Quality, Affordable, Accessible:
Workshops For Writers of All Genres
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2008
One step sign-up: Pay and register
all at once!
Just click the "pay now"
button below your chosen course to pay by Paypal
Or, click here to pay by
check.
Click here to view our refund
policy |
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January
2 weeks
1/12 - 1/23
$10/$15
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MARK THAT
HISTORICAL SOLD: Historicals are "hot" again.
Instructor: Sandy Blair
Registration Deadline: 1/11/08
Beyond the key elements of good storytelling, historical authors
incorporating period research and dialect also have to contend with sensing
when "enough is enough" and choosing between incorporating real
characterization and locals or not. Let's talk about what to do when you find
conflicting research, using on-line vs. nonfiction texts, short cuts, and
never losing site of the Romance.
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February
4 weeks
2/4 - 2/29
$20/$25
February
4 weeks
2/4 - 2/29
$20/$25 |
Passion Play:
Create Characters So Real, So Passionate, You Can’t
Put Them Down, and Neither Will Your Readers
Instructor: Martha Engber
Registration Deadline: 2/3/08
 Anyone can create a character, but
you don’t want to be anyone. You want to be a
bestselling author famous for characters so real they’re part of
your life and those of your readers. Through this workshop,
you’ll learn the secret to combining everything that makes a
person worth knowing and caring about — imperfections, desires,
strengths, contradictions — while slaying the dragon of cliché.
The course will combine lectures, writing exercises and a weekly
Internet conversation where participants share their progress in
creating rich, living beings readers will know intimately.
Book not required for class, but beneficial.
Click here or on the cover left to order.
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The Language of
Liars
Instructor:
Lucinda
Schroeder
Registration Deadline: 2/3/08
It has been known for a long time
that criminals lie in a specific way. Federal agents and local
cops are trained to recognize these signs and use them against
their suspect. In “The Language of Liars, you’ll learn
what they know. This is a fascinating course on the detection of
deception and how to make your character an authentic liar.
You’ll also learn how law enforcement cracks the lie for the
sake of justice and how a specialized technique called SCAN is
used.
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March
4 weeks
3/3 - 3/28
$20/$25 |
Guerrilla Tactics for Building an Author's
Platform
Instructor: Anne Schroeder
Registration Deadline:
3/2/08
What happens if New York doesn't
want you--yet? Change "See You Later, Alligator" to "If They Could
See Me Now!" Learn tips for building credibility as an
author. Includes finding your market niche. Things every author can
do to improve her visibility and future sales before her book is
released, including a six-month plan for planning, marketing and
selling a limited-release book.
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April
4 weeks
4/7 - 5/2
$20/$25
April
4 weeks
4/7 - 5/2
$20/$25 |
Pitch Perfect: Getting to the Heart of your
Romance Novel
Instructor:
Janet Wellington
Registration Deadline: 4/6/08
You might be the most talented writer on the
planet, but if you can’t describe your story in an exciting but
succinct way, you’re in trouble.
Everyone needs to learn how to pitch -- to be able
to present story ideas within query letters, synopses, and
during frightening agent and editor appointments at writing
conferences!
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Can you capture the essence of your tale in 25
words or less?
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When your listener wants to know more about your
story, do you know what to say and, more importantly, what
not to say?
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Do you know the biggest benefit of having an
agent or editor appointment at a national or regional writing
conference?
This workshop is designed to help you learn,
step-by-step, how to whittle down a story summary (for your
romance or women’s fiction novel) that will be perfect for a query
letter and/or a pitch to an agent or editor. If you read all the
lectures, do all the homework (instructor provides feedback), you
just might end up with a perfect pitch!
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How To Try A Murder
Instructor:
Lucinda
Schroeder
Registration Deadline: 4/6/08
The cops know they have
the right villain and justice will be served. But, not so
fast! The American judicial system is full of more holes than
cheesecloth, making it quite possible for the villain to go
free. Learn about the caveats of arrests, search warrant
affidavits, indictments, grand jury proceedings, evidence,
trial preparation, jury selection and strategies used by both
the defense and prosecution. Don’t be guilty of missing this
fact-packed class!
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May
4 weeks
5/5 - 5/30
$20/$25
May
2 weeks
5/5 - 5/16
$10/$15 |
Legal Issues for Writers:
An author’s guide to protecting your rights and avoiding liability
Instructor:
Teresa Bodwell
Registration Deadline: 5/4/08
You’re writing the novel of your heart--you don’t have time to
worry about legal issues, right? Think again.
Publishing contracts put most of the
burden on the author to assure the work doesn’t infringe someone
else’s rights. In other words--if someone sues over your
story--you will most likely be footing the legal bill. Lawsuits
are expensive. Doing what you can to avoid having to sue or be
sued can save you money, energy and time. It is well worth your
while to understand your legal rights and potential liability.
This workshop uses real life examples to explain the basics in
plain English that you won't need a law degree to understand.
Topics include: copyright, using trademarks in fiction, option
clauses and the warranty clause as well as defamation, privacy and
related concerns.
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How To Write It When You Can't Be There
Instructor:
Blythe Gifford
Registration Deadline: 5/4/08
We’ve
all heard the advice: You must visit the places you
write about if you’re going to create a believable setting. But
most of us can’t afford to jet across the country (or the world)
every time we start a book. And for those who write historicals,
a trip to the place would still not be a trip to the
time.
In
this short course, Blythe will give some practical tips and
tricks for selecting and creating believable settings, no matter
what your sub-genre.
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June
4 weeks
6/2 - 6/27
$20/$25
June
4 weeks
6/2 - 6/27
$20/$25 |
AND THEN WHAT
HAPPENED? Scene, Sequel, and More.
Instructor:
Jill Marie Landis
Registration Deadline: 6/1/08
So you have created great
characters. You’ve figured out a plot. You might even have a
synopsis! You’ve written what you think are three terrific opening
chapters. Now what? You’ve realized a five, ten, twenty page
synopsis isn’t helping you write the book. It’s dawned on you that
sitting down every day and hammering out another scene, and then
another, and another after that isn’t for the faint of heart. You
have no idea how to keep that story rolling, those pages turning,
that energy going. You’re overwhelmed, panicked, stymied.
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Comprehensive Edits
Instructor:
Linda Winfree
Registration Deadline: 6/1/08
Ever wanted a private editor?
Expensive, aren’t they? What if you
could perform Comprehensive Edits on your own?
Over four weeks,
Linda Winfree, best-selling romantic suspense author and long-time
writing teacher, will share her tips and techniques for
all-inclusive editing. We’ll begin at the big picture level and
move on to scene and sentence level self-editing skills, including
“picture framing,” adding detail and studying syntax.
Are you ready?
Let’s get ready to edit!
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July
4 weeks
7/7 - 8/1
$20/$25 |
Recipe for
Writing that Rivets
Instructor:
Linda Winfree
Registration Deadline: 7/6/08
Wish you wrote
like Grisham and Roberts or Faulkner and Fitzgerald? Better yet,
how about a mix of Grisham, Roberts, Faulkner and
Fitzgerald with a whole lot of you thrown in?
In this
four-week course, best-selling romantic suspense author Linda
Winfree will guide you through an analysis of successful authors'
writing. We will delve into contemporary best-sellers as well as
classics and take an intimate look at the prose of those
successful writers. There, we will identify the key ingredients of
their work, teaching you to how to create your own authentic
Recipe for Writing that Rivets.
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August
4 weeks
8/4 - 8/29
$20/$25
August
4 weeks
8/4 - 8/29
$25/$30 |
Writing Evocative Fiction
Instructor: Anne Schoeder
Registration Deadline: 8/3/08
Our stories suffer from emotional flatness
when we merely describe what our character is "feeling." We
will study how basic emotions are expressed (and hidden) as we
move our story forward. We will learn to probe our character's
motivation in ways that reveal her deepest emotional
yearnings. A fun, interactive way to deepen emotional writing
which is the hallmark of women's writing.
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Do You Write Your Novels Backwards?
(based on First Draft in 30 Days by Karen S. Wiesner)
Instructor:
Karen Weisner
Registration Deadline: 8/3/08
{A novel approach for authors who don’t use outlines or
pre-writing in any form to writing a novel without excessive
re-writes or duplication of steps}
The "Do You Write Your Novel Backwards"
workshop is a capsulated version of many of the things talked
about at length in Karen Wiesner's bestselling Writer’s Digest
Book First Draft in 30 Days. The book and this
workshop takes you through the process of writing an outline
step by step and for getting ahead in your career through
goal-setting. Plus, it gives you enough tips to make your work
from outline to completed novel that much easier.
In the
book, Karen uses a wide variety of examples from best-selling
novels to demonstrate each step of the 30-day method. They’ll
show you just how versatile the First Draft in 30 Days
method is. You can use it for every single genre of fiction, no
matter how short or long your work is. However, it’s
equally important that you see the method used on a single book,
the way you’ll start out using it yourself. Examples will
be demonstrated.
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September
4 weeks
9/1 - 9/26
$20/$25 September
4 weeks
9/1 - 9/26
$20/$25
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Writing a Winning
Synopsis
Instructor:
Robin Burcell
Registration Deadline: 8/30/08
Whether you’re entering the Golden Heart or submitting to an
editor or agent in hopes of making that sale, multi-NY-published,
Golden Heart AND Rita finalist, Robin Burcell, will teach you the
nuts and bolts of writing a synopsis from scratch as well as the
secrets to whipping a completed synopsis into tip-top shape.
........................................................................................................................................Firearms
for Writers
Instructor:
Lucinda
Schroeder
Registration Deadline: 8/30/08
Let’s face
it….most criminals and antagonists carry guns. But they don’t
all carry the same gun. Why not? Learn which make and model
most fits your character according to their personality. Give
your character a reason for carrying her weapon of choice.
You’ll also learn the basics of revolvers and semi-automatics
and the pros and cons of each. Finally, you’ll learn how to
write about guns in a way that adds depth to your story. This
is a target you can’t miss!
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October
4 weeks
10/6 - 10/31
$20/$25 |
Terrorism,
Weapons of Mass Destruction and Homeland Security
Instructor:
Cynthia Lea Clark
Registration Deadline: 10/5/08
This course
defines basic definitions associated with terrorism as we take a
look at who becomes a terrorist. We will talk about the "homegrown
terrorist" as well as some of the best known terrorist groups. We
then discuss how the external terrorists enter the country, how
they finance their activities, how they commit their acts of
terror. Then we will discuss chemical, radiological, nuclear, and
biological weapons, discussing various weapons of mass
destruction, how they work, what they do, and their antidotes.
Finally, we will discuss various aspects of Homeland Security,
including how to tell if an audio or video tape from a terrorist
is real. A US Terror timeline is included.
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November
4 weeks
11/3 - 11/28
$20/$25 |
Thrillers
with Heart
Instructor:
CJ Lyons
Registration Deadline: 11/2/08
Thrillers are hot! And romance
thrillers, Thrillers with Heart, are sizzling! What is the
difference between mysteries and thrillers? How to add romance
without slowing the pace? Explore the fascinating world of
thriller fiction with award winning author CJ Lyons.
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| December
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No courses --
Happy Holidays! |
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2009
One step sign-up: Pay and register
all at once!
Just click the "pay now"
button below your chosen course to pay by Paypal
Or, click here to pay by check.
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| January
4 weeks
1/5 - 1/30
$20/$25 |
Writing the Authentic
Western
Instructor: Anne
Schroeder
Registration Deadline: 1/4/09
A fascinating look at how physical, chronological and
social histories of the American West apply to westerns. Whether
we are writing paranormal, romantic, historical or YA genre, this
class will lend authenticity to our writing. (Course taught at the
Women Writing the West conference in Colorado Springs.) This is
not a stuffy social studies class; it's a must for authentic
paranormal, romance, historical and YA western writing.
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February
4 weeks
2/2 - 2/27
$20/$25 |
PR is NOT a
Four-Letter Word
Instructor:
Marcia James and Guests
Registration Deadline:
2/1/09
Self-promotion. Say the word
aloud in a room full of authors and watch a
fingernails-on-the-blackboard shudder run through the crowd.
Promotion can be a scary drain on time and finances. But there are
also many entertaining and often free opportunities to get one’s
name in front of readers. Marcia James will present affordable
author self-promotion strategies from author branding and press
kits to blog/chatroom opportunities and niche markets. A number of
PR-savvy authors will present guest lectures and answer
participants’ questions, including Kensington author Patricia Sargeant and
Ballantine author Jennifer Stevenson.
There is an erroneous but often
accepted assumption that an author doesn’t need to know how to
self-promote until she is published. An author at any stage of her
career – from pre-pubbed to multi-pubbed – can benefit from
learning these PR tricks.
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March
4 weeks
3/2 - 3/27
$20/$25 |
Block-Busting: Putting the Joy Back in Writing
Instructor:
Laurie Schnebly
Registration Deadline: 3/1/09
At some point, almost all writers
suffer from the inability to tell the story they want. Part of
writer's block is a lack of joy in the process. So counselor
Laurie Schnebly Campbell looks at the causes -- including
exhaustion, boredom and fear of success -- and the benefits of
this block. Writers take home new awareness of what works for them
and renewed inspiration for returning to the craft they love.
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April
4 weeks
4/6 - 5/1
$25/$30 |
Cohesive
Story Building
Instructor:
Karen Wiesner
Registration Deadline: 4/5/09
by Karen S. Wiesner
A Companion to
FIRST DRAFT IN 30 DAYS
Coming to trade paperback in the Fall of 2008
Writers Digest Books
A builder knows the best supplies to use to produce a sound house,
just as a plumber and electrician follow the guidelines and
regulations of their professions. In the same way, the three
main story elements of character, plot and setting must be
cohesive and work together in such a way that taking away a single
element would be impossible because they’ve seamlessly become a
part of each other. They complement and strengthen each other. The
process by which a writer builds cohesion like this is one of
layering and building up and bringing together the strengths of
all aspects within his story.
Set within the
framework of comparing the process of building a house to the
process of building a story, COHESIVE STORY BUILDING gives a solid
plan of action from start to finish through in-depth examples and
exercises, and finally leave-no-stone-unturned checklists that
will help writers take the plan into their own writing. Many who
have read FIRST DRAFT IN 30 DAYS will find COHESIVE STORY BUILDING
a perfect companion to that book.
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