Description
April 1st - 30th
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 is a writing master class. If you’re past problems with POV, character development and stage direction, this class will help you understand the subtle nuances that can be the difference between a ‘good writer’ and a popular author.
What you’ll learn:
- Anchor the reader in deep POV
- Say it once, say it well
- Triple-duty descriptions
- Get rid of Same old/same old body language
- Dialog tags – who needs them?
- Write tight
- Tell us what we don’t know
- Trust your reader
- Backstory slivers – no dumps here!
- How to write fully rounded characters
Who should take this course:
- Writers who understand the basics of Point of View, dialogue, characterization, etc.
- ‘Journeymen’ – meaning those who have finished a story (be it novel, novella or several short stories) but have not yet published.
- Any ready to take their writing to the next level
Lesson Plan
Lesson One:
- Beginnings
- First lines
- Did I start in the right place?
Lesson Two:
- Deep POV
- Dialogue tags
- Be the dude
- Altering time for emotional power
- Whose scene is it, anyway?
Lesson Three:
- Backstory done right
- Make your words do double-duty
- Where to insert backstory
Lesson Four:
- Trust your reader
- Say it once, say it well
- Tell us what we don’t know
- Telling then showing
- All the rest
- Adverbs
- Write tight
- Write fresh
- Cadence
- Cliches
- Description shortcuts
Every lesson comes with reference material; great blogs and articles explaining salient points.
Every lesson has Homework. We'll be posting our beginnings, giving, receiving feedback, and revising.
Teacher
Laura Drake is a New York and self-published published author of Women's Fiction and Romance.
Her romance series, Sweet on a Cowboy, is set in the world of professional bull riding. Her debut, The Sweet Spot, was a double-finalist, then won the 2014 Romance Writers of America® RITA® award. She’s since published 11 more books and is under contract for two more. She is a founding member of Women’s Fiction Writers Assn, Writers in the Storm blog, as well as a member of Western Writers of America and Women Writing the West.
Laura is a city girl who never grew out of her tomboy ways, or a serious cowboy crush. She gave up the corporate CFO gig to write full time. She realized a lifelong dream of becoming a Texan and is currently working on her accent. She's a wife, grandmother, and motorcycle chick in the remaining waking hours.
