| March 2010 Workshops | |
| REGISTRATION CLOSED The Synopsis Queen Tells All Presented by Kara Lennox | **FULL** |
| 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 t... | |
| Duration: 13 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: FREE |
| The Ins and Outs of ePublishing Presented by Dara Edmondson | |
| Ever wonder if you could get published with an electronic publisher? E-author Dara Edmondson will show you the ins and out of e-publishing from what to write to how to submit to the inevitable pitfalls. Learn about all the resources available to ... | |
| Duration: 6 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $20 |
| What a Wicked Web We Weave - A Spider's Approach to Subplots in Storytelling Presented by Theresa Meyers | |
| The difference between writing and writing big has to do with adding multiple layers to your stories. But how do you weave a story with multiple threads that interweave into an intense read without losing track or weaving in too much? In this cour... | |
| Duration: 13 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $20 |
| Get Grammar Presented by Kat Duncan | |
| This 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 makes a story flow smoothly, page after page. Poorly constructed sentences and paragraphs ruin the pace of your novel and mak... | |
| Duration: 6 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $15 |
| April 2010 Workshops | |
| Journey Steps, Taking the Train to Somewhere Presented by 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 provides quick, easy solutions for any author who has ever wondered “now what?” Topics in... | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $25 |
| Writing Between the Sexes Presented by Leigh Michaels | |
| Writing Between the Sexes. Have you ever run across a romance hero who acted like a girlfriend instead of a guy, or a dame in a thriller who was so hard-boiled you rolled your eyes and wondered how on earth the author got it so wrong? This worksho... | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $25 |
| May 2010 Workshops | |
| Write Naked Presented by Wendy Lyn Watson | |
| We hear it all the time from editors and agents: “I love your voice,” or “I’m looking for a strong voice.” A writer’s voice is a combination of style, tone, and theme. Voice is not your story, it’s the way you tell it. The great thing about voice ... | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| Prune Your Prose Presented by Linnea Sinclair | |
| Ten Tips to Tighten Your Fiction Writing As the saying goes, “Close only counts in…hand grenades.” Don’t let your manuscript bomb because of easily overlooked errors, or for lack of sophistication and polish. Learn how to make every chapter count, e... | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| Running in the Dark: Organic Structure for Character-driven Stories Presented by Jodi Henley | |
| “Character-driven” and “organic” are the new buzzwords, but do you really know what they mean and how they can help your writing? Build characters from the inside out, and write an emotional story that will land your book on the keeper shelf in this ... | |
| Duration: 6 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $20 |
| CANCELED Perfecting the Proposal Presented by Jo Ann Ferguson | **FULL** |
| This workshop is aimed at you making your proposal the best it can be. We'll be discussing everything from page one of your submission to the &^%# synopsis. We'll focus on the "do's", but also point out the "don'ts". With RWA National just around ... | |
| Duration: 27 days | Members: $15 |
| June 2010 Workshops | |
| Getting it Up and Running: Action that Goes and Flows Presented by Raquel Rodriguez | |
| Jump start your action sequences with 3 simple and effective techniques to enhance your scenes and excite your readers. | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| Puzzling Out the “Necessary” Bits Presented by Beth Daniels, aka Beth Henderson, J.B. Dane | |
| 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 yo... | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| Beyond Research: Stronger POV & Effective Use of Detail Presented by Carrie Lofty | |
| Everyone knows that a good author does her research homework, but a heap of trivia doesn't make for a steamy, sweet, compelling, tear-jerking, rip-roaring novel. How much detail is enough? What to keep and what to ditch? And what the heck is "deep... | |
| Duration: 34 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| Beyond Fangs: Creating New & Interesting Paranormal Characters Presented by 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 delv... | |
| Duration: 16 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $20 |
| July 2010 Workshops | |
| Loglines, Premises, Queries and Synopses Presented by Elle James and Delilah Devlin | 37 SPOTS LEFT |
| The Ultimate Packaging for Your Product – Logline, Premise, Query Letter and Synopsis Now that you’ve written your book, you need to submit it to agents and editors in the hope of actually selling it. If only plopping the manuscript on an editor’s... | |
| Duration: 21 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $25 |
| How to Write Emotion Presented by Laurie Saunders | |
| The romance genre is different from other fictional genres. In the romance genre the ending is defined by the genre. We know when we pick up a romance novel that no matter how dark it looks for the hero and heroine at the outset, they are going to en... | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| Deep POV Presented by 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 i... | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| Character Driven Plotting Presented by Sue Viders and 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?... | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| August 2010 Workshops | |
| GMC- Goal, Motivation and Conflict Presented by Stacey Kade | |
| Goal, Motivation, and Conflict: Character is Key Do you have interesting characters that still somehow fall flat in a scene? Does your story lack momentum or forward movement? Join YA Disney-Hyperion author and award-winning copywriter Stacey Kade... | |
| Duration: 28 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| Show and Tell: An Interactive Workshop Presented by Shannon Donnelly | |
| "Show, don't Tell" is a cliché that has almost lost its meaning. But both showing and telling are valuable tools for any writer--writers need both narrative passages as well as dramatic scenes, so each has its own place within any writer's skill set.... | |
| Duration: 28 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| Developing an Active Voice for Emotional Impact Presented by Kat Duncan | |
| Learn to use active voice to maximize the emotional impact of your writing. How to identify and fix passive sentences and how to know when to leave them alone and why. Developing an engaging active voice and using it to build tension and control paci... | |
| Duration: 7 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $15 |
| Everything You Always Wanted to Know about Grammar and Style Presented by The Grammar Divas | |
| Grammar-crammer… who cares about how verb tenses; dangled, misplaced, and squinted modifiers; and that dreaded passive voice? You should! Most people would rather have a paper cut on the inside of their lip than learn better grammar. But good wri... | |
| Duration: 34 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $25 |
| The Conflict Grid, Tool for Success Presented by Lyn Cote with permission of Kathy Jacobson | |
| 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 ... | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| September 2010 Workshops | |
| Keep It Moving: How Thinking Like a Screenwriter Can Improve Your Novel Presented by Cindy Carroll | |
| Writing scripts and writing novels are two completely different things. But Keep it Moving focuses on how thinking like a screenwriter can help your pacing, keep your writing active, get you to show instead of tell and focus on the essence of the ... | |
| Duration: 13 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $20 |
| Foreshadowing and Other Tricks to Improve Your Writing Presented by Theresa Meyers | |
| Time to add tools to your writer’s tool box! Take your writing to the next level with techniques and tips used by the pros to add depth and pacing to their work. In this course you'll: * Discover what foreshadowing is and how it works to im... | |
| Duration: 13 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $20 |
| The Purpose Driven Scene Presented by Lynn Kerstan | |
| Scenes are the building blocks of a novel. But while a scene is advancing the book’s story question, each scene is, in itself, a story in miniature. This workshop focuses on how to develop a scene that is chock-full of character development, co... | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| Scenes and Sequels and Scenes, Oh My Presented by Kat Duncan | |
| Highly recommended and as scary as the flying monkeys of Oz, Swain's and Bickham's books on fiction theory have tried to explain the basic concept behind why fiction works: scenes and sequels. This workshop will do more than attempt to simplify the t... | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| October 2010 Workshops | |
| Story, Theme and Vehicle Presented by Susan Meier | |
| Have you ever written a book that was good, but simply didn’t seem good enough? Or one that wasn’t cohesive? Or one that should have been wonderful but seemed to fall flat? In Story, Theme and Vehicle, Susan Meier explains how knowing your book’s sto... | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| Character Torture 101 Presented by Linnea Sinclair | |
| Writing Guru Dwight Swain said that it’s the author’s job to manipulate the emotions of the reader . There’s no better way to do this than for the author to put his characters through one roller coaster episode after another , taking the reader along... | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| The Heroine’s Journey: Adapting Four-Act Structure to the Character-Driven Story Presented by: Wendy Lynn Watson | |
| Christopher Vogler’s Hero’s Journey is a basic “four act” mythic story structure that can be used to describe everything from the legend of King Arthur to Alien. There’s something about this narrative structure that resonates with us on an elemental... | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $25 |
| November 2010 Workshops | |
| Plot is a Four-Letter Word Presented by Stacey Kade | |
| Plot is a Four-Letter Word Does the word “plot” make you tremble and quake? Never fear! Join YA Disney-Hyperion author and award-winning copywriter Stacey Kade as she demystifies the concept of plot and breaks it down into more easily manageable p... | |
| Duration: 35 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| How to Handle POV Effectively Presented by Shannon Donnelly | |
| Third person, first person, multiple viewpoints, single--all of it can be confusing. What works? When do you shift viewpoint--how and more importantly why? And how do you take POV so deep a reader feels everything a character feels? This workshop... | |
| Duration: 13 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $20 |
| Storyboarding for the Story Challenged Presented by Shayla Black | |
| Hate blinking cursors or rewriting? Have a very time-pressed schedule? To avoid all of those and maintain sanity in the middle of deadlines and challenging books requires a little more pre-plotting than Ready with some characters, Set with an open... | |
| Duration: 6 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $20 |
| December 2010 Workshops | |
| Creating Suspense Presented by JD Webb and Pepper Smith | |
| What is so dang hard about writing suspense? We know suspense when we experience it. When our heartbeat accelerates; when our eyes can’t read fast enough. Suspense activates several emotions. So why can’t we write it with ease? We’re authors, we shou... | |
| Duration: 13 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $20 |
| Love Scenes with Emotional Punch Presented by Shayla Black | |
| Not sure how to elevate your romance novel’s love scenes above inserting tab A into slot B? Uncomfortable with how to make sex between your characters deep and meaningful? Not sure when to show or how much and when to close the bedroom door? This ... | |
| Duration: 6 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $20 |
| January 2011 Workshops | |
| Secrets to a Winning Proposal Presented by Stacey Kade | |
| Writing a successful query letter and synopsis sometimes feels like more of a challenge than finishing your novel! But if you know the secret to catching an agent or publisher's eye, the querying process is going to be a lot easier. Join YA Disney-Hy... | |
| Duration: 14 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $20 |
| Break Free From the Slush Pile Presented By CJ Lyons, MD | |
| Join award-winning medical suspense author CJ Lyons as she explains the secrets to successful pitching, tips to engage an editor or agent through your query letter, and reveals the creation of a high concept. CJ has received requests for manuscrip... | |
| Duration: 14 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $20 |
| Snakebite Scenes Presented by Carrie Lofty | |
| You have the beginning. You know how it should end. But what to do with those hundreds of pages in the middle? Try adding action! Even quieter stories can use moments of movement and excitement, but not every author feels confident when creating thos... | |
| Duration: 13 days |
Members: $10
Non-Members: $20 |
| The Journey Cycle Presented by 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 deliber... | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
| Creating Memorable Characters Presented by Sue Viders and Becky Martinez | |
| Need some help developing characters who leap off the page? 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 c... | |
| Duration: 27 days |
Members: $15
Non-Members: $25 |
