You know the feeling – when you start a book and immediately suspend disbelief to fall into the story world. As authors, we know that this isn’t easy to do. It takes more than a good scene. It takes a maestro of craft to pull it off.

This class is about openings. All your openings, not just the first opening in your book.

The opening of your first chapter needs to carry powerful content, and powerful structure and style.

The opening of every scene and every chapter needs to hook the reader with content and structure and style too.

Margie-Grads may know most of Margie’s deep editing techniques. In this class they’ll learn how to pull them together and make their openings smooth and compelling.

Want to add a psychological punch to your writing and editing?

Want to learn how to capture the full range of body language on the page?

Want to turn your work into a page-turner by powering up emotion and hooking the reader viscerally?

Margie-Grads may know most of Margie’s deep editing techniques. In this class they’ll learn how to pull them together and make their openings smooth and compelling.

The Master Emotive Storytelling and Showing workshop is for fiction writers who want to decipher the contradictions in the old ‘show don’t tell’ mantra so they can avoid author intrusion and maximize evocative actions and sensory details.

I will help you find a balance between action and brevity that will captivate readers.

Active showing is one of the fastest ways to improve your writing and get your stories noticed. You’ll have emotive prose in no time!

Are you a pantster or a plotter? Or some combination of both ends of the spectrum?

Most of us fall somewhere in the middle but, regardless, mind-mapping can launch your planning abilities into the stratosphere!

This is a class that will help beginners to organize their thoughts, but Master Writers will be able to create believable story structures for a single book or a multi-book series.

Do you want a structured overview of the writing craft(s)? Are you interested in learning the psychology of storytelling? What about getting a storytelling edge by learning the secrets of reader engagement? You need a map and a navigation system.

Change is hard work. But that’s what it takes if you’re trying to land an agent or a contract and all you get is rejections.

30 Days to a Stronger Novel is for all frustrated writers who have spent their hard earned money on books and conferences only to realize that their manuscripts are receiving a “Pass” from agents and editors.

Characters are like people. Each of us has “good” traits, like courage and resilience and intelligence, but we also have traits that get us into trouble like foolhardiness, stubbornness, and too smart for our own good. Same with our characters. We create strong traits, on both sides of the spectrum, and watch as our characters stumble through the story.

We all know what it’s like to pick up a book and be sucked into the fictional world. You sense that you can trust the author and suspend disbelief to go on a journey. But how do your favorite authors do that? In this class you will have lessons and homework. You will get input from the instructor as well as other students. You will be expected to give feedback to others, as well. You will walk away with a solid, compelling, well-polished start to your novel.

This power-packed class provides writers with hands-on tools for making character descriptions fresh and deep and powerful.

This class is interactive. You’ll write and edit and finesse character descriptions.

You’ll learn how to make your character descriptions as dynamic as your characters.

LWA now features a Coffeehouse free-form hang out area for all LWA students. No cost! Just sign up and then click “go to classroom” – you’ll find the Coffeehouse in your list of classes. Pop in and look around! You’ll also find times for write-ins. Don’t see a convenient time? Consider becoming a host and creating your own group!