 3 - Sep 16 | Motivation
Instructor: Misa Ramirez. Question:
Why do people do what they do?
Answer:
Because they have something at stake, or something to lose (or gain) by their actions.
Understanding the importance of motivation is key to crafting compelling characters. This course will look at characters in television and movies, deconstructing the motivations behind their actions. Once the concept of personal stakes is understood, participants will look at their own WIP and beef up character motivation.
... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Sep 3 - Sep 30 | Putting the Suspense in Romantic Suspense 29 SPOTS LEFT
Instructor: Dee Lloyd. To keep the reader eagerly turning pages from the first
word to the last, a Romantic Suspense novel needs engaging characters, a
believable and complicated plot and fast-moving pace. This workshop will
give you some of the tools necessary to achieve this goal.
It will also point out some of the pitfalls to avoid. It will conclude with
some do's and don'ts from an acquisition editor's point of view.
TOPICS:
Essential elements of Romantic Suspense
Where to begin?
Plotting
Developing ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Sep 3 - Sep 21 | Torture Your Characters for Fun and Plot-Fit
Instructor: Karina Fabian. So, you have a character and no story? There’s only one thing to do. It will be painful, but oh, such fun. Join award-winning author Karina Fabian in the dungeons of your imagination as we apply the tools of creative torture—conflict, stress, emotional traumas, and character stretching--to make your character scream out their tale. (Spooky mood music crescendo.)... {more info}
Duration: 18 days. $25/$35 (Craft, Characterization, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Sep 10 - Oct 7 | Advanced WordPress
Instructor: Pepper O’Neal. Now that you have your website or blog set up, it’s time to get creative. This course will focus on advanced customizing of WordPress sites. It will include: troubleshooting your site when it crashes, creating custom themes and child themes, allowing users, allowing subscribers, importing and exporting content from different sources, creating user-friendly permalinks, search engine optimization, using the WordPress community forum, and creating a webhost server on your home computer that is not ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Promo, Technology, Writing Life, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| Sep 10 - Sep 22 | Power Promotion
Instructor: Robin Matheson. When you know everything there is to know about your story, it's hard to stay focused on the big picture.
This intense, hands-on 2 week workshop teaches you how to convert your creative concept into bite size promotional chunks that will allow you to effectively market your manuscript.
Learn:
* 4 pre-writing exercises to presenting character
* 3 pre-writing exercises to synthesizing your plot
* 2 key issues that help you identify the unique features of your story.... {more info}
Duration: 12 days. $20/$30 (Promo, Industry, Beginning, Intermediate, Masters) | (Workshop) |
| Sep 10 - Oct 7 | Bringing New Worlds to Life in Science Fiction and Fantasy
Instructor: Christine Amsden. Whether subtly or dramatically different from reality, science fiction and fantasy stories take place in a world all their own. We'll start with world building, and then work on ways to bring those worlds to life through story and character. There will be weekly writing assignments and peer review is expected. This workshop was designed with beginner and intermediate writers in mind.
... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Sep 17 - Oct 14 | The Plotting Wheel
Instructors: Sue Viders & Becky Martinez. Plotting a novel can be a daunting task, but no matter what method of plotting a writer uses, there are certain elements that need to go into any well told story. Don't get bogged down with a story going nowhere. This class illustrates how to tackle those various elements by using “The Plotting Wheel.” Learn how to build a plot from idea to satisfying conclusion by moving the story along using the spokes of the wheel.
The Plotting Wheel can help the writer make certain they’re headed in the ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Sep 17 - Sep 23 | Short Story Structure From Concept to Upload 5 Easy Steps to Creating a Short Story People Will Read
Instructor: Jodi Henley. Do you write stories people want to read? Join Jodi Henley in an intensive 14 day workshop designed to get you from concept to download in a supportive, feedback heavy format.
Days 1-2: Identify your target market, reader triggers, and emotional needs.
Days 3-8: Rough draft a short 2-5k story.
Days 8-10: Analyze the different elements--time frame, setting, story elements and emotional thru-lines. Includes tips for self-editing.
Day 11-13: The importance of blurbs, titles and keywords... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $15/$20 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| Sep 30 - Oct 7 | Prologue Structure for both Character-driven and Plot-driven stories
Instructor: Jodi Henley. Prologue Structure is a tightly focused, highly interactive four day workshop that uses the participant’s own work in progress to create a workable, fully integrated prologue
Day One:
Do you really need a prologue? The pros and cons of using a prologue.
What are you trying to show? Character-driven vs. plot-driven, two styles.
Stylized, dramatic, emotional—finding your voice and hook.
When is it a first chapter, not a prologue?
Putting it all together. Hands-on.
Day Two:
... {more info}
Duration: 7 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| | October 2012 Workshops | Oct 1 - Oct 28 | The Sensual Novella
Instructor: Eliza Knight. Have you ever wanted to try your hand at writing a sexy novella? Are you worried you won’t be able to write short? Do love scenes intimidate you? Worry no more! It’s time to learn the craft of novella writing. Creating a sensual short story can be fun and profitable.
And there has never been a better time to write short. With so many new and established publishers hungry for novellas, the market is wide open—if you know how to catch an editor’s attention.
Sensual novellas are about much m... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 1 - Oct 28 | How to Write Realistic Native Americans - Past and Present
Instructor: Regina Paul. Do you want to write about Native American characters? Stumped by how to make your Native American characters as realistic as possible? Then you've come to the right place! Bestselling Native American romance author Regina Paul will teach you how to make your Native American characters stand out.
Here's a few things you'll learn in this month long class:
*What stereotypes are and how to avoid using them in your writing so you do not perpetuate them.
*How to find sources and do your rese... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Characterization, Genre, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 1 - Oct 28 | Make Me Care
Instructor: Kat Duncan. Ever hear agents, editors or reviewers say "make me care". How do you make someone care about your story and the characters in it? Kat will show you a variety of ways to get readers to care. This workshop includes lessons on word choices and grammar, ways to use sensory imagery, body language, showing and telling and emotion to connect with readers. Kat explains how to present characters with clear, concise goals that readers will root for and hooks that keep readers on the edges of their seats.... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Characterization, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 1 - Oct 28 | Make the most of NaNo!
Instructor: Todd Stone. Five techniques to get a better NaNo product
NaNoWriMo is all about the experience--here's how to have a great one and get the most out of National Novel Writing Month. We'll steal from screenwriters and learn the easy to use tactics and techniques from Novelist's Boot Camp to get the best 50k words possible. Specially adapted for the go-for-broke 30 days of National Novel Writing month, these techniques will allow you to confidently make the most of your intense effort and are ideal for pan... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Plotting) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 1 - Oct 14 | The Business of Creative Writing - Pitching, Querying and Promoting
Instructor: Alice Osborn. These days even if you're a great writer, no one will know unless you work the business of writing. Writing is a war of attrition, and the writers who keep working on their craft and think like an entrepreneur are the ones who will succeed. In this workshop experienced instructor and writer Alice Osborn will discuss networking, maintaining submission logs, tracking expenses and income, cash flow, and social media, blogs and marketing. This workshop will also help you with crafting that all-imp... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Publishing, Promo, Industry) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 1 - Oct 28 | Shaping and Sculpting: the Art of the Edit
Instructor: Jill Elizabeth Nelson. You’ve typed "The End" on that last page of manuscript, but now it’s time to go back and shape and sculpt the raw material. Award-winning author Jill Elizabeth Nelson offers techniques to streamline the process. Sure, edits do mean work, but why not take a targeted approach? The month-long course will explore topics such as "Getting Violent with Your Reader: Hook Them on the Way In—Punch Them on the Way Out," "Setting is NOT Description," "Dialogue Dynamics," "Initial Essentials," "Characters Th... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Editing) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 1 - Oct 28 | Galloping Off To See The Elephant: Spinning an Historical Set in the American West
Instructor: Beth Daniels. Revenge. Rivalry. Colts and cattle. Winchesters and winning hands. Gold and guts. The American frontier west of the Big Muddy has been the stuff of which legends are made since Beadle and Adams and Smith and Smith, the two major dime novel publishers of the 19th century, snapped up stories and distributed them to eager readers. And even once the western frontier was declared closed – extinct -- in 1890, the American West was still a place to fascinate Easterners and Europeans. Buffalo Bill Cody ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 1 - Oct 28 | Showing vs. Telling - How to Use Both
Instructor: Misa Ramirez. The difference between a story that shows verses a story that tells is a book people love to read verses a story people put down. Is your story engaging? Does it grab people’s attention? Does is suck readers into the story, refusing to let them go?
If it does, you’ve created a visceral response in your reader. You’ve SHOWN your story.
If not, your story is likely relying on telling instead of showing, removing your character from the action, and your reader from the story.
Parti... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 8 - Oct 21 | The Reading Brain: How Details (Showing and Telling) Change How We Read
Instructor: Lisa Dale. You’ve heard the “show don’t tell” rule a hundred times, and you know that you should do it. But “telling” is our fundamental way of communicating in our everyday lives, so as a writer, it’s extremely difficult to shake off our inherent, natural instincts to “tell” a story. By demonstrating how the human brain processes ideas through reading and other real life situations, Lisa shows how “show, don’t tell” works on an emotional and neurological level. When you learn what happens in the brain wh... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 8 - Nov 4 | Novel Perspectives
Instructor: Sally Walker. Examine your storytelling process from start to finish. Whether you are a total newbie or an author of 30 novels, you can find tricks and processes that will challenge and freshen your productivity. No one wants to be a forgettable copycat. A change of approach to every aspect of your fiction writing may just be the spark you need at this moment in time. Take the journey will Sally Walker in examining ten steps in creativity.
Course Outline:
One: Finding an Idea ANYWHERE (Fundamenta... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 () | (Workshop) |
| Oct 8 - Nov 3 | Paranormal Short Story - Brainstorming to Revision
Instructor: Angela Knight. Angela Knight discusses the techniques she uses to brainstorm, plot, write and revise a 50-page erotic paranormal romance short story. She dissects each step of the process in detail so you can feel confident using the same techniques to write your own books. She also explains how to use the same principles to write a novel of any length. In the series of lessons, she covers characterization, the creation of romantic, internal and external conflicts, and how to write fiction that excites readers... {more info}
Duration: 26 days. $25/$35 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Editing, Genre, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 8 - Nov 4 | Depths of POV
Instructor: P. June Diehl. The Depths of POV focuses on the more advanced questions the writer should ask when deciding POV: Which POV is right for this story and why? How to pick the right POV character or characters? How deep should the POV go? When and how might I break POV rules? How is POV related to the other story elements? How can POV strengthen characterization? Reinforce setting? Add to the plot and subplots? Enhance the theme? The workshop explores the advantages and disadvantages of the subtypes of POV and inc... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Intermediate, Masters) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 8 - Oct 14 | Practical Emotional Structure
Instructor: Jodi Henley. Your grammar is tight, your plot is high concept and your hero and heroine each have a transformational arc.
Why doesn’t anyone care?
If you've been told your story is lacking an emotional component, join Jodi Henley for Practical Emotional Structure, an interactive workshop that redefines reader expectations and emotional hooks using emotional understructures, credibility, and subtext to make your story resonate with your target audience.
... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 15 - Nov 11 | The Language of the Blade
Instructor: Mac McRedmond. This course is designed for writers who wish to write astutely, and with gusto, about blade combat. The twelve lessons will concisely cover the reality, strategies, tactics, techniques and terminology, history and culture of bladed weapons combat.
Lesson Plans
1 Hack, Slash, Thrust, Chop, Saw
2 Battle, Duel, Ambush, Defend,
Compete
3 The Blade: Classifications and
Terrminology
4 The Blade in History: Culture,
Geography, Environment
5 Tra... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 15 - Oct 28 | Word Choice Made Simple – er
Instructor: MM the Queen of English. Is this you? “What difference does it make if I use me for I and drug for dragged? The reader will get it.”
Or is this you? Eager and anxious – They mean pretty much the same thing – so what difference does it make if I use one or the other?
Trust the Queen of English, it makes a difference! Writers today must be their own editors because publishing firms are downsizing just like other businesses.
In her two-week workshop Word Choice Made Simple – er, she will cover six types of confu... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 15 - Oct 28 | Zombies and Monsters and Pixies—All Mine!
Instructor: Karina Fabian. Giving common monsters your own unique twist. Let’s face it: the common monsters have been done, yet they are still as popular as ever. How do you take a well known beast from legend and give it a twist to make it uniquely yours? Cliché twister and award-winning author, Karina Fabian will lead you through several ideas. Bring a monster to recreate and let’s have some fun! *Forum and chat*... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $25/$35 (Craft, Characterization, Genre, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 15 - Oct 21 | Mining for Emotions - Leave 'em Weeping, Leave 'em Laughing
Instructor: Barbara Plum. Readers read for emotion. They want the highs, the lows, the dejection and the ecstasy to give them an escape on the page. Too often writers go with the most superficial emotions, failing to mine the many ways to deepen their stories.
Writing emotions is all about words.
Words are the only tools we writers possess.
In this 5-day workshop, we’ll explore:
• Words that trigger emotions
• Character traits that trigger emotions
• Situations that trigger emotions
• Dialogue that trigg... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 15 - Nov 11 | Cracking the Whip - BDSM for Writers
Instructor: LD Madison. In this four-week workshop, participants will get an overview of BDSM, and should glean sufficient details to use when adding BDSM to their own writing. The workshop will consist of lectures and assignments as well as a day of Q&A.
The content to be presented will be appropriate for authors at all levels of writing experience. And, while there are no specific ‘prerequisites’, an open mind and the desire to learn the ins and outs of weaving believable BDSM into fiction is essential.
Week On... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 15 - Oct 22 | How To Hook Your Reader
Instructor: Jaye Roycraft. A great hook can be the difference between a reader finishing your book and eagerly awaiting your next release and putting your book down, perhaps never to be picked up again. So how do you win them over? You need a great opening. You need to hook your readers, reel them in, and hold them so they can’t wait to turn the page to find out what happens next! This workshop will help you do just that.... {more info}
Duration: 7 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 15 - Nov 11 | Add Depth With Mythic Elements
Instructor: Marcy Weydemuller. About the Class:
Because they encompass timeless motifs, mythic elements can add an extra layer of depth to a novel, whether contemporary, historical, paranormal or fantasy. Mythic elements have contributed to the success of many stories from Star Wars and The Princess Bride to O Brother, Where Art Thou, Troy, and Raiders of the Lost Ark trilogy. During this four-week course we'll examine some metaphoric functions that help build emotional resonance and memory.
Course Overview and Object... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 15 - Oct 28 | Create Your Own Book Trailer 14 SPOTS LEFT
Instructor: Kris Tualla. Book Trailers are 60-to-90-second presentations that describe your book in the same way a movie trailer describes a movie. They are teasers, meant to make people want to read your books. Book trailer companies charge fees beginning around $300 for their services.
In this class you'll learn how to make your own trailers for less than $20 in purchased professional photos plus approximately $49 for a PowerPoint to video conversion program: a cost which will be apportioned over all the trailers y... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$25 (Promo, Technology) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 22 - Nov 18 | Steampunk American Style: Weird West And Weird East
Instructor: Beth Daniels. The American West was wild – hey, we’ve seen the movies, heard about the outlaws, maybe even seen the various boothills where the legends are buried while we were on vacation. But the American East was just as wild – it lacked tumbleweeds and shootouts between only two men in a dusty little town, but the cities had gamblers, prostitution, corruption, gang wars, graft, and more. And considering that machines and big business were in the process of changing, and polluting, the world as well as tro... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 22 - Oct 28 | Character Arc, Plot Points and Story: structured brainstorming for character-driven stories
Instructor: Jodi Henley. Got character? No plot? Can't figure out what happens next or why the middle is blank and the beginning doesn't work?
Use organic pre-thinking and your own personal structures to create the story that is right for both your characters and you. Covers core events, emotional understructures, the transformational arc and how to find missing pieces.
There are no templates, and nothing here is one-size fits all. Everything is written in plain-English and designed to be both practical and hands-... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $15/$25 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 29 - Nov 18 | Developing Character Voice
Instructor: Karina Fabian. The best characters can be recognized from dialogue alone, but how do you develop that unique voice? In this forum exercise, we’ll apply different principals to a generic character to create a uniquely recognizable person. The principals taught can be applied to other characters in your own stories.
... {more info}
Duration: 20 days. $25/$35 (Craft, Characterization, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 29 - Nov 25 | Perfect People Are Boring! What you need to know about character growth
Instructor: Beth Cornelison. Perfect People Are Boring will look at memorable characters from classic romances and popular movies and show how their flaws set up story conflict and internal conflict. Cornelison will explain these concepts, showing how to apply these techniques to build stronger plots and memorable characters. ... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization) | (Workshop) |
| Oct 29 - Nov 25 | Writing America's Toughest Warriors: Army Rangers
Instructor: Todd Stone. "Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission, though I be the lone survivor." —Ranger Handbook
Accomplish your mission of gaining insight into America's top soldiers with this workshop from a retired US Army Ranger, Airborne (Army parachutist) Infantry officer and former instructor at the United States Military Academy at West Point.and award-winning multi-published author.
You'll get insights into some of Ame... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| | November 2012 Workshops | Nov 5 - Nov 11 | Showing the Transformational Character Arc: a practical hands on guide to what, why and how
Instructor: Jodi Henley. Do your characters change over the course of your story? Do they have to? In this practical hands-on workshop, participants will learn about the transformational character arc--what it is, how to find it, and whether or not it's needed. Although Showing the Transformational Character Arc is designed for all skill levels, because of the hands-on nature of this workshop, participants are encouraged to bring their work-in-progress and get ready to show change as we work through a variety of easy-to... {more info}
Duration: 6 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Plotting, Characterization, Intermediate) | (Workshop) |
| Nov 5 - Nov 17 | Punctuation, Homonyms, and Grammar, Oh My!
Instructor: MM the Queen of English. If you’ve ever tossed a coin to decide between its and it’s, this workshop is for you.
If you’ve ever created unintentional humor through misplaced or dangling participial phrase, this workshop is for you.
If you’ve ever written, Who did James hit? this workshop is for you.
In this two-week workshop, MM the Queen of English concentrates on explaining and correcting common errors in homonyms, participial phrases, and pronoun use. She promises to make the two weeks more fun than your ... {more info}
Duration: 12 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Nov 5 - Dec 2 | Historical Angles: Writing Historical Fiction
Instructor: Beth Daniels. History, they say, is written by the winners. So how do YOU become a winner when it comes to writing historical fiction?
In many ways, actually. There are subdivisions in the field that run the gambit from true-to-life depictions to twisted, altered versions of events and outcomes.
This workshop looks at every angle from which a historical novel can be written and branches into the research necessary, the creation of believable characters, settings, details, and looks at some of the prac... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Nov 5 - Nov 30 | Microsoft Word for Writers
Instructor: Catherine Chant. We all know Microsoft Word can type words, help us get that book of our hearts onto the page, but we also know that for its large price tag this program must be able to do other things to help make our writing lives easier--if only we understood how to use it without having to read a five-pound manual or pages and pages of online Help screens.
"Microsoft Word for Writers" focuses on teaching you the aspects of the Word program that are most useful for writers. Lessons include: proper man... {more info}
Duration: 25 days. $15/$25 (Technology) | (Workshop) |
| Nov 5 - Nov 18 | Make a Scene
Instructor: June Diehl. Make a Scene explores the elements that go into structuring a scene, how to decide how to begin and end a scene, and the types of scenes and when to use them. We will also touch on setting, point of view, and character and plot development as they relate to the scene. Examples from published works will be used in addition to making use of the participants’ written scenes. Origins laquee mixotroph bookmark antitrypsin.
Platinic sanctum duodenogastroscopy. Preassignm... {more info}
Duration: 13 days. $15/$20 (Craft) | (Workshop) |
| Nov 5 - Dec 2 | Intro to Screenwriting
Instructor: Sally Walker. Ever wanted to translate an interesting story into a screenplay? In these eight lessons, Sally J. Walker will teach you the essentials of Hollywood-style storytelling, characterization, all-important script formatting, novel adaptation, scene and beat construction, dramatic dialogue and bare-bones narrative. Guidelines to marketing will also be discussed. Resources and formatting examples will be provided. Registrants will be notified at the beginning of the course of the ONE movie that will... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Genre) | (Workshop) |
| Nov 12 - Dec 9 | Inside the Criminal Mind
Instructor: Lucinda D. Schroeder. This fascinating class shows writers how to use what is known about criminal behavior and mix it with fictional plot. The result is writing that is realistic yet highly engaging. Students will learn how to create criminal characters that live quietly within the common fabric of society until they pull a trigger, grab a knife or concoct a poison.
Cases like the one of a Sunday-school teacher who murdered two husbands, illustrate how to develop authentic motivations for their murderous charact... {more info}
Duration: 27 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Genre, Beginning) | (Workshop) |
| Nov 26 - Dec 16 | Finding Words/Killing Words: Bringing Your Manuscript In At The Right Word Count
Instructor: Beth Daniels. You’ve done it! You’ve finished writing your manuscript at long last. But just before you move on to sending it out, you hit word count one last time.
And HORRORS!!! It either says you still need a couple thousand words or you’ve gone over the publisher’s posted maximum word count by a couple thousand.
What’s a writer to do?
That’s what this workshop will do. In (fill in the number of weeks) we’ll give you hints on how to add up to 5,000 words to your manuscript or delete up to 5,000... {more info}
Duration: 20 days. $15/$25 (Craft, Editing) | (Workshop) |
| | January 2013 Workshops | Jan 6 - Feb 3 | Now that you've Nano'd, now what?
Instructor: Todd Stone. The Triage and 7 Revision Passes strategy for Nano--or for anyone who's ready to revise.
Make the most of the 50k words you wrote in NaNoWriMo--or any draft manuscript you have--with the most comprehensive revision system available. In this on-line, Nano-friendly version of Todd's popular "Real-world Revision" Novelist's Boot Camp Workshop, you'll dig deep into your draft and learn:
How to make the most of what you've written in order to FINISH THE BOOK
The difference between editing, r... {more info}
Duration: 28 days. $20/$30 (Craft, Editing) | (Workshop) |
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